Well, opening day was a great adventure but NO sight or sound of wolves. The area I hunted is some thick timber in major grizzly country. The trail is narrow and really overgrown, it is also one of the few trails that spooks me because on top of being so tight, there is a large creek running through the bottom and it is often hard to hear anything other than rushing water....
the view off the side of the trail shows the lack of visibility. This is why I chuckle when guys talk about getting their "long range wolf rigs" sighted in. Any shots here are going to be inside 25yds and frequently half that distance.
I hiked in about 4 miles on this trail but the only sign I saw was this older pile of scat
I did find some seriously large mushrooms......
Because this area is so thick and the bear density is high, I will only howl in an attempt to confirm wolves are in the area before I make a sound on my call. Lots of places I will just get in a good spot and call but that is just not a safe way to hunt this drainage.
In the one spot that is open enough to call, I heard some noise off to my side about 60 seconds into my sequence. It was a Marten scampering through the blow down looking for a meal. I got some video but no good still shots. It was fun to watch. I got back to the truck about 1pm, went home napped and then made a quick trip out again that night.
I have several short adventure planned around work this week and then back at it hard next weekend. "Hope springs eternal in the wolf hunters heart"!