to the list;

I talked my brother into coming down to SE Idaho for this year's elk hunt. We had been hunting the upper Fish Creek drainage in the Lolo zone (thaT's in Idaho, north of Syringa and Lowell) but a huge winter kill followed by the entrance in force of the wolves has made that are an elk-free zone.

This year we hunted the west end of the Island Park zone, east of Spencer, in the Centennial Mountains. A lot of that are is opencountry, so I bought a (gasp) 7mm Mag. A Kar98 built up locally. But I took the Kragicon along, too. Good move.

Some areas we hunted were a mix of open woods and big clearings, 2-300 yard shots. And some areas were wooded in pretty good, 100-150 yard shots max. So about half the time I caried the Krag. It's lighter and easier to carry.

Compared to the Lolo country, hunting this area was a picnic. No vine maple, not too many deadfalls, topography a lot easier. Weather, the worst day was about like an average day in the Lolo zone. We had 3 days that were almost sweltering. The wooded areas are open, no underbrush, just grass and flowers. And elk s**t all over the place. Someone ought to make those guys wear diapers.

neither of us scored. Oh well. I jumped the biggest bull elk I've ever seen, at about 25 yards. 6 points plus brow tines, big as a Clydesdale. I counted the points as he ran for it. My tag was for a spike - I missed the draw for the "any bull" hunt.

I took Chuck in Idaho's advice and got maps and stuff ahead of time. I downloaded USGS topo sheets, also GIS info from Idaho F&G, state lands, etc etc. We had **good** maps. We went out to scout in August before we bought tags. I went out before opening day to grab a really nice caMPsite we spotted on the scouting trip.

Thanks, Chuck!

This i a little OT as regards Krags. Just wanted you all to know, when I was carrying the Krag I felt like I was in the company of an old friend. When I was carrying the 7-mag it felt like just another appliance.

I'm gonna look for another woodsy area that the wolves haven't hit yet, so I can sell the 7 and just use my Krag!

jn

ps: watch for pictures!
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