Late last month, MT FWP attempted to counter claims of such losses by stating that between Missoula and Butte, the elk numbers were at a record high. However, sportsmen who spend many days a year in the high county say it is just another FWP lie. What these experienced guides, outfitters, and veteran hunters see are elk that now refuse to head back into the mountains in spring and summer, electing instead to stay in the valleys and river bottoms close to ranches, where the wolves have been less prevalent. But, that's changing. Wolves are now coming to the food source, and with them they also bring the increased danger of the Echinococcus granulosus tapeworm to livestock, pets and humans, along with higher losses of cattle, sheep and pets to wolves. Wolf tracks and wolf kills have been reported right in the city limits of Missoula.

Next door in Idaho, the reality of having wolves has finally sunk in, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game seems ready to bring wolf numbers back as close as possible to the 150 count agreed to during the early stages of the Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Project. The agency now recognizes "at least 1,000 to 1,200 wolves" in that state, which means the true number is most likely 2,000 to 2,500. At least they are getting closer to the truth, something that is severely lacking in Montana.