Island Park Idaho November Muzzy Hunt Questions

[MountainGhost]

Hey All,
New to the site here. Looking on some information on unit 61 in Idaho. Not looking for specific honey holes just some general advice. Idaho is extremely generous to disabled veterans as far as tag prices go, so me and a couple other vets are going to take advantage of this and head up for a hunt in November . A buddy who doesn't hunt the area offered us a place to stay near Henry's Lake so we will most likely take him up on the offer and be in that area. We have Elk, Deer, and wolf tags and will be using muzzleloaders.
We have done some research and come across a lot of comments about wolf and Grizzly in the area. Will Grizzlies be in the area in mid-November or will the be hibernating by then? What are the chances that we would actually get close enough to shoot a wolf with a muzzleloader?
We have also read that the wolf population has forced a lot of the deer and elk out of the area. Is it even worth giving this area a try? We don't mind travelling to other parts of unit 61, we just thought that since we had an offer for free housing we should try to take advantage of it.

We really appreciate any insight you guys are willing to offer.

 

[Fullfan]

Had a friend hunt there several years ago. He hunted for 10 days, never saw an elk or elk track. Said the wolves were bad...

 

[NJDiverDan]

There are elk there, but yes wolves and grizzlies. Not sure if the grizz will be hibernating in Nov yet or not, I have seen tracks in Dec. Guessing it will depend on the year. If you are staying near Henry's Lake, the mountains from the lake to the Continental Divide on the Northwest side hold a good number of elk. That ML season is typically dependent on the snowfall. As for getting close enough to a wolf, last time I hunted Island Park, I had a wolf come down a trail to me at 20 yards. Could not pistol drawn without the movement being seen and the wolf was at 100 yards before I was drawn and had him in my sites.

 

[MountainGhost]

There are elk there, but yes wolves and grizzlies. Not sure if the grizz will be hibernating in Nov yet or not, I have seen tracks in Dec. Guessing it will depend on the year. If you are staying near Henry's Lake, the mountains from the lake to the Continental Divide on the Northwest side hold a good number of elk. That ML season is typically dependent on the snowfall. As for getting close enough to a wolf, last time I hunted Island Park, I had a wolf come down a trail to me at 20 yards. Could not pistol drawn without the movement being seen and the wolf was at 100 yards before I was drawn and had him in my sites.

Thanks. Thats some great information. We appreciate it.