Lead Drifter
FNG
Recently returned from my first foray for sheep in the Dalton / Antigun area , and my experience was such , lot's of sign and sighting's of predator's with little sign of sheep recruitment for the future , I am not discouraged enough to never go back there again ,Beautiful area , but am concerned for the sustainment of a season there if thing's don't change or get some attention , in 8 day's time , we only saw a half curl and what appeared to be a low recruitment of Lambs throughout 2 drainages and enough miles covered on the road to recognize a change from my visit there a decade ago , saw 8 grizzlies and lot's of wolf tracks throughout the hunt , never before have I seen 4 grizzlies grazing in the blueberries like cattle within 200 yards of each other and can't help but wonder if it's time to start querying the ADFG/ board of Game for some much needed help in slowing down the growth/pressure they must put on the sheep in the area along with the Wolf numbers , perhaps a few Rifle tags each year for bear in the Bow zone and some latitude in allowing snow machine's during adequate snow accumulation to access the 5 mile mark to help slow down the wolf population in the area , it's a shame to see such a capable resource mismanaged or not managed due to a lack of finances or concern due to it's remote location . Has this been the experience of those that hunt the area or am I misreading the sign's of the area ? Let me just say that this was not my first sheep hunt and have had success on multiple hunts in the past , my concerns are for those that follow in our footsteps , I understand the argument for tourism and dollars it brings to the state , but while in Coldfoot I queried the southbound patron's on the tour buses and none had seen any bears and the highlight of the Trip was the Musk Ox north of pump house 3 , so the argument bear's for tourism doesn't hold much weight ,, Oh and 6 of the Bear's were within 400 yards of the Road ,, Let's Bring Back the Sheep !