They are spreading all over outside the agreed upon ecosystem.  A Federal guy took several the year before last from the air way over on the southwest area of the Big Horn mountains in Wyoming where I hunt after the pack came in and killed over 100 sheep and calves on two ranches.  They have kept it very quiet because that is a couple hundred miles from north of Yellowstone where the alpha male that he shot was collared!  They have no idea if they went east and then down through the mountains to the south or what route they took to get there.  I know they didn't get them all because when we were out there in September just after it had rained we found a huge wolf footprint along one of the fencelines we were helping a rancher rebuild on the ranch next to where the sheep were slaughtered.  Here is a picture of the track and it sure isn't a coyote!

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Tim, if your location of North Idaho is right, then there's wolves.  No question about it.  Where abouts generally in N. Idaho are you?

north idaho and the coeur d alene national forest has had wolves for years. 

But what i am saying is there are sighting by my house.  Way different.  But i do border national forest and we see everything else, so i shouldn't be suprised.  I was just hoping it would be another couple of years, before they moved closer to town.  I live east of coeur dalene in the wolf lodge area. right at the bottom of 4th of july pass. about 10 miles from town on i-90.

the wife is now wondering if she needs to pack when going snowshoeing.  I ahve never worried about packing before even huckleberry picking in mtn lion country.

tim

If she and you decide that she needs to be packing something I would suggest bear spray instead of a pistol.  Since they run in packs I would want something that would be a bigger deterrent than just shooting one and hoping that the rest ran away.  The best firearm to pack would be a shotgun loader with buck shot but I doubt that she would want to pack one of them while snowshoeing. 

Tim,

I see what you mean.  That is too close for comfort.  I'm here in Moscow, and the wolves are just out the backdoor, practically, as well.  What I don't get (or maybe I do) is if there's only a few thousand wolves up here, then why are they all over the place.  This is big country, a few thousand wolves, in bunches, should be pretty well spread out.  Maybe the F&G doesn't really know exactly how many wolves are out there?  Nah - they're so easy to count... </sarcasm> I better stop.

Keep your wife safe, man.  It sucks we even have to worry about it.

statistically speaking.  she has nothing to fear.  2 human deaths in a 100 years with wolves.  I will take those stats.  She is more than likely to get mauled by the local black bears, which aren't out in the winter.  but you get what i am saying. 

I guess i was just wishing they stayed out in the national forest, but they do follow there food source and i do live in a winter ground.  so i guess i take what i get. 

WE have had bears in the yard a few times. 

I was told by a fellow on the fish and game foundation board, that idaho fish and game, truly has no idea how many wolves we have.  They are just to hard to count. Especially in wilderness, where they just can't land a helicopter anywhere.