Outdoor enthusiast stays active

SUPERIOR – Shawn Plakke is the elk whisperer of western Montana.

The former boxer and Tough Man competitor used to guide hunters early in his career. He still does occasionally, but now is a father and a husband. 

“I had to get a real job in Missoula running heavy equipment,” Plakke joked.

When not spending every moment he can in the mountains during hunting season, Plakke also calls in on a Saturday morning radio show.

The Montana Outdoor Radio Show features fishing reports, high water areas, water flows, and recommended fishing and hunting spots. Plakke is usually on the air around 7:30 a.m. Saturdays. 

“I usually call in from the field,” Plakke said. “My son and I called in as we were turkey hunting this year. All of a sudden turkeys started gobbling, I was like oh no. But we ended up getting one so it all worked out.” 

Plakke is a self proclaimed elk expert, and after giving elk hunting tips on the show, now has people calling him from all over asking about elk.

“People who are elk hunters started calling me saying that I am giving up a lot of good tips, and I don’t even know how they got my number,” he said. 

Plakke said that hunters make finding elk hard, and it’s usually not so. He talks to hunters who think they have to hike 10 miles in to find them, and he argues that is not necessary.

“They are so habitual in what they do,” he said. “Every year they do the same thing, visit the same areas, and breed in the same spots.” 

Even though Plakke is the elk guy, he still calls in on Saturday morning to contribute during whatever hunting seasons it may be. Right now, bears are on the agenda. 

“I called in last week and talked about how I almost shot a sow,” he said. “You’re not supposed to shoot sows.”

Sows are female bears, and are illegal to hunt in Montana if she is accompanying cubs. 

“I just waited and here come three little cubs,” he said. “You take the bear in to the Fish, Wildlife and Parks and they check to see if she has milk. So you just don’t want to do that, which was my tip last week. Make sure you know because it’s really hard to tell.” 

As for guiding hunters, Plakke is licensed in Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico. However, these days he usually just guides in New Mexico when he gets the chance.

“Going from Montana to New Mexico is like going to heaven,” he said. “Around here you might see them in a clearing and by the time you get to them they are already gone. But there, you can actually get on them.”

There’s a lot more elk coming down in the low country now because the wolves are pressuring them downward, Plakke said. Some elk can be found around houses and places you didn’t see them before. 

Plakke recalls the craziest hunting experience he ever had was when he was charged by a grizzly in Wyoming, in an area he calls the grizzly highway because there are so many bears after elk.

“I had a hunter with me and he killed a bull elk right after daylight. We quartered it all up but went back to camp for the night because it was too dark to bring it back,” Plakke said.

The next morning, Plakke was ready to go back for the elk, but had a weird feeling about it.

“I’m just thinking to myself the odds are real good that there’s a bear on that elk,” he said. “I told the other guy I think I’m going to take Shane with me in case something goes wrong.”

When Plakke and Shane, another hunter, got out to the area where the elk was supposed to be, it was gone. The only thing left was a spot where the grass was matted down.

“I looked up and I see movement and sure enough there was a grizzly bear,” Plakke said. “I said Shane a bear!”

Plakke moved in closer and the bear was lying on a mound of dirt, and he could see the elk rack sticking out of it. 

“The bear saw me and I yelled out to it,” Plakke said. “The bear looked around a little bit and plopped itself down over the elk and spread out its paws.” 

Plakke was about 30-yards from the bear at this point. The bear had dragged all the quarters uphill to the mound. 

“Shane fired a couple rounds off his shotgun trying to scare it off,” he said. “The bear lifted his head up, curled its lip up and came charging. I was like here he comes Shane, and Shane just takes off.”

Plakke said he stood his ground and the bear ran by him so fast it was like a blur. Shane and Plakke eventually lost the bear and ended up getting the elk back. 

“The skull actually had bite marks in the nose,” he said. “The only thing it ate was the tongue out of the head. It buried it up because it was going to get it later.” 

Even though a grizzly almost attacked him, Plakke’s first love will always be elk hunting. 

“I think I love calling them in more than shooting them anymore,” he said. “There’s no bigger adrenaline rush than that during archery season.”

Over his lifetime, Plakke has killed 17 elk with his bow.

“The way I look at it, they are all like humans,” he said. “They all do the same cocky stuff.”

 Typically on the weekends Plakke is out in the woods all day. 

“I love the mountains. It’s always been my comfort zone,” he said. “Calling them in that’s the addiction. Everybody’s addicted to elk. I think if you put out a ton of hunts that anyone can select from, 90 percent would pick elk hunting. It’s the mystery of the calling I think, and the challenge and excitement of it, it’s a blast.”