Report Wolf Sightings Here - Hunting-Washington Wolf Count 158+

[vandeman17]

i have a trailcam pic of one in the teanaway from about 3 weeks ago. I posted it in another thread. 

  did WDFW responsed your question. how many pups in her pack.

mulehunter

I emailed my picture to a guy at wdfw and haven't heard back so I am not sure what is going on... 

[bearpaw]

glad to hear you turned in the sighting.... 

[hirshey]

Really frightening encounter South of Rennie Peak... I overnighted Sunday and was on a solo trip into the Lake Chelan Rec Area...glassed all day in anticipation of the high hunt opener on Thursday and found no deer... at 1 PM I spotted a dead head 4x5 in the bottom of the draw.... found nothing else to look at so finally at about 4 PM I decided to go check it out... had a pretty good rock and a clump of red grass to use as reference when I got down there. I got down in elevation and through the trees... there was my rock and clump of grass, but where was the dead head? I walked around the rock to find a den  ... there was old decaying hide outside it (I never did get to see the dead head up close) and I started to back away when I was startled to see a pair of VERY unhappy wolves about 40 yards from me. Very tense times! After much todo, I got back up the ridge realizing I left my spotting scope up top and that nobody would believe me without photos so I went back to get it and took a few quick photos through the spotting scope as they checked their den I will post later. The wolves (I only always saw 2 at one time but at one point there was one above me and 20 seconds later 2 below me) escorted me about a mile out of the area. I hiked 7+ grueling and tiring miles out this evening partially in need of my headlamp. Heads up to anyone planning on hunting that area for the high hunt... I'd suggest finding another place due to a low deer-to-wolf ratio.  I'll be talking to the bios tomorrow about this encounter... none of the wolves were collared, so follow-up to come.

[Miles]

   On getting the pics. I'm looking forward to seeing them and hearing what the State will have to say.  Hopefully they get their butts in there and document this pack/breeding pair, instead of dragging their feet and blowing it off for as long as they can.

[hirshey]

I'm having difficulty winding down after this one... so here's the photos:


The dead-head that started it all:


Wolf photo #1 (note the deadhead's position and how it is now gone in photo #2... this is when I got back up the hill)


Wolf photo #2


Looking down from the ridge after the fact... I was there since 8 AM and never saw them until I dropped in elevation.. their den is on the side of that large rock:

[Miles]

Good job! 

[NWBREW]

Holy cow...hirsheygirl, that is wild. I honestly think you dodged a big bullet there. In my opinion there are twice the wolves we think there are and in areas we wouldn't think they were in. Good info and pics. Be safe.

[grundy53]

wow!

[bearpaw]

hirshey can you verify which GMU, was it 244 Clark?

This is significant as this sighting may end up qualifying as another breeding pair and the fact that a den is located so high in the backcountry is testament that the Washington wolf population could exceed the 104 wolves documented in this topic.

Thanks hirshey for doing such a great job of documenting your find. 

[10thmountainarcher]

1.  Approximate Date: September 2009
2.  What you saw: Two definite sets of adult wolf tracks, and 3 sets of smaller tracks (could have possibly been coyote, but were with the much larger tracks)
3.  How many wolves   (minimum and maximum): 2 minimum, 5 maximum
4.  Which GMU: GMU 113
5.  Local area of your sighting: Heading up on an OLDDD road towards the face of hook nose mountain.  Off of the Boundary Dam road.
6.  Attach pictures of tracks, scat, or of wolves whenever possible: Did not have camera with me at time, Tracks were most definitely wolves, not a doubt in my mind.

Bearpaw, was talking with a local guy the other day and he had mentioned his dad saw one large wolf in the smackout meadows this summer, Sounded like the wolf had no care in the world that he was sitting there being watched. 

Really wish we could get some M67's and throw into the den's while these worthless animals are in them.. Good ole frag grenade would take care of the problem real fast like.

[hirshey]

hirshey can you verify which GMU, was it 244 Clark?

This is significant as this sighting may end up qualifying as another breeding pair and the fact that a den is located so high in the backcountry is testament that the Washington wolf population could exceed the 104 wolves documented in this topic.

Thanks hirshey for doing such a great job of documenting your find. 

I think it must have been the Clark GMU... the area description for some reason in the regs makes it sound like the Lake Chelan Recreation Area is not included in this GMU but it was south/southwest of Rennie and Reynolds Peak that I had the encounter which seems to be in that GMU on the Deer map. I have GPS coordinates from where I spotted the dead head from so hopefully a biologist/someone qualified of confirming their presence with the state can view them from a safe distance where they may not be so aggressive.

[bearpaw]

10thmountainarcher thanks for your post. If you were near Hooknose Mountain that is west of the PO river and in GMU 111.

This is interesting, there no doubt at least 6 adult wolves in 111 and probably at least 7, we saw their tracks repeatedly last winter. A group of 4 to 5, and a group of two. So far this summer WDFW has documented the Smackout Pack, at least two adults and 3 pups. That means there are at least 4 or 5 other adult wolves running around somewhere. There have had additional reports of a group of 5 wolves attacking 2 german shepherds near Colville, wolves in Rocky Creek, wolves in Meadow Creek, and now your sighting of numerous tracks near Hooknose Mtn. I have been told about numerous sightings in Smackout meadows, one sighting was a wolf amoungst the rancher's cattle. The rancher has had to repair fence several times this summer at Smackout Meadows where his cattle have ran through the fence, funny he has never had that problem occur so often before. I think the wolves are prey testing his cattle building up confidence to start attacking them. This is exactly the way wolves have reacted around cattle in other areas where predation eventually became a problem.

To add to your story, here is a photo of a dead cow moose I found near the eastside of Hooknose Mtn this spring. I could not find a definite reason why this moose died, so I never made much mention of it before, although I do have my suspitions, I saw no proof of what killed the moose.

[hirshey]

Holy cow...hirsheygirl, that is wild. I honestly think you dodged a big bullet there. In my opinion there are twice the wolves we think there are and in areas we wouldn't think they were in. Good info and pics. Be safe.

Thanks, I certainly did dodge a bullet. It was incredibly frightening and frustrating; if ANY other species in this state was acting as aggressively towards me as those wolves, I would have shot them: no hesitation. As it is, they are still healthy and happy documented wolves. It most definitely makes sense now why I didn't see a single live animal all morning in such a fantastic summer buck range. Now I have to scramble to find an new hunting location in the Rec Area or another open wilderness by Thursday. 

[bearpaw]

hirshey can you verify which GMU, was it 244 Clark?

This is significant as this sighting may end up qualifying as another breeding pair and the fact that a den is located so high in the backcountry is testament that the Washington wolf population could exceed the 104 wolves documented in this topic.

Thanks hirshey for doing such a great job of documenting your find. 

I think it must have been the Clark GMU... the area description for some reason in the regs makes it sound like the Lake Chelan Recreation Area is not included in this GMU but it was south/southwest of Rennie and Reynolds Peak that I had the encounter which seems to be in that GMU on the Deer map. I have GPS coordinates from where I spotted the dead head from so hopefully a biologist/someone qualified of confirming their presence with the state can view them from a safe distance where they may not be so aggressive.

I read through the unit desrcriptions and you are right, it is Clark GMU 244. Very glad to hear you have gps co-ordinates, photos, and a den, sounds like a slam dunk verified new wolf pack to me. Wolves do not den unless they are welping pups.

This is interesting: http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212280/den.htm

Wolf’s Den
 
Before giving birth the mother has to find a den. Two main things that are really important for a den are: nearby water such as a stream, river, or a lake and a high or protected location in the pack’s territory. Some examples of a den are: deep hollow riverbank, cleft between rocks, hollow log, space under an upturned tree, and space under a rock overhang.

The basic layout of a den is one or two entrances about twenty to twenty-eight inches wide and fifteen to twenty inches high. A tunnel that can be as long as fifteen feet leads to the birthing chamber. The birthing chamber is three feet wide and two feet high.
Wolves would reuse their dens as generations go by. The Alpha Female decides if she wants to reuse the old den or if she wants to take the time and search for a new den. 

Once a  den in Jasper National Park was reused by wolves eight times in fifteen years. A den on Ellesmere Island may be even older, since bones dated back to  783 years old.

[10thmountainarcher]

Bearpaw, thank you for the correction, I have been out of the state for two years, and one year in Afghanistan has fried my brain temporarily.  You are correct though it was west of of river making it 111, it was one of the old roads off the powerline, followed till it was kelly humped and hiked a good 4-5 miles back towards hooknose...