wolf hunter tactics

[LittleJohn]

I don't have a sled, I just drive the roads with my truck. I usually wait a few minutes and let things settle down before I howl. I am doing 90% of my locating at night. They are WAY more talkative at night. I have them howling 200 yds from my diesel truck at night all the time.
I don't do any set up for calling near drivable roads, I am usually on a ridge or gated road away from vehicles. Your not going to get a look at a wolf from your truck in the area I hunt. I'm sure its happened but not likely.

The wolves are 100% in wintering grounds, if I locate some wintering elk its as good as hearing a wolf howl. They are there for sure.
I guess a sled would get you into some remote drainages, but the wolves are where the deer and elk are. If I can't get there with my truck chained up its too deep in my opinion.
I don't mind snow shoeing a bit for them, but it slows down my covering the country.

I don't do much howling from the truck/roads during daylight hours, it just educates them in my opinion.

1.Locate the packs at night
2.Anticipate where they be at day light
3.Come back at daylight and hike in gated road or up ridge with the wind in favor
4.Locate pack with howls
5.Sneak in and set up

I typically howl more then predator call. A lot of guys are having great luck with just howling them in.
If you have wolves howling at 200 yds, don't forget about the rest of the pack coming in on you at 25 yds. Be ready! Don't be fooled by a wolf howling way off, his buddies could be close. I have had it happen multiple times.

I have had them come in completely silent as well.

I havnt had one wolf come in while being vocal on his way in.

I am hunting some thick country with lots under brush, so typically shooting is close range :}

[CAMPMEAT]

Littlejohn, just curious, what caliber rifle are you using ?

[LittleJohn]

.243  55 gr bt  pushing 4000 fps

average wolf weight in Montana last year was less than 80 lbs,

All pics I posted above the heaviest wolf was 75 lbs.

Most guys are using their deer rifles

[CAMPMEAT]

.243  55 gr bt  pushing 4000 fps

average wolf weight in Montana last year was less than 80 lbs,

All pics I posted above the heaviest wolf was 75 lbs.

Most guys are using their deer rifles

Good caliber. I've been taking my 6.5 Creedmoor.

[Gringo31]

 

[VarmintVentilator]

Great stuff to read, thanks LittleJohn. 

[skeeter 20i]

This is the best Christmas time thread EVER!! 

Good work guys.

[AspenBud]

Honest suggestion here...

I'm guessing here, but I'm betting the smart move is to ignore sets of one direction tracks and look for areas where there are multiple tracks going in multiple directions. That usually indicates a contested area between packs or a rendezvous area. It would seem reasonable that you could start calling near such spots and wolves would come because in either scenario, they don't want competing canines around.

Bird dog and hound people would be wise to avoid such areas. Highly dangerous for dogs.

[nwwanderer]

Thanks all, great stuff, keep it coming

[cougarbart]

Your right aspenbud! When you find the drainage they are using there will be wolf tracks all up and down the road! Piss on every fallen tree that's been cut out and they almost set up a hang out drainage/ridge!

[AspenBud]

Your right aspenbud! When you find the drainage they are using there will be wolf tracks all up and down the road! Piss on every fallen tree that's been cut out and they almost set up a hang out drainage/ridge!

If you look at the maps that states like Michigan put out showing where hounds have run afoul with wolves it's often near such sites. You start howling there and it's probably like tripping a home alarm system as far as the wolves are concerned (same applies to baying hounds). I'm betting that simply howling/using predator calls randomly is about the least effective method to get them in. If they are out hunting they have one thing on their mind and defending turf is not it. Contested ground, rendezvous areas, and dens...they'll fight over those and not be happy to hear other canines near.

It's what I would start with if I was going to hunt wolves anyhow...

[huntbow]

I was actually thinking about this last night, i bet if you had an electronic caller and played some sort of prey call ie. rabbit or fawn distress for a few minutes you may get their attention, if you then throw in the sounds of a dog/dogs, this may paint the picture in their mind that another canine not only has stepped onto their turf but has also started preying on their food sorce.  With the things you hear from the houndsmen about wolves killing their dogs, it doesnt seem like the wolves have any hesitation to coming in on a dog. just be ready and watch your back!

[Boss .300 winmag]

Get in a tree stand and use several different electronic callers with baying hounds. 

[docsven]

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