by smurfman on Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:38 am
I applied for the second season with a firearm. I did this as I I would have a much longer hunting season as well as the wolves being further into their prime as far as coats. Agreed, one will seldom see a wolf while roaming around, no different than bears, as people are pretty noisy in the woods, all things considered. Couple that with the huge area a single wolf pack utilizes, roughly 25 square miles at the minimum, making it unlikely a wolf will even be within miles of a person whenever they go into the woods. That makes seeing one long odds at any time let alone the short period of time encompassed by hunting season.
In regards to the hunting tactics used, I would have used a multiple of them. Glassing and stalking is a possibility as wolves are like any other canine and like to sun themselves when it is chilly. In the area I planned on hunting, it is not unusual to find wolves at the field edges when the sun is out. It may be pretty hard to stalk them in such situations but as there are often regular sites for this, it is possible to stake out an area and ambush them. Shots would probably be on the long side so one needs to be a fairly accomplished shot and use a gun with good long range capability.
Another tactic would be to find a fresh kill and then slowly stalk the area looking for them. When a wolf is stuffed they tend to be pretty heavy sleepers and it is not uncommon to end up in their midst. I've done it twice though neither time in MN. I think this often happens with hunting dogs and is one reason the dogs often escape with rather minor injuries.
I would have gone with calling as the method most likely to be successful. In the past I have called in wolves 8 different times, 6 times when calling for bobcats using a dying rabbit call and twice while bear hunting using a fawn distress call. All these times the wolf was well within shooting distance, usually of a shotgun. Twice the wolves were much closer than even I cared for.
As effective as this may seem, I would have used a different type of call than prey. Wolves are very territorial and will very frequently accept challenges from strangers. I have called wolves in by howling many times and sometimes they have come into the yard during daylight when doing so. This is what I feel would have been my most successful technique and one I have been working on for a long time (just didn't think I would ever get a chance to use it in MN).
I maybe should have gone with a trapping tag, it is likely fewer applied and one would have the whole time to use in taking a wolf. It really isn't much different than coyote trapping with many of the basics being the same. A bit of fine tuning is all that seems to be necessary. At least that is what I've been taught by a retired Dept of Ag trapper who spent many years trapping problem wolves.
Based on his experiences with wolves, plus those of others in the same position as well as mine and others with coyotes, it is an ignorant comment betting about more dogs being caught and killed than wolves. There is a considerable number of coyote traps out there with a very small actual number of dogs being caught in them. Even fewer dogs are killed. A wolf set up would be no different. In fact, if the legends are true, there should be no dogs running around wolf country as the wolves would have eliminated them posthaste. So, the catching of dogs in wolf sets should be a non-factor.
I would worry much more about a bucket set for bobcats, fisher, marten, et al which utilize a Conibear type trap than a wolf set which is using either a leg hold or a snare. I have used snares very, very little but what I've been told by those who use them frequently, unless the snare is using a lock to keep the loop closed, the odds of a dog strangling itself is fairly low. A dog is usually familiar with a collar and leash so it will typically stop struggling if caught in a snare. If the snare does not have a lock on it, the loop will loosen and the dog will breath fine. Wild animals tend to struggle against it and then they may strangle and die. And leg holds generally do not catch a dog in a vital area.