This article is from Idaho Statesman.com today. I know we have some readers in Idaho, or others that might be planning on a wolf hunt, wanted to pass on some info.
Wolf hunting tactics: Know your quarry
Despite what the experts say about the difficulty of wolf hunting, you still want to do it?
Luckily for you, the experts have decades of experience hunting and trapping wolves, and they’re willing to share their knowledge.
Use your ears to locate them. “The biggest giveaway with wolves is their howling,” said Carter Niemeyer, who traps wolves for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Wolves howl in the evenings and early mornings. It gives you a good idea of where they are at that moment.
Wolves are fast and quick. If you locate where they are howling, you can form a strategy to call them within gun range.
If you set up in a random spot and start calling, odds are slim a wolf will show up.
Calling is your best bet. “Anything that makes a squeal. A young animal in distress is the key sound,” said Becky Schwanke, a wolf biologist and hunter in Glennallen, Alaska. “Get a good vantage spot and squeal away.”
Rick Kinmon, an Alaska hunting guide who targets wolves, said he often uses a combination of a distressed animal call and wolf howl, that way you’re appealing to their sense of opportunism for an easy meal and posing as another wolf challenging their territory.
Respect their senses. Wolves have excellent eyesight, hearing and sense of smell and know how to use them to protect themselves. “Those things are unbelievably intelligent, and that’s the biggest hurdle hunters are going to face,” Schwanke said.
Monitor the wind direction, wear camo and be stealthy when approaching your calling spot.
Expect long shots at moving animals. Kinmon has called in about 200 wolves, and most were long shots of several hundred yards or more. Only two were standing still.
Kinmon said wolves will often stop well out of gun range of the caller, so he positions his hunters in front of the spot where he’s calling and hopes they will intercept a wolf investigating the call.
Be prepared at all times. Whether stalking or calling, wolves aren’t going to present themselves for a shot for very long.
“You’re going to get one quick chance and it’s over, and it’s over for the whole pack,” he said.
Winter is better than fall. “The best opportunity for wolves is winter, because there are tracks, just like mountain lions,” Schwanke said.
Winter usually concentrates deer and elk populations, and wolves follow. (Note: It’s illegal to hunt wolves within a half-mile of any active Fish and Game feeding station.)
Winter also is the best time for wolf pelts. Niemeyer said hunters who are serious about getting a wolf as a trophy should hold off until the winter months, when young wolves, which are the most likely to be shot, have grown larger and all wolves have put on their prime winter pelts.
He said a young wolf shot early in the season is going to be about the size of big coyote and have a poor-quality pelt.
Don’t expect them to be in the same spot twice. “They can go 15 to 20 miles in a night, no problem,” Niemeyer said.
Don’t overestimate their size. Wolves are smaller targets than they might appear. It’s easy to misjudge the distance and shoot over them. You probably won’t have time to use a range finder, so take their small size into account.
Hunt ethically. Some Idaho hunters are frustrated with wolves and convinced they’re harming deer and elk herds. So the state will be under intense scrutiny during the first wolf season.
“I hope hunters will represent themselves with dignity and be good role models for sportsmen,” Niemeyer said.
BY ROGER PHILLIPS - rphillips@idahostatesman.com
Copyright: © 2009 Idaho Statesman
Good luck if you are one of the lucky ones to get a tag!
Marc Reindell
marc@wildlifecallers.com
