How many have strictly done a predator hunt (Wolf)

[N.ID7803]

Anyone care to share some tips on what they have found that works or does not work with wolves? I get that it is hard, but it can be done, as evidenced by the photos. What would be helpful is understanding what worked and why you felt it worked, as well as what did not work at all.

Do you set up a calling situation like you would with coyotes? Do you locate first and then set up? Clearly playing the wind and using the terrain to funnel are basics for coyotes... what about wolves? What works, what does not?

I am asking simply because elk and deer sign in two of the areas I have been hunting recently almost instantly disappeared in conjunction with me seeing wolf tracks in the snow, finding a ton of wolf sat with fur in it, and hearing two different wolf packs howling nearby the two different locations. [I know, what are the chances that I'd run into two different packs in two different areas on the same day?]

It was like the elk and deer that were there a few weeks prior had just packed up and left or went underground. Might be pure speculation and/or coincidence, but the record in the snow does not lie. Sign was there two weeks ago and nothing since the wolves showed up.

So, if someone would be willing to help a rookie out, I'd love to learn more about wolf hunting and how to be improve my odds.

Thanks!

Knowing where they are is 3/4 the battle. Howl with your mouth or electronic call close the distance, then set up like you are hunting a bugling elk, use distress calls (elk,deer,moose). Keep your eyes peeled it can take a second or 30+ minutes. That's the basics in my opinion. Good luck

 

[mdtennant]

Knowing where they are is 3/4 the battle. Howl with your mouth or electronic call close the distance, then set up like you are hunting a bugling elk, use distress calls (elk,deer,moose). Keep your eyes peeled it can take a second or 30+ minutes. That's the basics in my opinion. Good luck

Thanks... much appreciated. In retrospect, I wish I had pursued the larger pack I heard in the morning. They seemed to be stationary in a hollow that I likely could have accessed by climbing the ridge and dropping in from above. The potential issue would have been the wind going down to them. Kicking myself for not being more proactive on that one.

The pack I heard in the evening was moving along a closed road. They were clearly on the move and mile away.

Thanks again!

 

[Ecampbell25]

I’ve seen 2 wolfs in 10 years of guiding Idaho and Montana.

Like the comments above have stated they are very tricky to find and call in.

Good luck

 

[Huckleberry Hound]

HEading over thursday morning to hunt lions and wolves in idaho. Been a mild winter, so im hoping its doable. If i get there and its a mess ill tuck tail and jam home. Wont be the first time. But if conditions are moderately acceptable, i may stay a while. Got nothing important to do for the next couple weeks. Figure my odds of success are <1%, but thats better than staying home, which is 0%.

 

[robby denning]

HEading over thursday morning to hunt lions and wolves in idaho. Been a mild winter, so im hoping its doable. If i get there and its a mess ill tuck tail and jam home. Wont be the first time. But if conditions are moderately acceptable, i may stay a while. Got nothing important to do for the next couple weeks. Figure my odds of success are <1%, but thats better than staying home, which is 0%.

welcome to Idaho and best of luck! report back soon

 

[Huckleberry Hound]

welcome to Idaho and best of luck! report back soon

Been over a few times for winter wolf/lion hunts that were short lived due to access problems from snow. Done 3 spring bear seasons over there and got 3 bears, all unit 1. Did one deer season, passed on 2 mule bucks and 3 whitetail bucks, then rolled my truck, totalled it. So my local knowledge is pretty limited, but in the course of my adventures ive found a good deal of wolf tracks and a GIANT set of lion tracks, and a lot of great habitat for wintering ungulates, which means good areas to hunt predators.. Feel like i have a decent baseline to work with. Might take me a few more years but i do intend to kill some wolves eventually. Ill keep pluggin away. Heres my best bear from 3 seasons of idaho spring bear hunts. Late may 2022. 80 yard shot with a .308.

 

[Ecampbell25]

Atta boy! Get after it!!!

 

[Huckleberry Hound]

On another note, the last couple years ive been hesitant to go hunting wolves or lions in idaho before december 2nd. The few locals ive talked to during spring bear, or after deer season, theyve all been friendly. Salt of the earth you could say. But ive hearda lot of stories, both from guys i know and guys i dont, about idaho locals screwing with out of state rigs during deer or elk seasons. And during my 1 idaho deer hunt, snow on the ground, my boot prints were obvious. No secret where i was. Heard a rig pull up where i walked off the road into the cut. Somebody came along and started banging rounds all over the cut i was sitting, right over my head. No doubt in my mind they were trying to scare me off. Should i just stay home until deer season is over, or would it be enough to plaster my truck with f4wm stickers? Really dont have any interest in being shot at again. For now im not hunting idaho during deer season. That was pretty effed up.

 

[.204smokechaser]

HEading over thursday morning to hunt lions and wolves in idaho. Been a mild winter, so im hoping its doable. If i get there and its a mess ill tuck tail and jam home. Wont be the first time. But if conditions are moderately acceptable, i may stay a while. Got nothing important to do for the next couple weeks. Figure my odds of success are <1%, but thats better than staying home, which is 0%.

What region you going to?

 

[.204smokechaser]

Patterning wolves I found is very difficult and there’s a reason there’s been a handful of very successful wolf trappers.

I talked to biologists before placing cameras for the winter in areas to try to figure out rendezvous sites and this is one of them. Problem is that this one is 59 miles from where the road is plowed to in the winter. Every February the wolves come down and eat the crap out of the very few elk that hang here in the winter.

 

[Huckleberry Hound]

What region you going to?

Unit 1, rough starting point, upper pack river drainage.

 

[Dmoua]

I have killed my fair share of black bears in Washington. Wolves are next on my list in Idaho. I have a tag in my pocket every season just in case we call one in during September. In Washington, I have seen wolves every season in the last 5 years. Just can’t do nothing about it.

 

[ThunderJack49]

Intentionally targeting wolves in Idaho or Montana will be the hardest thing you have EVER hunted. Success is literally about a tenth of one percent of tags sold.

But......

If you are successful it will be one of the most rewarding things you have ever done.

Here's a few fairly recent ones to give you some motivation.

View attachment 618145

View attachment 618148

View attachment 618147


Good luck, you WILL need it.

this is pretty incredible work.

 

[weekender7]

this is pretty incredible work

and it gets a lot better than that, for him. He targeted wolf with a long bow, called in and killed the wolf with the long bow. jcs271 is the REAL DEAL!

 

[JREG19]

We've had success finding them by hunting them like lions. After a fresh snow, driving down roads until you cut tracks and then follow them out.

 

[Huckleberry Hound]

We've had success finding them by hunting them like lions. After a fresh snow, driving down roads until you cut tracks and then follow them out.

Yesterday morning got here and started doing just that. First area i went, thought it would be great. Found a bunch of ceanothus and moose crap and wolf tracks up there during spring bear 2022. Figured killer moose wintering area, which should attract wolves. Was able to get a lot further than i expected on my non tracked atv, but was disappointed to find very few moose or deer tracks in the snow, and one lone set of coyote tracks. No wolf or lion tracks. Some stretches of road would just go and go with nothing but snowshoe hare tracks. So off another direction, decent amount of deer elk and moose tracks, and jumped a good sized herd of muleys running roads, but no predator tracks. But the wolf / lion food is there so i camped out and this morning i went up to where all the muleys were to do some hiking and calling. Ran into more mule deer, and no shortage of deer elk moose tracks, but the only predator tracks i found were bobcat. Pretty surprised. Where i live in washington, about anywhere you go wolf and lion tracks are easier to find than moose or elk tracks now.
Going to the f4wm sandpoint banquet tomorrow so i got a hotel room in town tonight. Tomorrow evening back to truck camping and hunting.
Not sure if id be better off running around trying to figure out other huntable spots i can get into with my quad, or just sticking it out in the same area, knowing lots of wolf/ lion food is there, and assuming the predators will be making their rounds and show up at some point. I mean a guy could go drainage hopping for a week or two and always be one step behind. Might be just as well of staying put and waiting for the lions / wolves to show up here where their prey base is.

 

[Hunter81]

Yesterday morning got here and started doing just that. First area i went, thought it would be great. Found a bunch of ceanothus and moose crap and wolf tracks up there during spring bear 2022. Figured killer moose wintering area, which should attract wolves. Was able to get a lot further than i expected on my non tracked atv, but was disappointed to find very few moose or deer tracks in the snow, and one lone set of coyote tracks. No wolf or lion tracks. Some stretches of road would just go and go with nothing but snowshoe hare tracks. So off another direction, decent amount of deer elk and moose tracks, and jumped a good sized herd of muleys running roads, but no predator tracks. But the wolf / lion food is there so i camped out and this morning i went up to where all the muleys were to do some hiking and calling. Ran into more mule deer, and no shortage of deer elk moose tracks, but the only predator tracks i found were bobcat. Pretty surprised. Where i live in washington, about anywhere you go wolf and lion tracks are easier to find than moose or elk tracks now.
Going to the f4wm sandpoint banquet tomorrow so i got a hotel room in town tonight. Tomorrow evening back to truck camping and hunting.
Not sure if id be better off running around trying to figure out other huntable spots i can get into with my quad, or just sticking it out in the same area, knowing lots of wolf/ lion food is there, and assuming the predators will be making their rounds and show up at some point. I mean a guy could go drainage hopping for a week or two and always be one step behind. Might be just as well of staying put and waiting for the lions / wolves to show up here where their prey base is.

Good luck to you, keep us posted. Wolf is definitely on my radar for a future trip.

 

[JREG19]

Yesterday morning got here and started doing just that. First area i went, thought it would be great. Found a bunch of ceanothus and moose crap and wolf tracks up there during spring bear 2022. Figured killer moose wintering area, which should attract wolves. Was able to get a lot further than i expected on my non tracked atv, but was disappointed to find very few moose or deer tracks in the snow, and one lone set of coyote tracks. No wolf or lion tracks. Some stretches of road would just go and go with nothing but snowshoe hare tracks. So off another direction, decent amount of deer elk and moose tracks, and jumped a good sized herd of muleys running roads, but no predator tracks. But the wolf / lion food is there so i camped out and this morning i went up to where all the muleys were to do some hiking and calling. Ran into more mule deer, and no shortage of deer elk moose tracks, but the only predator tracks i found were bobcat. Pretty surprised. Where i live in washington, about anywhere you go wolf and lion tracks are easier to find than moose or elk tracks now.
Going to the f4wm sandpoint banquet tomorrow so i got a hotel room in town tonight. Tomorrow evening back to truck camping and hunting.
Not sure if id be better off running around trying to figure out other huntable spots i can get into with my quad, or just sticking it out in the same area, knowing lots of wolf/ lion food is there, and assuming the predators will be making their rounds and show up at some point. I mean a guy could go drainage hopping for a week or two and always be one step behind. Might be just as well of staying put and waiting for the lions / wolves to show up here where their prey base is.

It's so hard to know with wolves. I've read they can go 50 miles in a day.

 

[pugwylde]

Intentionally targeting wolves in Idaho or Montana will be the hardest thing you have EVER hunted. Success is literally about a tenth of one percent of tags sold.

Shhh... Don't tell my family, because they love eating elk, but this is fast becoming my favorite hunting. Absolutely zero success thus far, but there is so little information that it feels like I get to figure out all of on my own, which is so rewarding.

Wolves are one of those animals that sort of fade into the background of your awareness, like many of the cats, because you never see them. But going out and actively seeking them completely changed the way you look at the landscape.

My last hunt, in the driving snow and low visibility, I kept smelling wet dog when the wind would shift. It could've been me, though it is a pretty distinct smell. The point is, any other hunt, I wouldn't even have noticed it, but something as simple as a unique smell became exhilarating.

 

[Huckleberry Hound]

Been having no luck. Packed up and headed up past bonners ferry. Think thisll be a good spot. Been snowing, couple inches of fresh powder. Still comin down. Should stop this evening supposedly. If i cut tracks tomorrow that arent buried in snow, no question how fresh they are. Just hope my yamaha is up to the task of getting me around this mtn. If not, ive got good boots. Heading up one way or another. No fresh tracks of anything but bunnies and snowmobiles at my previous location. And SIX rigs with snowmobiles there. Had to move on.