weekender7
WKR
My wife and I went north to try for wolves. It went pretty well. Near record high temps of 51F shut down daylight activity 2 days before we got there and for the first 3 days of our 7 day hunt. We were looking for 0 lows and below freezing highs and the 30's nights and 51F days brought things to a halt. There were only a few nighttime pics coming in. The week before it had been cold and all 9 baits the guide had out had daytime wolves. He showed us dozens of pics from the baits we sat on.
Day 4 forecast was 95% snow and a high of 34F. What a change. His cameras were firing off and my wife, aka "the HAMMER" took a huge 124# black male at 3:53 pm. The wolf seemed to bugger from where the guide had rebaited earlier and started to leave. He made a bad mistake to stop for a look back. He was just out of the view finder on my wife's video camera when she shot. Her first shot was 100 yds in the lungs and put the big black in the spin cycle, then she added a couple more with her 243 to get him stopped.
I got a 71# gray female at a little after 4:00 with a 175 yd shot from my 243. Camera trouble plagued me for the entire hunt and I didn't get any video. The dang thing would not come on at crunch time.
The bait I had sat on for day 1-3 14 hour days, had 7 wolves come spread throughout day 4 so I went back there on day 5. Nope, they had my number and I drew a blank.
Went to another new bait on day 6 and at 1:00 pm a 84# silver female gave me a 240 yd broadside shot. Conditions here were brutal for me with a bad leg. Knee deep crusted snow and thick blow downs meant I would be much more of a hindrance than an asset to tracking so the guide and his brother tracked the wolf for 1000 yds. With very little blood and no beds, they backed out. The plan for day 7 was for me to go back where I shot this wolf. There was a big pack coming there. The guide would cut cross country at noon to try and further the track job, alone. I am 69, hunted all my life and this was the first time ever not tracking my own game. Just after daylight it started to snow and the guide took off to find my wolf. Another 300 yds past where he left off he found the first bed. Another 300 yds there laid my wolf dead. He texted me a pic and said "I found your wolf". My eyes filled with tears, it was an overwhelming feeling. He had tracked that wolf a mile in some extreme conditions with no sign of a mortal hit. With no possibility of getting a quad to it, he carried the 84# wolf for a mile, 100 yds at a time in knee deep crusted snow and thick blowdowns. He would go a 100 yds, set it down, go back and get his gun and pack, then repeat. My best guess is the list of guides that would do that, is pretty short.
If you would like more info about Darren Kalin of Aldo's Extreme Adventures, PM me. I can promise one thing. NOBODY works harder or cares more about you having a successful hunt than Darren.
Day 4 forecast was 95% snow and a high of 34F. What a change. His cameras were firing off and my wife, aka "the HAMMER" took a huge 124# black male at 3:53 pm. The wolf seemed to bugger from where the guide had rebaited earlier and started to leave. He made a bad mistake to stop for a look back. He was just out of the view finder on my wife's video camera when she shot. Her first shot was 100 yds in the lungs and put the big black in the spin cycle, then she added a couple more with her 243 to get him stopped.
I got a 71# gray female at a little after 4:00 with a 175 yd shot from my 243. Camera trouble plagued me for the entire hunt and I didn't get any video. The dang thing would not come on at crunch time.
The bait I had sat on for day 1-3 14 hour days, had 7 wolves come spread throughout day 4 so I went back there on day 5. Nope, they had my number and I drew a blank.
Went to another new bait on day 6 and at 1:00 pm a 84# silver female gave me a 240 yd broadside shot. Conditions here were brutal for me with a bad leg. Knee deep crusted snow and thick blow downs meant I would be much more of a hindrance than an asset to tracking so the guide and his brother tracked the wolf for 1000 yds. With very little blood and no beds, they backed out. The plan for day 7 was for me to go back where I shot this wolf. There was a big pack coming there. The guide would cut cross country at noon to try and further the track job, alone. I am 69, hunted all my life and this was the first time ever not tracking my own game. Just after daylight it started to snow and the guide took off to find my wolf. Another 300 yds past where he left off he found the first bed. Another 300 yds there laid my wolf dead. He texted me a pic and said "I found your wolf". My eyes filled with tears, it was an overwhelming feeling. He had tracked that wolf a mile in some extreme conditions with no sign of a mortal hit. With no possibility of getting a quad to it, he carried the 84# wolf for a mile, 100 yds at a time in knee deep crusted snow and thick blowdowns. He would go a 100 yds, set it down, go back and get his gun and pack, then repeat. My best guess is the list of guides that would do that, is pretty short.
If you would like more info about Darren Kalin of Aldo's Extreme Adventures, PM me. I can promise one thing. NOBODY works harder or cares more about you having a successful hunt than Darren.
