Drew a Wolf tag

[MD]

Congrats our lottery had overwhelming results here also for MN first season combined hunting and trapping.  Hoping for a tag also

[ChuckC]

Dang. .  it appears I got a preference point for next year.

Good luck guys.
ChuckC

[killinstuff]

The only good wolf is a dead wolf.  To bad you can't make them all good wolves.  Good luck.

[Bakes168]

Congrats! That's awesome, good luck and let us know what happens    

[NBK]

Well, the enormity of the challenge has settled in a bit and I'm hoping that I haven't used up all my luck in the drawing of the tag!  In all the time I've sat in a tree bowhunting I've only had a wolf in bow range (he was 15 yards) once.  Just once.

Now I love to hunt deer and I don't have as much time as I'd like to even do that, so that's a factor.  Also, in the regulations it states that the DNR has the right to close a zone early if the kill quota has been met.  Rifle season here is the week of Thanksgiving and I'm guessing that a whole lot of wolves are going to be shot, tags or no tags, so my season may not last until the stated Feb. 28th.

So being realistic, here's my initial plan.
I'm going to bowhunt whitetails like I always have.  The only difference I'm going to make is that I'm going to focus my deer hunting in a strip of black spruce that bisects a large area of open marsh swamp.  We had two different sightings of two wolves there last season and all animals like funnels, right?  I usually don't bait for deer, but that one time I had a wolf at bow range, he was scent checking the deer bait.
Odds are that this isn't going to produce, so starting in December I'm going to try an electronic predator call.  (I'd have better luck staking out my yellow lab with their propensity for killing dogs.)  I'd sure like to kill one with the longbow so the first setups will be in thick cover using my lonewolf climber so that I'm hitting a new area every time.  If it's getting towards the end, I'll take my rifle out of retirement one last time.

[Robhood23]

Congrats! I didn't draw but got a point!

[far rider]

Man, that sure seems like a great opportunity. Best of luck and keep us posted as the season progresses. I think we all can use the experience you glean from this hunt. Congrats!

[Gila Mike]

A friend of mine sent me this story a couple of days ago.

This guy in Montana got his by pretending to be an elk (and by being in the right place at the right time).

 www.flatheadnewsgroup.com/hungryhorsenews/article_464a30b6-fce4-11e1-9b89-0019bb2963f4.html  


Given their daily range, going out to kill a wolf in a fair chase manner has got to be one of the most challenging goals a bowhunter could set for himself.

Mike

[NBK]

Mike, Thanks for the article.  As far as my calling with the bow, I was thinking about using my fawn bleat, making it really pitchy and distressed, and throw in some coyote yips.  The wolves target coyotes as much as anything, so maybe I could get the dander up on one enough.  I'm also planning on using a group of branches from my tow rope in the tree stand to simulate ground noise, i.e. Mike Mitten's tactic for rattling.  All of this is such a long shot, but sometimes you just get a feeling about something.

[Gila Mike]

I've never hunted them but I've been lucky enough to hear them a couple of times while I was hiking/camping in the northern Rockies. Being where the deer are most concentrated (if that's even possible) and making "lost fawn" bleating calls sounds like a really good plan to me.  

I envy you having the opportunity to try for one. Keep us posted on  la chasse , will you?

Good Luck!
Mike

[Ron LaClair]

Many people will disagree with me but none the less, this is how I personally feel about killing wolves.  I know the wolf population in some areas needs to be controlled but as for myself I have no desire to kill a wolf. To me the wolf is like a brother, he's a hunter like I am, a provider for his family like I am. He has close family ties like I do. In many ways the wolf is like we are.

I'm not criticizing anyone that wants to hunt wolves, I'm just saying it's not for me.

Here's an interesting read    

  http://www.helium.com/items/1435970-reflections-comparing-humans-and-wolves

 http://www.amazon.com/Wolves-Men-Barry-Holstun-Lopez/dp/0684163225

[Thumper Dunker]

Go get him. I would go with fawn bleats and other deer distres stuff.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Good luck filling your tag this fall. I thought about putting in for a tag, but the NR cost is a little more than I want to spend for a "just in case" permit. Although, two friends of mine had wolves within bow range this past weekend...

[Izzy]

That is awesome. I think wolves are great and a true symbol of the wilderness but Id sure like to put a tag on one, only one. Good luck,. I dont know, but if it were me Id hunt wolf 1st and deer would be secondary with such a prized tag.

[Yellow Dog]

Congrats on your tag, I wouldn't know where to start. Just a little info taken from the Michigan DNR website concerning Michigan Wolves in our Upper Peninsula.

687 Wolves taking up to 29,000 whitetail per year, hunters 42,000.  Pretty staggering numbers in my book.

"Many Michigan residents are concerned about the impacts of wolves on the Upper Peninsula deer population. The extent of those impacts is influenced by many factors. However, compared to the deer mortality caused by other sources, including other predators, the impact of wolves on the deer population is relatively small. Several studies have examined wolf kill rates, and recent estimates range from 30 to 50 deer eaten by an adult wolf each year. Wolves prey upon a variety of species, and the proportion of their diet comprised of deer changes continuously. Also, an unknown number of deer eaten by wolves may have died from other causes, such as winter conditions or vehicle collisions.
A population of 687 adult wolves (estimated Michigan wolf population in 2011) could eat between 17,000 and 29,000 deer annually. Many of these deer would have died from various other causes if wolves were not present (accidents, winter weather, diseases, etc.). Between 5,000 and 8,000 deer-vehicle crashes are reported annually in the U.P., and even more deer are killed in crashes that are not reported. A severe winter can kill 30 percent (or more) of the deer population. There are about 270,000 deer in the U.P., and hunters killed about 42,000 deer in 2010.
Wolves and deer evolved together, and deer possess physical and behavioral adaptations for avoiding wolf predation."

[Chromebuck]

The ecological balancing act between predator and prey wears a stench that rivals the buffalo herds of the Great Plains.  

Come up here and hunt them with over the counter tags for non-residents, no guide requirement and you can hunt from a plane!(I recommend a very short recurve!)    

Game Management Units 13 & 20 have a limit of ten per day.  This is all for perserving the population of ungulants which feed our interior populations, but more importantly brings out of state hunters $$$

Best of luck!  Even with populations as we have they are as wiley as the eldest doe/cow of any herd.

   

~CB

[NBK]

Ron,
I'm really glad that you expressed those feelings about hunting wolves because I've been doing some soul searching myself.  I stated such in this post prior to even applying for a tag.  (It's near the bottom of the page)

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=120040;p=1#000004

Contrary to many outdoorsmen in my area, I do not "hate" wolves and I'm glad that we have them.  There were no wolves to speak of when I was a kid, but since they've returned, the woods seems just a bit more "wild".  I love hearing them at dusk, if for no other reason than what else in our ordinary lives can raise the hair on the back of your neck like the lonely howl of a wolf?  
When I was 9 my Dad took me on a horseback elk hunt to Colorado and I read the children's book "Quetico Wolf" in the car on the way out.  I consider the combination of the week in the Rockies and that book as being developmental to my love the wilderness.  In the story, a wolf is killed by men, and I had a child's revulsion to the act.  Now, however, I view my hunting of a wolf as a responsibility above the challenge.  If a wolf must die, then let him die at the hands of a "brother" as you put it, as opposed to one of these sh&^-$%^ssed rednecks whose bound and determined to "lay the smack down on 'em!"  

I probably won't get the chance, but the one thing I've made certain for myself is that if I do kill one, it won't be dragged by the neck out of the woods and displayed at the local tavern.  It will be carried out and brought home.  
This thought process may seem melodramatic, but it's how I am and I make no apologies.

[Jim Rocole]

Well said MIke. I can see Ron's point of view also. For me I see the taking of a wolf as no different tham any other predator I hunt (bear,Mtn Lion, coyote,fox,bobcat)Though I have a feeling this is going to be a much harder learning curve. I have contacted serveral property owners that I know have a pack in their area and I am in the process of formulating a plan.

Jim

[NBK]

Good luck Jim.  If you develop any insights as the season goes on please spread the wealth!

[KentuckyTJ]

Wow, what a great opportunity. Best of luck to you. I enjoy nothing more than running a shaft through a coyote. I shot under one last week. As I retrieved my arrow I picked up some hair from the underside of its rib cage. He was a big beautiful specimen and would have really enjoyed taking him.   One of the biggest challenges in bow hunting is to take a wild dog of any type. If successful you will have done something that is very tough to do.