Stinkin' Wolves

[Rico]

Phil sorry to hear about Roy and the other dogs. I remember seeing him (Roy) at some of the field trials.

There is still some Amaquk's around!

[FullCryHounds]

We had a pack staying here in CO. Our DOW acknowledged that they were a resident pack. They are all gone now, not one of them is still alive, and I'm glad. I just think instead of turning around and leaving every time a Houndsman finds a fresh wolf track, I'd stick around and do a little bit of educating. Hopefully a lot of you guys are doing that. It's just tough for someone like me sitting on the sideline reading how this problem is getting worse and doesn't sound like any one is doing anything about it. I know I would be.

[notellm]

So sorry for your guys' loss. I can't even imagine how you're feeling. These families are in my thoughts and prayers.

[imchestnut]

Let me just give my condolences to Phil and everyone who has/will lose a dog to wolves. Its a terrible deal.

Dean,

If it was that easy, they would be gone again or their numbers reduced. All of us in Idaho and Montana are, in fact, not a bunch of smucks, althought it seems like some people think we are. It took years/decades of concerted trapping and poisening to try and eliminate them. Everything you mentioned is an illegal harvest of a big game animal in Idaho and Montana and despite what people think, they do try and prosecute it. There are LOTS of guys out calling (I see them every weekend). The problem is, for someone who hasn't spent any time trying it, that wolves can travel immense distances in a 24 hour period. Access to winter range in our states is often restricted so wolves have a "haven" so to speak where they can hang with elk and deer and travel out on the wrong day into areas we run cats adjacent to the winter range closures. They also get VERY educated (just like a coyote...they are all dogs, which means, they are smart and survivors) to calling techniques. Thats part of the reason Idaho's harvest is getting lower every year and why even Alaska has to use arial shooting to keep their numbers in check.

It's not a simple fix. You should come up. Heck, we have areas you can kill 5 Dean. If its so easy, probably worth a trip for ya. We are trying to knock the numbers down but either way they are here to stay.

Ian

[Ed Moore]

Maybe time has come to set bounty on wolves again, Tom Horn style. Tight group, close mouth. IF it was my dogs ,no wolf would ever be safe. Hell with the law. The war would be on!!! Good luck to you guys. and may God be with you. ED.

[Phil Soucy]

I think we will get e calls next time around, but these things are ghosts. We hear them see tracks and find kills, but you can't shoot what you don't see. They make coyotes seem retarded. It does not help that FWP is trying to trap and collar them with very inexperienced people. They only want to keep healthy numbers of wolves around anyway not beat them back like we do. Over 600 people took the trapping classes, hoe many wolves have benefitted from sloppy sets. i can tell you a bunch have. I know some good trappers that have only taken one or two all season despite a lot of effort. In this big timber country wolves are nearly invincable.
Any way here are a few more picture of the dogs.

[Melanie Hampton]

I am sorry about your loss.. I know how attached I am to my 10 year old dog that I have raised up from a pup and I know if he went out like that, I would a very long time recovering emotionally from that loss.. And sorry for that boy who lost his first hound in such a terrible manner.. And for your friend who also lost on of his.. Its just not right..

Its changing.. I know very very close to what is one of my favorite spots to hunt, someone came across wolf tracks in the snow while elk hunting.. I seen the pictures and it was for sure wolves.. ODF&W (who have been giving reports) acknowledge one collared wolf being here but will not acknowledge the tracks of the at least other three.. for now I think I'll just change the area I hunt in.. I know at some point unfortunately sooner then I have hoped, I will done with hounds..

[NorWester]

I was hound hunting when wolves first moved into NW Montana about 10 years ago.

Most of the guys with all these ideas about how to take care of wolves haven't hunted in wolf country. The idea of running other wolf killing dogs with your pack, is just not feasible for cat hunting, as a lot of time you are cold trailing with only a couple of cold nosed dogs. Try to get other (non hound)dogs to stick with a couple of dogs that are moving a cold track about a 1/2 mile an hour. It might work on a very hot race that can handle a lot of dogs, but would not work on 90% of the races.

Using the sound of treeing dogs to call in wolves I don't believe is a viable method as I don't believe wolves necessarily come into trees. There are a lot of people that think they do, but if you research how dogs get killed by wolves it is rarely at a tree but most of the time while they are trailing. I have treed a lot a cats in wolf country and have never had my dogs hunted down by wolves or had wolves come into a tree. I believe what happens most of the time the dogs trail a track through an area where wolves are and bump into them.

I myself bought a Plott about 5 years ago for $1500.00 and had her killed by wolves in less than a year plus I have had numerous close calls since then with my dogs and wolves in close proximity though I have been lucky but I also know it is just a matter of time till I will lose more dogs to wolves. It is just the cost of running dogs in wolf country.

There are a lot of hound guys hunting in wolf country and it is rare that dogs get killed but it does happen and if you hunt long enough in wolf country and no matter how careful you are, you will probably eventually lose dogs to them.

Good post. I was drawn to this thread by a buddy who lost a hound, today in fact, to wolves. Having lost a couple of hounds to wolves myself I am sympathetic to what Mr.Soucy is going thru.

The fellows who think that there is a breed of dog bred to kill wolves must have watched the old Disney favorite "LOBO"
Truth is that besting them physically isn't the issue, the problem is that the confrontations take place on the wolf's or wolves terms. A large wolfhound in the deep woods surrounded by a pack is nothing more than a quick meal.
If the pack is threatened they will simply run until they exhaust their pursuer then turn around and take him.

[FullCryHounds]

Everyoneone is giving examples of why nothing can be done to do something about these wolves. Just turn tail and run when you find wolf tracks. I guess I just think differently, when I'm confronted with a problem, I try and find a solution. Yes, wolves are smart, so use that against them. They can be educated just like any other dog, and typically faster. You guys have a unique situation that can be exploited, the fact that these wolves are already coming to you, so use that. The reason I've been paid the last eighteen years to kill wolves in Alaska isn't because I came up with every excuse why I couldn't get the job done, I only wish we had the same situation up there that you guys have here in the lower 48... wolves already coming to you.
And yes Ian, I guarantee you, I could kill 5 wolves in a season, I've already done way more then that.

[mondomuttruner]

Everyoneone is giving examples of why nothing can be done to do something about these wolves. Just turn tail and run when you find wolf tracks. I guess I just think differently, when I'm confronted with a problem, I try and find a solution. Yes, wolves are smart, so use that against them. They can be educated just like any other dog, and typically faster. You guys have a unique situation that can be exploited, the fact that these wolves are already coming to you, so use that. The reason I've been paid the last eighteen years to kill wolves in Alaska isn't because I came up with every excuse why I couldn't get the job done, I only wish we had the same situation up there that you guys have here in the lower 48... wolves already coming to you.
And yes Ian, I guarantee you, I could kill 5 wolves in a season, I've already done way more then that.

X2
Yes they can get educated...when they become the chased, they get educated very fast to stay away from hounds.
Leave an area with tracks?? Where do you think you"ll find an area without tracks in 5 yrs??

[BIGBLUES]

Sorry about your loss.


I know a couple guys that have had a lot of success finding fresh wolf tracks and tracking them. I haven't had enough ambition to do this. Sometimes you can spot them but most of the time you jump them. When you jump them they will get aggressive and do a bark/howl. Sounding king of like a cow dog. If you stay put and reply as they do there is a good chance you will get a shot. Once you kill one wait around for about 2-3 hours because they will most likely be around for a while or come back looking.

[B/T]

Everyoneone is giving examples of why nothing can be done to do something about these wolves. Just turn tail and run when you find wolf tracks. I guess I just think differently, when I'm confronted with a problem, I try and find a solution. Yes, wolves are smart, so use that against them. They can be educated just like any other dog, and typically faster. You guys have a unique situation that can be exploited, the fact that these wolves are already coming to you, so use that. The reason I've been paid the last eighteen years to kill wolves in Alaska isn't because I came up with every excuse why I couldn't get the job done, I only wish we had the same situation up there that you guys have here in the lower 48... wolves already coming to you.
And yes Ian, I guarantee you, I could kill 5 wolves in a season, I've already done way more then that.

Im curious as to the pack you mention that was in colorado you say it is all gone now none are alive. Was this done by fish/wildlife people( not sure what you call your wardens) and how was it done. Or was it done by others and how was it done? lastly was it done legally or illegally?

[dhostetler]

Dean,

I would love to see you come up here and try to hunt these wolves. You seem to think we have wolves swarming the landscape and coming to us and etc. etc. Our general rifle wolf season is open from end of October to Feb. 28th and most of our hound guys are armed all the time. In the last 3 years I can not recall of one hound guy harvesting a wolf while hound hunting. They do not come into you if they would they would be killed en mass. Very few hounds are lost to wolves compared to the amount of guys out hunting. In fact Phil Soucy hunts more than most guys and this is first hound he lost to wolves. The last 6 years I treed an average of 20 to 30 lions a year and lost one hound to wolves. The vast majority of houndman have never lost a hound to wolves.

You must also realize that our area is heavily forested. So if you can't catch them on a road you are limited to fairly short range shots.

The odds that you will lose a hound to wolves on any given day that you go out to hunt is extremely low. I want to clarify though that I have a extreme hate for wolves and am willing to do my part to eliminate them from this planet.

[liontracker]

Im curious as to the pack you mention that was in colorado you say it is all gone now none are alive. Was this done by fish/wildlife people( not sure what you call your wardens) and how was it done. Or was it done by others and how was it done? lastly was it done legally or illegally?[/quote]

How can you seriously expect an answer to a question like that on the internet??????????

[NorWester]

I think the trouble is that most are hoping for a part time solution to a full time problem. There are for sure ways to put a dent in the population but most houndsman want to be out hunting with their dogs, not baiting and/or hanging wire on every game trail they know of and maintaining a trapline.