Our 81st wolf

[hnt4life]

Found this big male in a very close/local whitetail hunting spot. He was chasing whitetail within shooting distance of a very popular local recreation spot, and within less than 1/4 mile of houses. He only took 10 minutes to drag to the truck after getting him out of the nasty draw he died in after the shot. There are more tracks in the area, and I won't be surprised if people start losing pets and livestock in the area. A lot of people will still deny the fact that wolves are our new coyotes, but I know now how close they are living and hunting to our towns. Like my title says, he is the 81st reported wolf in the state, and the first from my "management" area. I'm going to buy another tag, and hit the same area with a fawn in distress call. These wolves are following/chasing elk into areas I have never seen before. I have been hunting this area for 17 years and this is the first year I have ever seen elk there. I got a good weight on him, but thought I would let you folks take a guess. I am a pretty powerful dude, but no, he is not 275 lbs.

I encourage everyone who loves big game hunting to not stop now. Wolf season runs till march 15th. The future of our elk and deer herds is far more important than a football game, and you will feel much better hunting the second foremost apex predator than watching "your" team lose another game.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

82 pounds.

 

[Joe Hulburt]

82 pounds.

LOL I would say 78!

Curious what state??

 

[hnt4life]

jls...Eh, I'm a little more powerful than that!

 

[fishing4sanity]

Welcome to the site and very nice first post. By 81st, I'm guessing you mean the 81st reported kill this season? I know nothing about wolves, but I'll go with 88lbs. What kind of taxidermy are you planning, rug or full body mount? Great looking trophy, congrats!

 

[hnt4life]

I'm spittin' distance to Missoula, MT. Yeah, I can spit pretty far too! Unfortunatley, I almost didn't share this out of concern for my family's well being. There are some folks in Missoula who are extreme (idiots) wolf lovers. I'm talking about the type who believe I must have somehow shot one of the last wolves on the planet (after torturing it and bludgeoning the pups of course). We know wolves only exist as near mythical creatures of the mist, and only make themselves appear in the depths of our Native American brothers' vision quests. I guess the point I'm trying to make, is these types of people exist here, and would wish or perpetrate harm unto a person's family simply for harvesting an oversized wild dog.

I apologize for the rant, enjoy the wolf, and keep guessing at the weight.

 

[hnt4life]

fishing4sanity,

Thanks. Yes, this was the 81st wolf reported killed in MT this season. I think this is a little behind last year at the same time. They are no doubt very smart creatures and are learning pretty quick that they could be the hunted. The first wolf I saw was in 2005. I jumped him out of his bed in deep soft snow, and he stood at 40 yards and looked at me with curiosity for probably a minute or more before slowly moving off. This wolf and I spotted each other at the same time at about 50 yards and he didn't have to look long before turning to run.

The things that stood out to me are the size of the head, and the massive teeth. Compared to a comparable size domestic dog, this wolf's head is way bigger, as are the teeth. The paws are also larger than what would be on a comparable size dog. I am making all comparisons based on my mutt who is within a pound of what this wolf weighed.

I am doing a rug, and beatle and bleech on the skull. Starting to regret not doing a full mount as he is big enough.

 

[hnt4life]

duplicate

 

[Gunner46]

96 ?

 

[Dave N]

I'll go 104, why not?

 

[hnt4life]

Gunner is getting close.

 

[1_pointer]

Well done! Congrats on a very good looking wolf.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

How big is your dog? LOL John

 

[L. I. Yankee]

Congrats on a nice wolf.....

 

[JCS]

Nice trophy

 

[shoots-straight]

91 lbs, and he's a nice dog. Worthy trophy don't you think?

 

[What Map]

Welcome to Hunt Talk. Congratulations. Nice wolf. He will make a great wolf rug.
Good luck with your next tag.

 

[tjones]

I'm spittin' distance to Missoula, MT. Yeah, I can spit pretty far too! Unfortunatley, I almost didn't share this out of concern for my family's well being. There are some folks in Missoula who are extreme (idiots) wolf lovers. I'm talking about the type who believe I must have somehow shot one of the last wolves on the planet (after torturing it and bludgeoning the pups of course). We know wolves only exist as near mythical creatures of the mist, and only make themselves appear in the depths of our Native American brothers' vision quests. I guess the point I'm trying to make, is these types of people exist here, and would wish or perpetrate harm unto a person's family simply for harvesting an oversized wild dog.

I apologize for the rant, enjoy the wolf, and keep guessing at the weight.

100 pounds . You legally harvested a game animal you may catch a little flack but really nothing to worry about.

Congrats! Nice wolf.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Internet tough guys who threaten others are cowards, pure and simple.

Awesome trophy. I'll say 90 pounds even. Congrats on a great woof!

 

[Gr8bawana]

Congratulations to you. Kill as many as you can. A way to keep the wolves from decimating our game animals might be to release
some of the animal rights fanatics, most of whom live nowhere near wolf country into the area for the wolves to feed on.