Jcs271
Well-known member
I have been really struggling with getting in close on wolves this year. The few times I have been on them I was either busted by swirling winds or crunchy frozen snow. It has been raining lightly for the last ten days and this morning was no exception.
I was in some very remote country at daylight and made several stands with no response. Wet and frustrated I walked back to my jeep. After a short pity party right there in the drivers seat I decided to give it ONE more try and headed over to another spot about a mile away. After only two short lonesome howls, one low and throaty, the other a little higher pitched, I heard a response. It sounded like there were five or six of them but they were spread out and way up the side of a mountain with absolutely no trail access.
I normally do not try sneaking in on a whole pack simply because I usually get busted and the more they are pestered, the more wary they become. Today however with no wind and a light rain falling I decided to go for it. As I was strapping on my pack and grabbing a walking stick in preparation for a difficult hike, I couldn't help thinking about the old saying "Fortune Favors the Bold".
For the next 90 minutes I slowly made my way up the slope utilizing game trails as best I could to make the walk a little easier. When I got near the top there was a little saddle and I could see fairly well in most directions for 25-40 yards.
I thought it was as good a place as any to set up. All the way up I had been trying to figure out my best option for calling, assuming that I did not get busted on the way in. I decided that instead of soft whining or howling I would instead just crank on my fawn distress and hope for the best, my theory being that if they were separated but all in the general area, then each would think that one of the others had caught something and just maybe.........
I sat on a flat rock with my little .308 Ruger at the ready, safety off. I run illuminated reticle scopes on all of my hunting rifles. The Leupold VXR 2-7 was turned all the way down and the firedot duplex reticle was glowing.
I own several exotic hardwood magnum calls made by Robert Patrick of RareEarth calls in Michigan. So when I started mimicking a fawn in distress on the one made from Ironwood I knew It would carry loudly and clearly across the slope.
After three or four soulful "distress bleats" I sat still. Twenty seconds later I saw movement directly in front of me at about 35-40 yards. It was a gray colored wolf coming down the game trail at a lope, and heading straight for me. I started tracking it with the red dot so I could fire the second it stopped.
Except it wasn't stopping, it was so intent on finding the fawn that I realized it was going to be in my lap if I didn't do something quick! So I woofed and it hit the brakes. With the firedot centered on its chest as the wolf faced me at less than 12 yards, I simply pulled the trigger and it collapsed. The 150 grain Norma Kalahari bullet performed perfectly.
I instantly reloaded and scanned for any other wolves but there was nothing but silence. I howled on the off chance the gunshot had been ignored but there was no response.
As I notched my tag and prepared for the pack out, I couldn't help but think how close I had come two hours earlier to just giving up and going home cold wet and hungry.
Wolf hunting is just like the lottery, you can't win if you don't play. Today I hit the jackpot!
The wolf was a female, aged as a 2 year old by the FWP biologist.
SHAMELESS plug for RareEarth calls and a picture of some of my favorites!
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