MN day time calling

December 2017 was the worst month of mine on record and the coyotes have been dead quite but the coyote sign is thick, I've only heard 3 coyote howls in December and only one was in response to my calls. A good amount of my poor hunting had to do with weather I believe but I was finding some tracks that got me worried there was now wolves around the area. I tried to write the tracks off as dog or some fluke of a large coyote but I'm not the only one that has seen them and we haven't only seen one set in one spot but multiple sets in multiple spots.

Then the worst of all happened last night, called in a pair of wolves....

These weren't huge wolves and it was 11 at night so when I see dogs running to some interrogation howls I'm gonna start shooting and I tried, had everything not gone wrong I would be hiding a pair of wolves and I wouldn't be telling this story. They ended up winding me and running to my right, I was laying prone at this one spot and I had to get on all 4's to pivot right, once I got to where I could fire I had breathed on my lense while moving and it fogged up, once I cleared the scope they were in cover. My first thought wasn't WOLVES, my first thought was coyote because that's what we're hunting for and the calls we were playing and there shouldn't be wolves way down here... It wasn't until I got a chance to watch them leave in the open and they went under a field sprinkler that I realized they weren't moving quite like coyotes and they were too big next to that sprinkler tire to be coyotes.

So that's about my season summed up, likely toast now.

 
I have seen similar issues. Not nearly the howling as previous years. Daytime calling has been a bust. Finally howled some in on Saturday but winded me from adjacent property. Have not been out under the moon yet. It's a numbers game I guess.
 
Its been a struggle for me as well- normally should have 30-40 and we got about 15. Calling been garbage, both day and night. Don't hear many and don't see many driving as well.

We have had tons more wolves in the area the last two years and guessing that its taking its toll.

This extreme cold has slowed things as well and if it don't get better when it breaks some its going to be a tough year.
 
This bit of a warm up seemed to have them moving tonight, still no howling though. Only made 2 stands and called in three coyotes, I shot two and one showed up after we were leaving the stand and we didn't get a shot at it.

My buddy said he was tired after 2 stands and that was it for the night because my starter just went out when I tried to leave to go hunting, so I'm stranded at home right now wishing I was out, a bit of a haze over the moon but otherwise a great night to be out.
 
A lady in Howard lake said she has had Fox,coyote and wolves on her place. Has not heard a coyote since wolf sighting. My guess is the coyote will not vocalize if wolves are nearby.
 
I just got back from Howard Lake 15 minutes ago, I was out there trimming a couple belgian horses.

The first time I ever thought I heard a wolf was actually just north of Waverly, it was a ways off and I couldn't be certain but I would put my money on a wolf. And that was 4 years ago I think.

What I find strange is that these wolves have likely been around for a little while, so why this year has there been such a sudden shift? Last year coyotes were howling and showing up to even my buddy on a Hot Dog hand caller just learning how to use it.

I few months ago there was a good amount of publicity on the fact that the DNR released their wolf population data and found that the wolf numbers increased by 25% from last year... I don't know what to think of that, if the wolf population actually did increase that much or if the bureaucrats finally couldn't hide the fact that there are more wolves around than what they were claiming for years. They were claiming some pretty low numbers since the wolf hunting got shut down again in MN, too low for me to believe with the amount of sign I've seen up north, and what people I know claimed to be around up there.
 
A lot of lefties making money off of wolves and wolf litigation. Our senators (including the groper) were pretty proud of themselves when they appropriated funding for wolf damage reimbursement in Minnesota. As of September,270 wolves were killed and buried by the USDA employees out of Grand Rapids, Mn. If the true population of Mn wolves,was published,people would be shocked. The western States populations pale compared to Mn.
 
I haven't been out as much as I'd like and have been trying daytime calling with little success. I'm going to mirror what has been said about lack of coyote vocalization. I live right on the south side of town and normally while being outside a train horn will make them start yapping. It has been very quiet with sign being mixed.

Rock I've heard of wolf sightings over here in Meeker county and never really doubted it but also couldn't personally confirm it. I'm still in the "it wouldn't surprise me" bunch. From what I've heard from you gents, personal experiences, and the DNR being shifty on the whole mess I'd say there's probably more wolves around than one thinks. Come to think of it I ran into a farmer last fall after deer hunting that swore up and down he had a wolf on his farmland during deer hunting. That was down near Cosmos.
 
I've got one buddy that says he knows a guy that saved the news clipping from 2001 saying that the DNR released a small pack(5 maybe) of red wolves on the west side of Clearwater, and since claimed they didn't make it.

I looked into red wolves and they seemed to be a southern species. So I'm not quite sure what's running around. The pair I called in was on a darker night and the closest I saw them was about 80 to 100 yards. I saw enough to tell they weren't coyotes, their ears were too rounded, legs thicker and they didn't run away quite like a coyote and their size as they ran past a field irrigation tire but I couldn't make out coloration.

I will be out and about my normal areas, I will try to keep my camera on me and if I see tracks again I will get some pics and put them up here.
 
I heard a few years ago that two wolves were released in the mn river bottom by lacquiparle. Supposedly both where found dead.
 
I can never believe the claims folks make of the MN DNR releasing wolves here or there around the state. Why would they? It makes no sense if ya think it thru. Wolves around farms and cities are trouble the DNR or USDA does not need.

Wolves are always testing new ground like any other animal. I have fisher and ravens around now...heard of a marten on trail cam not far away. I don’t think the DNR released them.
 
Whether the DNR released animals or not, the fact is that the population up north is definitely making the animals need to move farther to the south.
 
Rock knocker. Did you go out and inspect the tracks of what you called in? Are you sure they weren't domestic dogs? I've had that happen before. Call in farm dogs. Just a thought.
 
I didn't check the tracks and I'm kicking myself for not checking them. Honestly it was our last set of the day, I was so cold I was having problems operating the foxpro remote and we had a 30 minute drive back to where my car was parked then another 30 until I was home and I to work in 6 hours. It was one of those sets I was glad only lasted 10 minutes instead of sitting around for another 20, we high tailed it out of there.
 
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