Wolves, everywhere!

M

mserman

New member
I live in the central upper peninsula of Michigan and it seems wolves are taking over. Last year I saw more wolves and wolf sign than in the previous five years combined! I even saw one that must have just jumped off a kill because it was so covered in blood I could see blood dripping off its fur 50 yards away.

Here in Michigan wolves have only recently become a nuisance in the last five or six years I think. In other words we didn't grow up having to worry about them and now they have become a bit of the boogey man and people really fear them.

This year all the areas that used to be coyote hot spots seem to have more wolf tracks than coyotes. I haven't done too much calling in these areas because I'm a little scared to head into the cedar swamps all by my lonesome.

I usually carry a shotgun with 3in hevishot loads. I hope that would discourage any would be attacker but I'm still concerned with a scenario where several wolves come knocking. I don't want to bypass my usual areas and miss out on some great hunts so I'm going to start carrying my full size 1911.

For you guys who have always dealt with them, am I being paranoid? Keep in mind I'm not hunting wide open country, I'm talking about remote areas where you are lucky to see 25 yds. Do you do anything to to protect yourself too? Thanks!
 
Are they legal game in MI ? If they are kill the heck out of them. Get some #4 buck and check your pattern to see what choke ya need and just lay them to waste......
 
I live and hunt in an area very similar to what you describe. My visibility is usually well under 75yds. While it is good to be aware of your surroundings, don't get paranoid about a pack of slobbering wolves coming in to eat you. My experience is that non hunted populations are somewhat curious and will circle around while they figure out what you are (especially when you are calling). Make some noise, move or yell and they will usually take off. I always carry a pistol when hunting but its more for two legged varmints!
 
A friend and myself called in three wolves up around the Porkies while coyote hunting. They came in around 50 yards. They were running pretty fast out in front of us. Never bothered us or anything. Saw them the one time and that was it. They were gone.
 
Thanks for the replies. There is just something about walking into the deep woods by yourself in the middle of the night that makes my hair stand up a little, especially when there are wolf tracks every where. Since the reintroduction of wolves in MI they have been built up and demonized in everyone's mind. I wasn't sure how people deal with them who always had them around and are probably more accustomed to wolf/human interactions...

Thanks again!
 
i fish up near Marquette area a few times a year... i NEVER venture out into the woods there without my full size 40 with me at the very minimum. the walk back from yellow dog falls to the road right at dark can be a little nerve racking.

last summer i was working up there and one of the store managers told me that the week prior they had a wolf at the edge of the parking lot there by the petsmart howling at them. They were pretty freaked out about it, and rightfully so as they could hear the rest of the pack across the road up in the woods back there.
 
That's crazy! Thats right in town.

I still remember the first time I heard one. A friend of mine and I were camping in the Sturgeon River Gorge. We were taking pulls off a bottle of whiskey right before bed and HOOOOOOOOWWWLLLLLL! We had no fire and were just sleeping out under the stars. We slept with pistols on our chests that night hahaha.
 
Eh, not always will they be curious and leave. Bow hunter 1 or 2 years ago got one at 9 yards with his 45 here in N.E. Washington. Took 4 shots. All to the head chest. Said he saw it through the trees circling downwind. He yelled and pulled the pistol and put down the bow. It broke cover at 30-40 yards charging and he opened up. They don’t know what we are and need to be culled. They can go extinct for all I care, they’re a predator from a time we will never see again of mega herds and huge wildernesses. We’ll never live in harmony with them.
 
Originally Posted By: msermanThat's crazy! Thats right in town.

I still remember the first time I heard one. A friend of mine and I were camping in the Sturgeon River Gorge. We were taking pulls off a bottle of whiskey right before bed and HOOOOOOOOWWWLLLLLL! We had no fire and were just sleeping out under the stars. We slept with pistols on our chests that night hahaha.

yup. right there on the NW corner of the city. i was remarking to them about the experience i had the night before out on the yellow dog. I was down near the falls running a streamer thru that big pool at the top - hoping to catch a big brown sneaking out for some just before dark snacks.

I'm hip deep in the river, its 20 mins to dark, when i hear *Crash* *splash* *splash* just upstream behind me.

I [beeep] near dropped my rod in the river trying to get my gun out of the holster as i'm turning around to see a little fawn, just out of its spots, standing there staring at me in the middle of the river like '[beeep] are you doing here?'

not a comforting experience when you're 45 mins from the nearest town and nothing but a couple scattered cabins and maybe a logging camp within a couple miles of you.



i can only imagine listening to them howl when you're roughing it out in the middle of nowhere overnight like you describe.
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Its probably one heck of a cure for diarrhea with that level of pucker factor in play
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she told me he was stading right about where this arrow is. right on that little strip of grass there at the edge of the plaza. they were there early morning for a delivery. she parked right in front of the building, ran into the store quick, locked the door and then got the delivery driver off the back dock and they just hung out in the store for like an hour or so.

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There's wolves around here now too and plenty of wolves and bears in Northern MN and a decent amount of bears where I bowhunt in Wisconsin.

I've never had a problem with wolves, but we have scared a few bears out of camp, and we only camp in bivybags and no tent. After scaring a mother bear with 4 cubs out of camp one night I decided to get a 460 Rowland and a Streamlight TLR1HL and strapped all that to myself with a drop leg holster so the gun is never under my guille suit or under a thick heavy jackets in the winter.

I think the simple to get to drop leg holster and a blindingly bright light on the gun are going to be more important than gun caliber.
 
Forest Ghost:

"They can go extinct for all I care, they’re a predator from a time we will never see again of mega herds and huge wildernesses. We’ll never live in harmony with them."

You got that right buddy. I would love to set a bunch a "greenie snowflakes down in front of a large screen surround sound and let the watch and listen as a pack tears apart a living moose, elk, caribo or bison calf. Lets see what they think then.....

We rid ourselves of them many years ago..... I dont see any biologic diversity or balance to them being here... Fact is, because of habitat and prey compression they are doing more damage than good.

Just an old biologist's thoughts.
 
Originally Posted By: huntschoolForest Ghost:

"They can go extinct for all I care, they’re a predator from a time we will never see again of mega herds and huge wildernesses. We’ll never live in harmony with them."

You got that right buddy. I would love to set a bunch a "greenie snowflakes down in front of a large screen surround sound and let the watch and listen as a pack tears apart a living moose, elk, caribo or bison calf. Lets see what they think then.....

We rid ourselves of them many years ago..... I dont see any biologic diversity or balance to them being here... Fact is, because of habitat and prey compression they are doing more damage than good.

Just an old biologist's thoughts.

Just curious but should the same standard apply to grizzly bears, black bears, and mountain lions because there are at least 50 of them for every wolf in the state of Montana?
 
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