drahthaar
Active member
Today, in a conversation with the landowner of the property where I get most of my wolf pics, we were discussing the possiblity of actually getting tags for wolves and trying to take a couple out of this pack that is camped out on his property. I told him I have never even had a good enough look at one to get a shot. Well, all that changed tonight. I had one more cam to check, the downpour just stopped, there was a few lightning bolts dropping here and there, and it was starting to get dark. I jumped out of the truck, no pistol, no bear spray(I only need to run up the hill about 300 yards), what could possibly happen.
Ground was wet and quiet, that smell of rain hanging in the air, wind in my face, I leave the atv trail to follow a deer trail to the top of the ridge. About 40 yards from the top of the ridge I get a glimpse of movement, instantly, I see it, wolf. Just its back and base of its tail. It is going at a 45 right to me, our paths will meet at the ridgetop. I sneak up another 10 yards, he comes in another 15. I instantly recognize him, the alpha male, I have dozens of pics of him. Turns a couple circles and lays down, 20 yards away from me. Right now, all I can think is holy crap, this thing is huge, you just can't appreciate the size from cam pics. I only watch him for about 15 secs when turns and locks right in on me. I am not really worried, I take a half step out from behind the tree so he can see me full view. That dog erupted!! One quick, very loud huff, teeth bared, and boom, gone running away. I hustle up to the top to see the whole woods come alive, pups, and two big ones running down the hill. Unreal, thinking, I could have popped him, dang!!! What an opportunity. That is the one I really want to tag. 1000 acres, and I finally walked right into them.
I tell you what, I consider myself a half descent dog trainer, I own two large, fairly aggressive dogs, gone many rounds with aggresive dogs, I like sharp dogs, but holy crap, about 2 seconds of having that wolf staring me down and making that gutteral noise, that was enough to get the poo moving in the sigmoid. I know he was more scared and irritated than anything, but it could sure fool a guy into thinking he is coming.
Here are the pics from the one cam. All the other cams had zilch. This was the worst as far as having elk and deer ever. I hope they are all just up high on the mountain. But in years past I have always had many more pics of does and fawns, cows and calves.
This is the alpha male
This is what almost all the pics were. Coming and going.
Ground was wet and quiet, that smell of rain hanging in the air, wind in my face, I leave the atv trail to follow a deer trail to the top of the ridge. About 40 yards from the top of the ridge I get a glimpse of movement, instantly, I see it, wolf. Just its back and base of its tail. It is going at a 45 right to me, our paths will meet at the ridgetop. I sneak up another 10 yards, he comes in another 15. I instantly recognize him, the alpha male, I have dozens of pics of him. Turns a couple circles and lays down, 20 yards away from me. Right now, all I can think is holy crap, this thing is huge, you just can't appreciate the size from cam pics. I only watch him for about 15 secs when turns and locks right in on me. I am not really worried, I take a half step out from behind the tree so he can see me full view. That dog erupted!! One quick, very loud huff, teeth bared, and boom, gone running away. I hustle up to the top to see the whole woods come alive, pups, and two big ones running down the hill. Unreal, thinking, I could have popped him, dang!!! What an opportunity. That is the one I really want to tag. 1000 acres, and I finally walked right into them.
I tell you what, I consider myself a half descent dog trainer, I own two large, fairly aggressive dogs, gone many rounds with aggresive dogs, I like sharp dogs, but holy crap, about 2 seconds of having that wolf staring me down and making that gutteral noise, that was enough to get the poo moving in the sigmoid. I know he was more scared and irritated than anything, but it could sure fool a guy into thinking he is coming.
Here are the pics from the one cam. All the other cams had zilch. This was the worst as far as having elk and deer ever. I hope they are all just up high on the mountain. But in years past I have always had many more pics of does and fawns, cows and calves.
This is the alpha male
This is what almost all the pics were. Coming and going.
