Wolf pack

[BGSH]

Cool picture of an Idaho Wolf pack

[yamaha 1]

Originally Posted by best guide shawn homeniuk

Cool picture of an Idaho Wolf pack

Can you imagine how many animals that pack takes down every year. Say good buy to everything.

[BGSH]

Originally Posted by yamaha 1

Can you imagine how many animals that pack takes down every year. Say good buy to everything.

This picture was takin a couple days ago to, does Alberta have packs like this, that work together like this?

[Tundra Monkey]

We had an article a couple years ago titled "No Moose Around Fort Good Hope"....the article mentioned a pack of 70 that were around the area.

Depending which biologist I've spoken to....they take anywhere from 25 - 40 caribou a year per animal.

tm

Originally Posted by yamaha 1

Can you imagine how many animals that pack takes down every year. Say good buy to everything.

They pretty well have said goodbye to their elk herds down there. Our Alberta wolves are pretty efficient predators.....even south of the 49th

[ShawnM]

It's odd, the wolves are said to be everywhere devouring wild game etc. But I very rarely see a single wolf, much less a pack that size.

Where are they all? I have 100rd container of .22-250 with their name on it!

[yamaha 1]

There is a pack north of Peace River about 45 min. from town that is said to be around 12 to 14 strong. Now haveing said that I personally seen lots of wolve packs numbering form 3 to 9 all over the Peace region. We have a wolf problem up here.

[ShawnM]

Down in South AB near Calgary/Cremona area there are some wolves but they are pretty well in check. Coyotes are everywhere though.

[SkytopBrewster]

Would love to have the M-249 SAW I shot at the Gun Store there, mow them all down!

[fordtruckin]

Screw the SAW, I'd rather take a M82. They wouldn't know where it was coming from and if you lined it up right, take 2 or 3 of them out at once!

Yah wolves are a problem down here in Montana to. to bad everyone things they are an the endangered species list. Friggen tofu farting, tree hunging, liberal hippies! As for seeing them, I've had reports from at least 3 different people seeing different packs ranging from 3-9 animals in 4 different areas of our county in the past week alone. Absolutely to many of them. No wonder I can't find any deer or elk!

[buckman]

Lots of them north of #11 on the trunk road, try the Blackstone east of the t road.

[rhuntley12]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

They pretty well have said goodbye to their elk herds down there. Our Alberta wolves are pretty efficient predators.....even south of the 49th

^^^^^ Not worth hunting elk there anymore. Haven't talked to my older brother who I think went deer hunting recently in Idaho this year, but the last couple years they went bow hunting for elk all they got were tons and tons of wolves. The gas station they stopped at told them to please shoot them and don't tell anyone.

I find it very sad to hear places I could go 10 years ago and be in herds of elk now all you can find are wolves.

[northerntrapper]

Just made up a batch of wolf snares, but not a lot of wolf sign out there on the line. We thinned them out a bit last winter, and there seems to be a lot less sign around this year. Not that many yotes either, but once the weather settles out, we will have a better idea. Either way, the wire gets hung out.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Tundra Monkey

We had an article a couple years ago titled "No Moose Around Fort Good Hope"....the article mentioned a pack of 70 that were around the area.

Depending which biologist I've spoken to....they take anywhere from 25 - 40 caribou a year per animal.

tm

Tundra, I want to make sure I understand this correctly. Each wolf will kill 25-40 caribou per year?
If my grade 3 math serves me well, that means a pack of ten will kill 250 per year. How many packs of ten are running around? At an estimated population of 4200 wolves in Alberta (Wikipedia) how can anything survive that?

[Shaggy]

Sometimes the wolves need help.

[BobLoblaw]

Shaggy, you just made my day!
My Lord, I laughed at that!

[Tundra Monkey]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Tundra, I want to make sure I understand this correctly. Each wolf will kill 25-40 caribou per year?
If my grade 3 math serves me well, that means a pack of ten will kill 250 per year. How many packs of ten are running around? At an estimated population of 4200 wolves in Alberta (Wikipedia) how can anything survive that?

That is absolutely correct. On the high end of the biologists number that pack of 10 would kill 400 caribou. Just depends on which guy/gal you are speaking to. They survive it and have forever......although they take a pounding. We have no management plan for wolves up here anymore. The risk was identified years ago and the last time a "cull" was performed to my knowledge was back in the 50's (poison). As far as I know there is only one "professional" wolf hunter up here nowadays and he shoots 80 - 200 a year. He does not trap or does very little of it to my knowledge. We do have unlimited tags for them and are legal to hunt them off snowmobile but it is really tough when you are in the trees. More of an opprotunistic chance when you see them on a lake. I'm pretty efficient up on the tundra for them as we can cut tracks and run them down.....even if it's a 50 mile track before you catch up.

I've personally witnessed a single wolf on the calving grounds killing/eating as many calves as it could until it literally could not walk anymore. It layed there for 2 days and then got up and started again. We were there with a bunch of naturalists who also watched the display over a week. If I heard one more "it ain't pretty but that's nature" comment I would have snapped. I was there for "bear protection" and it was all I could do not to start pluggin' em'. You really want to see something clean em' up.....you should see how many a grizz can slam back.

Caribou drop 90% of there calves within' a week or so....literally thousands of them.....pretty amazing to see it. The main migration of caribou is something to behold. The land literally moves and you can not see it.....literally 10's of thousands of animals, shoulder to shoulder moving as one......very moving and powerful to witness it.

I would equate your deer to a caribou.....they would need less moose or elk due to the size of the animal. When you start doing the math it gets kinda crazy.

tm

edit.....I have no idea how many pack of 10 we have up here but my operator at our hydro site called me yesterday to say the caribou have started showing up as well as a pack of 20 wolves he'd seen. We have no shortage of em' up here.

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Tundra, I want to make sure I understand this correctly. Each wolf will kill 25-40 caribou per year?
If my grade 3 math serves me well, that means a pack of ten will kill 250 per year. How many packs of ten are running around? At an estimated population of 4200 wolves in Alberta (Wikipedia) how can anything survive that?

A '09 Alberta study calculated an average pack size of 8 wolves would kill a deer (0.30) /elk (0.06) /moose (0.03) at least every three days. That's an average minimum of 122 ungulateskilled per year /pack, or 15 animals per wolf per year.
http://www.fur.ca/files/Density,%20D...%20Summary.pdf


I believe the 4200 wolf population estimate is from 2001. A conservative growth projection is 20% per year. The Alberta wolf population could easily be as high as 26,000!

Think about this number. 26,000 wolves at 15 kills per wolf= 390,000 deer/elk/moose killed by wolves every year!!

The trend cannot continue for long. Alberta will run out of prey in short order, and associated hunting opportunity for humans, if a wolf cull is not implemented immediately. Remember Yaha Tinda.... the 4400 strong elk herd was reduced to less than 400 in a matter of a few years, all due to wolf predation....

I recently asked an SRD carnivore biologist what the present population is. The answer was "TOO MANY"....

[Shaggy]

I knew it was bad, but I had no idea.

I am currently making plans to go this weekend or next weekend to the Tinda and try to thin the population.

[0liver]

I like how the guys who can't hunt worth a $*&% blame it on the wolves. nature requires a balance. im not no daisy farting hippie either. I just think you guys paint with pretty wide strokes.

A pack of 3-9 will maybe get 1 elk or deer a month. MAYBE. Supplement that with jack rabbits and carrion and what ever they can get there hands on [like the buck a poacher left frozen in that field after he chopped its antlers off] and there filling there niche perfect. the thousands and thousands of human beings that get tags and are equipped with precision equipment, maps and even set hunting areas trail cams tree stands decoys high powered rifles will harvest hundreds if not thousands more deer and elk a season then even the largest of wolf packs..

Who's really the one responsible for the lack of our ungulate friends?

NO IM NOT AGAINST HUNTERS HARVESTING ANIMALS, I AM JUST SAYING PULL UP YOUR PANTS AND LEARN TO HUNT AND IF YOU CAN'T GET A FLIPPIN' DEER DON'T BLAME IT ON THE FLIPPIN' WOLVES....

[exitwound]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Sometimes the wolves need help.

ha ha one smart buffalo and the old " i dont need to run fast just need to run faster than you" saying comes into play here

[Tundra Monkey]

Originally Posted by 0liver

I like how the guys who can't hunt worth a $*&% blame it on the wolves. nature requires a balance. im not no daisy farting hippie either. I just think you guys paint with pretty wide strokes.

A pack of 3-9 will maybe get 1 elk or deer a month. MAYBE. Supplement that with jack rabbits and carrion and what ever they can get there hands on [like the buck a poacher left frozen in that field after he chopped its antlers off] and there filling there niche perfect. the thousands and thousands of human beings that get tags and are equipped with precision equipment, maps and even set hunting areas trail cams tree stands decoys high powered rifles will harvest hundreds if not thousands more deer and elk a season then even the largest of wolf packs..

Who's really the one responsible for the lack of our ungulate friends?

NO IM NOT AGAINST HUNTERS HARVESTING ANIMALS, I AM JUST SAYING PULL UP YOUR PANTS AND LEARN TO HUNT AND IF YOU CAN'T GET A FLIPPIN' DEER DON'T BLAME IT ON THE FLIPPIN' WOLVES....

lol.....you may want to talk to someone with a little knowledge in the field like a biologist. You sound almost as smart as the fish in your avatar.

100+ pound wolves living off rabbits......you're priceless lol.

tm

[ShawnM]

Originally Posted by Tundra Monkey

lol.....you may want to talk to someone with a little knowledge in the field like a biologist. You sound almost as smart as the fish in your avatar.

100+ pound wolves living off rabbits......you're priceless lol.

tm

Ever seen the movie "Never Cry Wolf"? They were living off mice

[C Taylor]

And don't forget the mice eh. Way easier than a deer in belly deep snow while the dogs are on top.
I have to shake my head when I hear that they only take the sick and weak. Anything gets weak in a hurry when in snow and a pack after ya

[chain2]

Originally Posted by BobLoblaw

Shaggy, you just made my day!
My Lord, I laughed at that!

mee too! holly crap I got a laugh at that!...wheewww

I trailed a dozen fresh wolf track and finally caught up to em wacked a female grey yesterday....chain

[jaylow?]

Originally Posted by 0liver

I like how the guys who can't hunt worth a $*&% blame it on the wolves. nature requires a balance. im not no daisy farting hippie either. I just think you guys paint with pretty wide strokes.

A pack of 3-9 will maybe get 1 elk or deer a month. MAYBE. Supplement that with jack rabbits and carrion and what ever they can get there hands on [like the buck a poacher left frozen in that field after he chopped its antlers off] and there filling there niche perfect. the thousands and thousands of human beings that get tags and are equipped with precision equipment, maps and even set hunting areas trail cams tree stands decoys high powered rifles will harvest hundreds if not thousands more deer and elk a season then even the largest of wolf packs..

Who's really the one responsible for the lack of our ungulate friends?

NO IM NOT AGAINST HUNTERS HARVESTING ANIMALS, I AM JUST SAYING PULL UP YOUR PANTS AND LEARN TO HUNT AND IF YOU CAN'T GET A FLIPPIN' DEER DON'T BLAME IT ON THE FLIPPIN' WOLVES....

[pickrel pat]

Originally Posted by Tundra Monkey

lol.....you may want to talk to someone with a little knowledge in the field like a biologist. You sound almost as smart as the fish in your avatar.

100+ pound wolves living off rabbits......you're priceless lol.

tm

actually, in the summer months, rodents and such make up most of there diet. especially beaver. they know this through scat. winter its a differant story. in the winter you see wolves packed up. in the summer you see more singles and doubles......

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

Looks like a nice hill to park on top of put the snow camo on get down wind and pick them off 1 at a time . The 22-250 helping Elk herds everywhere since 1937 .

[sdkidaho]

Originally Posted by best guide shawn homeniuk

Cool picture of an Idaho Wolf pack

Where in Idaho?

[BeeGuy]

Originally Posted by walking buffalo

A '09 Alberta study calculated an average pack size of 8 wolves would kill a deer (0.30) /elk (0.06) /moose (0.03) at least every three days. That's an average minimum of 122 ungulateskilled per year /pack, or 15 animals per wolf per year.
http://www.fur.ca/files/Density,%20D...%20Summary.pdf


I believe the 4200 wolf population estimate is from 2001. A conservative growth projection is 20% per year. The Alberta wolf population could easily be as high as 26,000!

Think about this number. 26,000 wolves at 15 kills per wolf= 390,000 deer/elk/moose killed by wolves every year!!

The trend cannot continue for long. Alberta will run out of prey in short order, and associated hunting opportunity for humans, if a wolf cull is not implemented immediately. Remember Yaha Tinda.... the 4400 strong elk herd was reduced to less than 400 in a matter of a few years, all due to wolf predation....

I recently asked an SRD carnivore biologist what the present population is. The answer was "TOO MANY"....

390,000??

That number is worthless!

390,000 mice would be more reasonable.