The only Wolf that I have ever seen....

....and it hardly counts, compared to those of you who live among them. We were at Deneli Park riding on the Park tour bus., a few years ago. The driver stopped, asked for quiet and pointed out a scene which he claim was his first, in 5 years of driving the bus.

Maybe 200 yards away, in a valley along the road, was a wolf trying to kill a huge moose. The wolf had the moose by the throat and was hanging on for dear life. Blood was clearly flowing down the moose's neck and chest. After a few moments the moose began to drag itself and the wolf toward the nearby river. Slowly the moose inched into ever deeper water. Eventually the wolf could continue to hang on only by swimming continuosly. Eventually the exhausted wolf let go and swam to the shore.

Silently I cheered that the moose had survived. "not so fast" said the driver. The wolf sat on the opposite shore a couple hundred feet away. "The moose is weakened" said the driver. "The wolf will wait until the moose becomes totally exhausted....then he will have dinner." "The wolf will win."

We had to continue on our tour of the park. Somehow I am sure that the bus driver was correct. Yeah...kind of a disneyland, tourist observation. None the less a rare peak at nature....behaving naturally.

Hopefully a way can be found to balance and control the reintroduction in the lower 48. My wife and I just concluded 2 weeks driving the backroads of S. Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. We hiked many miles in Glacier,The Badlands, Yellowstone and in Nebraska National Monumnents...deep into the mountians and wilderness. Hundreds and hundreds of miles were spent drivng through vast ranch land in all those states. Were I a rancher....I'd want 90% of the predators dead.

When my son and I were airplane camping at Johnson Creek and Moose Creek last year we did a lot of backcountry hiking. I am confident that we saw wolf tracks during a couple of our hikes. Maybe not....but they looked like the examples in our books. By the way....we were packing a 44 magnum. Glad there was never a reason to discharge the weapon. Silly Missourians....but the weapon made us feel better.

Good luck to all.

Bob

I don't know about being reasonable, Shorton; but I am a realist. My local pilot friends call me RC too!

Not all of us Easterners are Liberal tree-hugger nut-cases. The way the cities in this part of the country are; those of us who live out in the sticks like to keep our guns handy. PA is a big hunting and fishing state. The PA Game Commission folks do a good job and seem to have their heads screwed on right.

Some feel-good a-holes released a couple of wolves into the State Game Land a while back and all the law enforcement guys are looking to grab their butts! Here's the whole story - http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?A=11&Q=167471

We have good healthy deer herd in PA. But we're real short on actual wilderness here. Wolves can range a couple of hundred miles, so anyone with more the three brain cells should know that given the population per mile ratio, wolves won't last long. Not with all the hunters, farmers, and other 'reasonable men around!

AvidFlyer wrote:You would know if it was a Wolf. In Idaho they are averaging 175-200lbs. I found some tracks this winter and they were bigger than the palm of my hand. Two of my Lab's paw prints would fit inside it.

by dawgdriver »
There have been 2 troublesome wolves harvested by F&G in Idaho recently. One weighed in at 190# The other over 150.

by hardtailjohn »
Now you're really going to confuse the "facts" as stated above with the truth..... they (the parasites) can't handle that!!
JH
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Well folks I did a little research. As with our MN wolves, the western wolf and the management of these animals is all public information. From the Western District Supervisor USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services 9134 West Blackeagle Drive
Boise, ID 83709 [Quote]: "The biggest wolf we've ever weighed was 135 pounds and it was full of calf meat. We've only had a few more that were in the 120's. Most are 90 - 110 pounds. We have taken a few adults that weighed less than 70." [end Quote]

It's always a #400 blackbear, a #200 Halibut, a 60" moose, a 7x7 Elk or perhaps a #190wolf.

Hmmm, reminds me of a conversation with a guy yesterday. He was telling me about a 400 lb bear he drug out of the woods near my house. I said "you drug out a 400 lb bear?" Yep, was his answer....I then asked him where he weighed it....."Well, it looked like it was about 400 lbs." It was good for a laugh at least.
WW

scout wrote:

AvidFlyer wrote:You would know if it was a Wolf. In Idaho they are averaging 175-200lbs. I found some tracks this winter and they were bigger than the palm of my hand. Two of my Lab's paw prints would fit inside it.

by dawgdriver »
There have been 2 troublesome wolves harvested by F&G in Idaho recently. One weighed in at 190# The other over 150.

by hardtailjohn »
Now you're really going to confuse the "facts" as stated above with the truth..... they (the parasites) can't handle that!!
JH
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Well folks I did a little research. As with our MN wolves, the western wolf and the management of these animals is all public information. From the Western District Supervisor USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services 9134 West Blackeagle Drive
Boise, ID 83709

: "The biggest wolf we've ever weighed was 135 pounds and it was full of calf meat. We've only had a few more that were in the 120's. Most are 90 - 110 pounds. We have taken a few adults that weighed less than 70." [end Quote]

It's always a #400 blackbear, a #200 Halibut, a 60" moose, a 7x7 Elk or perhaps a #190wolf.

Don't have any pics of one of those little 200 pounders, but here is a nice one caught by one of my "sports" a few years ago. Personally, I'd have tossed it back, but I didn't catch it.

Somebody else will have to do the bear, moose, and elk. I never see the big ones.



gb

That's alot of Halibut. Best meat out there from the sea.

gbflyer,
I am not saying those big animals aren't out there......I am saying that most people over exaggerate the size. I have a digital scale that I try and weigh all the game I get here at my place. Mostly I do it to see if my game management is helping any.
I have got photos of several whitetails I have shot on my place that weighed around and over 200 lbs. One 4x4 at 230, and 5x7 that was 210 dressed, I would "guess it was around 250 on the hoof. Not versed on posting photos on here so you'll have to take my word for it.

Just a couple of small 100#?
http://media.photobucket.com/image/wolv ... large2.jpg

Sounds like the wolf/coyote/etc wanted the fish, not the human.

For the authorities on Idaho wolves out of MN. You might find this interesting at least you will learn about the grey wolf population and size. Grey wolves have already been reported to 175# prior to the recent. From the gov research on wolves in the Norther Rockies
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/spe ... mals/wolf/

Holy Sh*t dogdriver! Is that from Idaho and what did it weigh? Kill everyone of those S.O.B.s, Yotes are as big as anything I ever want to come across.
And who believes anything fish and game reports? Mo Cons. denied there weren't Mt. Lions in Missouri even when they would occasionally get hit on the highways. They also claim hawks have nothing to do w/ the quail and prairie chicken pop. drying up.

dawg,
What info am I supposed to find in your link? There are hundreds of pages there. Found this,

25) How big are wolves? The size of a wolf varies depending on where it is found. Smaller sizes tend to be found in the southern portion of wolf range and larger sizes in the northern portion. Females tend to be slightly smaller than males. The average size of males is 5 to 6.5 feet long (tip of nose to tip of tail), 26 to 32 inches high at the shoulder, and 70 to 115 pounds in weight (in Alaska they occasionally reach 145 pounds). The average size of females is 4.5 to 6 feet long, 26 to 32 inches high

The animal kingdom has its raritys. I saw a guy at Walmart the other day going #500. MN. wolves are smaller yep.
I spend alot of time in AK. My homestead friends and pilot friends haven't got a wolf over #120 ever. Years of bush experience. I'm not saying it's impossible for a wolf to reach #190. What got my attention was the statement earlier in this thread which is just pure nonsense. "In Idaho they are averaging 175-200lbs."

I was just talking to my nieghbor last night (he's a line man for Idaho Power) and he's seen wolves bigger than a St. Bernard from Cascade to Lowman. There's a pack just north of Emmett (up by Sweet/Ola), too.

dawgdriver wrote:Just a couple of small 100#?
http://media.photobucket.com/image/wolv ... large2.jpg

Wolf hugger?

gb

that they averaged hat got my attention was the statement earlier in this thread which is just pure nonsense. "In Idaho they are averaging 175-200lbs."

It was not I who made this statement. The animals are definitely getting bigger as you can see from the picture. Do not be lulled into thinking that the wolves we are seeing are little 100# pups
Gray wolves (C. lupus) are the largest
wild members of the dog family
(Canidae). Adult gray wolves range from
18–80 kilograms (kg) (40–175 pounds
(lb)) depending upon sex and region
(Mech 1974, p. 1) Spending a lot of time in the backcountry with locals and viewing their pictures. We are definitely moving towards the upper limit of the prior size range. Remember the only predator of the wolf is other wolves and humans.
Our current estimate for 2008
indicates the NRM DPS contains
approximately 1,639 wolves (491 in
Montana; 846 in Idaho; 302 in
Wyoming) in 95 breeding pairs (34 in
Montana; 39 in Idaho; 22 in Wyoming).
These numbers are about 5 times higher
than the minimum population recovery
goal and 3 times higher than the
minimum breeding pair recovery goal.
The end of 2008 will mark the ninth
consecutive year the population has
exceeded our numeric and
distributional recovery goals. As with any estimate these are probably low. From the federal register article in prior link.

Avidflyer wrote: "In Idaho they are averaging 175-200lbs."

I believe because they're eating too many elk and sheep!!

Please do not put words in my mouth. AvidFlyer wrote:You would know if it was a Wolf. In Idaho they are averaging 175-200lbs.

dawg,
that's good info. thanks

They're saying we have 3000 wolves in MN. Check out how small a zone they cover, how concentrated they are. I might also add the range wont expand much more. The rest of the state is Ag land and open. As mentioned earlier we have an aggressive trapping program. Close to 200 a year. Maybe someday we'll get to hunt them like you can out west now. Lots of liberals around here.

http://www.wolf.org/wolves/graphics/fall98i9.gif

dawgdriver wrote:Please do not put words in my mouth. AvidFlyer wrote:You would know if it was a Wolf. In Idaho they are averaging 175-200lbs.

Sorry Dawgdriver!! But in your post this morning, you didn't quote Avidflyer saying that. You made sound like it come from you. I went back and found Avidflyer's post on that quote. Again, sorry! I know I don't like to be misquoted myself.

Guys, not using the BBcode quote tags can make it appear as if someone else's words are your own. Please take the time to learn to use BBcode. It is fairly simply once you get the hang of it, and can improve the readability and comprehensibility of your posts immensely.