smitty
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,437
Well, I finally got one. Sorry for the cell phone pics, battery on the good camera was frozen or dead.
Anyhow, I know some of you guys will want the story so here it is.
I had been making plans to wolf hunting for quite some time, seems like everything kept getting in the way. Work, friends with other tags, work again, etc....Anyhow, finally, I'm on road, alone none the less, but on the road. Get into town, check into the motel and grab my gear and go hunting. No sign the first night, only hunted for about 2 hours.
Headed out the next morning with a fresh 8 inches of snow on the ground. Bitter cold, cruising around on the 4 wheeler trying to find some tracks. Come across 3 wolf tracks headed down a snowed in quad trail. Snow was too deep, so I ditched the wheeler and headed after them. The country was wide open, big canyons, very few trees, just sagebrush and rocky points. The wind buried the tracks, so I made a big loop up to a main ridge hoping to get above them and cut them off, or get a look at them. Sure enough, I spot a big male walking over a saddle about 500 yards out, I scrambled up to a pile of rocks and get set up, range a couple points they are likely to come out on and hit the foxpro. No more than 15 seconds went by and I got a wolf coming over the ridge. Holy #####!!! there's a wolf!!! What a surreal sight. Anyhow, I range her at 372, I've got a dead rest, and I know my 300 win will make the shot.
She sits down on her haunches, I put my 350 yard crosshair on her throat and touch it off. Next thing I hear is the unmistakable sound of bullet hitting flesh, look in the scope and shes tipping over stiff legged, dead on impact. My mind is going crazy, "I just killed a freaking wolf!", I sit up and that's when I see the big male take off around the ridge. Damnnit!!! Had I scanned over 50 yards I would have seen him and gotten a shot, maybe even doubled up?! Anyhow, I hike up check out the dead one, take a cell phone pic cause my digital camera is frozen dead, find the other tracks and then I spent the next 5 hours chasing that wolf to no avail. Little tip, don't try to chase wolves. You'll never catch up.
Well, that's the story. I have one cell phone pic but I don't know how to post it from my email. So if someone does I can email it to them. I brought her home and weighed her, came in right at 90 lbs. Got mange all down the one side, so I'm doing a plain skull mount and de-boning the tail for my boy. Can't wait to go after another one. Got one more tag to fill.
Anyhow, I know some of you guys will want the story so here it is.
I had been making plans to wolf hunting for quite some time, seems like everything kept getting in the way. Work, friends with other tags, work again, etc....Anyhow, finally, I'm on road, alone none the less, but on the road. Get into town, check into the motel and grab my gear and go hunting. No sign the first night, only hunted for about 2 hours.
Headed out the next morning with a fresh 8 inches of snow on the ground. Bitter cold, cruising around on the 4 wheeler trying to find some tracks. Come across 3 wolf tracks headed down a snowed in quad trail. Snow was too deep, so I ditched the wheeler and headed after them. The country was wide open, big canyons, very few trees, just sagebrush and rocky points. The wind buried the tracks, so I made a big loop up to a main ridge hoping to get above them and cut them off, or get a look at them. Sure enough, I spot a big male walking over a saddle about 500 yards out, I scrambled up to a pile of rocks and get set up, range a couple points they are likely to come out on and hit the foxpro. No more than 15 seconds went by and I got a wolf coming over the ridge. Holy #####!!! there's a wolf!!! What a surreal sight. Anyhow, I range her at 372, I've got a dead rest, and I know my 300 win will make the shot.
She sits down on her haunches, I put my 350 yard crosshair on her throat and touch it off. Next thing I hear is the unmistakable sound of bullet hitting flesh, look in the scope and shes tipping over stiff legged, dead on impact. My mind is going crazy, "I just killed a freaking wolf!", I sit up and that's when I see the big male take off around the ridge. Damnnit!!! Had I scanned over 50 yards I would have seen him and gotten a shot, maybe even doubled up?! Anyhow, I hike up check out the dead one, take a cell phone pic cause my digital camera is frozen dead, find the other tracks and then I spent the next 5 hours chasing that wolf to no avail. Little tip, don't try to chase wolves. You'll never catch up.
Well, that's the story. I have one cell phone pic but I don't know how to post it from my email. So if someone does I can email it to them. I brought her home and weighed her, came in right at 90 lbs. Got mange all down the one side, so I'm doing a plain skull mount and de-boning the tail for my boy. Can't wait to go after another one. Got one more tag to fill.
