Calliing wolves in griz country? Tikaani or?

[Okanagan]

Got a question for those who call wolves in grizzly country.  How do you do it?

I hunted northern BC in late August early Sept. for moose, caribou and sheep, and had planned to do some wolf calling.  A grizzly come in to my first and only attempt to call a wolf using prey sounds.  (Edit:  Only attempt on this hunt.  I have called them with prey sounds in other places).  A couple of days later another grizzly loped in fast to a cow moose in heat call intended to call a bull moose.  I quit calling, except for moose when I was out in a boat.

I wanted to try one more stand for wolf using canine sounds, but was concerned that a bear might come to that also, and never got time to do a good stand anyway.  I got a moose and caribou and my partner got a moose.  May post in the big game forum about that though it was all meat and not much for horns.  Anyway, do you just wait till the bears hibernate to call wolves?    Lots of wolf sign where we were and we saw three without getting a shot. 

Hey, I like this spell check right on the forum.  Nice.

[FinsnFur]

Have you tried Wolf howling?

[Tikaani]

I only hunt wolves in the winter months, their fur is pretty much worthless in the fall.  Bears are in hibernation at that time so are not an issue (although some do briefly come out, odds are you won't bump in to one).  I have always believed calling wolves is an effort in futility.  It can be done for sure but generally they are on to you and you won't even know it.  If you see a wolf, he has already seen you a half dozen times.  Most are taken as incidental while hunting moose etc.  To answer your question though, if you call prior to hibernation you stand the chance of bringing in a bear, simple as that, have a bear tag and a big gun near by.

Hunt hard, Die tired
John

[FinsnFur]

If you see a wolf, he has already seen you a half dozen times.

Very interesting concept. And not hard to imagine at all.

[Okanagan]

Tikaani,.
Thanks.  That's kind of what I expected.  I'd prefer a winter hide but I don't live near where I can hunt wolves so was willing to take an early one.  Grizzly are on a permit basis in the area I hunted.  As the second bear loped toward me, closing fast inside of 60 yards, my thought was, "I REALLY don't want to kill  that bear."  Fortunately man sounds deterred him.

I'm a little surprised at your experience on calling wolves.  Are you mostly in open terrain where they see anything within miles?  I have called them only in timber, and found them fairly easy to call but wary and hard to see when they come in.  But I've only tried it a few times, quite limited experience.  A guide friend that I got started calling coyotes said that calling wolves in his area of Northern BC was easier than the coyotes he'd called down south.  I don't doubt your exprience a bit,  just curious now as to the differences.

Jim, I have some wolf vocals on my Minaska, but have never tried them.  Don't have a clue what they say to another wolf.  I need more time in wolf country so I can experiment, but am not likely to get much this year.  On our recent trip, I considered trying adult wolf howls but my partner thought we shouldn't do that in an area where we were still trying to fill a moose or caribou tag, and he's probably right.  I'm mulling a winter trip dedicated to calling wolves and lynx but cost and time keeep ruling it out.   Work sure gets in the way of hunting sometimes.

[Tikaani]

Most of my hunting lately has been up north in the wide open tundra, I usually sit over a fresh kill or can glass for miles, very rarely to I call, I use their tendency to return to a kill to my advantage.  In around Fairbanks and most of the accessible areas I think they are very cautious since they have been exposed to man, fool one wolf and the whole pack has been educated.  A good example of this is a few years ago my trapping partner used some coyote urine on some sets, we caught a few in one week, the next year he is pouring this stuff over everything like ketchup on a burger and as sure as God made little green apples, not one wolf all year.  Another theory of mine is their food sources, I really believe a pack of wolves won't readily come to a hare in distress when there is an abundance of caribou and other ungulates in the area, it is nothing for them to take one down and the return for the energy expended is worth their time, that is why they follow these herds.  As I write this I am talking in the winter months, when they normally hunt in packs.  Spring and summer they tend to hunt in ones and twos, while the pups are being tended to, they may become opportunists and bring anything they can get back to the pups, they are the primary concern of the pack at this time.  But as I said no one up here hunts them at these times, so who knows what they may react to.  I am no expert, these are just some of my own observations I have made over time.  I have no doubt about your friend calling them in, he must be a good caller, to dupe a wolf pack is a feat in and of it's self.  Actually it is funny to be discussing this, while moose hunting on the first trip up north we had wolves all around us (probably why we saw zero moose), we howled and they howled back and amongst themselves, they literally were all over the valley.  They never came in but it was interesting. 
Hunt hard, Die tired
John

[FinsnFur]

You may not be an expert on wolves Tikaani, but in the eyes of so many of us, whom have never even felt the winds of the weltering Tundra, and have been forced to quench our envy with nothing but photos...your well on your way

[Okanagan]

You may not be an expert on wolves Tikaani, but in the eyes of so many of us, whom have never even felt the winds of the weltering Tundra, and have been forced to quench our envy with nothing but photos...your well on your way

Ditto that! 

I got your private message, Tikaani , and read it, but can't figure out how to reply.  Will answer when I get that figured out, though that may be next week as I have a trip tomorrow through Sunday.  Good luck on the bear this weekend.

[FinsnFur]

As soon as you get to 25 posts Okanagan, you'll be able to send private messages.

Just dont try to raise your post count like this though  http://www.finsandfur.net/forums/index.php?topic=2336.0