Time to get a wolf gun.

I'd want something with a little more authority than .223, perhaps .308 or 30-06 instead. Wolves are pretty big critters compared to coyotes.

It will be interesting how this new development effects the gun market. Wait and see, as there are rifles marketed as coyote/varmints rifles there will be "wolf" rifles.

An animal is off the endangered species list and your first thought is how you can blow it away? I enjoy hunting for food but pity people who have no other way to enjoy nature. But isn't there a hunting forum for a reason?

Agreed, idk why this wasn't posted in hunting.

Side note, are animals automatically allowed to be hunted once removed from the endangered list?

as a result will be removed from the endangered species list

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Because this doesn't say anything about being added to the list of legal game.

I live in Minnesota and hunt the north country. I've seen first hand what these wolves have done to the deer populations as well as peoples pets.

I commonly seen packs averaging 4-7.

These animals need to be thinned out and a hunting season I believe would be the best way to do that.

JustinJ, You may want to educate yourself a little bit on the nature of Wolves and the problems that they cause with the Deer species. Wolves, since the idiots in the DNR decided to repopulate them into Yellowstone, have caused EXTREME damage to the Elk and other Deer families. They procreate pretty heavily and they NEED to be controlled or you will start to see Elk, White-Tail, Mule Deer, and pretty much every other Cervidae where they roam, decimated!

While yes the Wolves are bigger than yotes, they are pretty much just as easily killed as the song dog. Every Wolf I have taken has been with a .220swift except for a couple that presented themselves when I was hunting Caribou and they were dispatched with a .30/06. The .223, while you will be more range limited than you would be with a .308, is plenty of cartridge for the Wolf. The 50gr Varmint Grenade, The 55gr V-Max either one would put the drop on a Wolf very easily. I have yet to have one take more than a couple of steps after being hit with my .220swift loaded up with 55gr V-Max. They are also really good pelt savers as well. Small entrance and rarely an exit. Turn the insides into mush!

Since folks have been killing wolves with the guns they have for hundreds of years, so I'm thinkin' I'm just fine with what I have on hand. Since for me the hunt is more important than the kill, I'd probably use a handgun of some kind. That is is I ever get lucky enough to draw a kill permit. Since the kill goals for each of the Midwest states is probably in the low hundreds and permit applications will be in the tens if not hundreds of thousands, odds will be pretty slim. Once the overall numbers get to where each state wants them, kill goals will probably be even lower. I doubt that in my lifetime, we will ever see unlimited over the counter tags for wolves here in the Midwest.

An animal is off the endangered species list and your first thought is how you can blow it away? I enjoy hunting for food but pity people who have no other way to enjoy nature. But isn't there a hunting forum for a reason?

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I take it you have never experienced the thrill of predator or dangerous game hunting.

Once the overall numbers get to where each state wants them, kill goals will probably be even lower.

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I've read it's the opposite. The kill goals are way higher than the amount of people actually going wolf hunting can even achieve. That's why they have lowered the cost of non-resident licenses and tags.

What Freedom says is true. These animals left with unchecked populations will cause other species to be endangered and also threaten livestock and eventually even human populations if there numbers get way out of control.

I'd want something with a little more authority than .223, perhaps .308 or 30-06 instead. Wolves are pretty big critters compared to coyotes.

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Why. The average wolf isn't even as big as an average mule deer out here. I guess I'd better break out the .416 for wolf hunting, wait, no, I'll opt for something with a little more authority, .600 NE

LOL I know Billy, I guess since they have teeth and weigh over 100 pounds (Actual average weight of over 30 that I've taken has been just over 100 pounds) they think they need a Howitzer to take it down! The Biggest one I have ever taken was an Alaskan Wolf that was over 140 and the .220swift loaded with 55gr V-Max dropped him like a bag of hammers hit him. While they may weigh as much as an average southern white-tail doe, they are nowhere near as densely boned. While their fur coat is thicker, their skin and fat content under the skin is about half that of a white-tail. All in all they are fairly easy to kill, just hard to find for the most part. Unless you are hunting the tundras or the open fields from high up, you generally will not spot them over 200 yards. They tend to stick to heavy cover then break out after their prey.

Where I live, withopen country and suck, Fur Hunters use FMJ's for minimal pelt damage and most use .30 caliber quite successfully.
I use an M-39 Mosin to great effect for long range running shots......

Heres a couple vids on the long ranges .30 cal can give you on a Wolf.
When you come onto a pack, they will split up and run different directions. If you have alotta gas, track 'em, outflank 'em and get em at a stedy lopeing speed. If you dont, get comfy and quiet and Howle now and then, and they will come to you.
Once wolves are spooked, they DO NOT take a 'Last look' or stop for anything. They will circle back, but howling will let them think they are joining up again.

Ive posted these vids before, so watch em for amusement and know that Wolf Hunting is fun and profitable.

First 4 or 5 minutes of "Enemy at the Gates" will show exactly how to deal with wolves...

JustinJ said:

An animal is off the endangered species list and your first thought is how you can blow it away?

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YES, and i do every chance i get!

Wolves are killing machines, and DO kill much more than they can eat. I wish you could have seen them do some of the things i have seen them do, you may then think differently...

They decimate the game herds every place they go, then move on to do it all over again...

DM

In my world the only good wolf or coyote is a dead one.
Therefore I will use whatever I have at hand to kill them even if it's not the most effective and causes them to run off and die a miserable death days later.
Clean and ethical kills are for animals I respect.

Biker

In my world the only good wolf or coyote is a dead one.
Therefore I will use whatever I have at hand to kill them even if it's not the most effective and causes them to run off and die a miserable death days later.
Clean and ethical kills are for animals I respect.

Biker

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Unless a Wolf ate your first born child, I have no idea how you could hate an animal that much.... Why?

An animal is off the endangered species list and your first thought is how you can blow it away? I enjoy hunting for food but pity people who have no other way to enjoy nature.

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I agree. It's pure ignorance that fuels these people. I would be willing to bet most have never actually caught a wolf in the act. They see dog tracks in the live stock pen and think wolf so that's what they kill.

What we do have issues with are the packs of wild dogs here in Mn thanks to the dog owners letting their widdle kujo run wild. They are far more dangerous than wolves and are the real reason I carry a gun when I'm out in the woods.

I'll shoot a loose dog faster than you can blink but I've never seen a wolf get after anything but their normal prey. I let them go. Yeah they eat deer but that's what they do.

We have a pack of Wolves on our land that has been there for some time. They've never bothered anything, not even the milk cows, and they keep the deer heard healthy.

Coyotes are a different story though. It's a shame the farmers around here can't tell the difference.

I hate wolves for what they do to livestock.
There is no place for the wolf in the lower 48 as far as I'm concerned. I also hate them for thier decimation of deer and elk herds, animals I enjoy hunting.

Biker

Hunting is one thing, but the animal is a natural predator just like you and me. I dont understand how you can HATE based on nature.

BikerRN said:

In my world the only good wolf or coyote is a dead one.
Therefore I will use whatever I have at hand to kill them even if it's not the most effective and causes them to run off and die a miserable death days later.
Clean and ethical kills are for animals I respect.

Biker

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Totally offensive, ridiculous comment. Good luck with a good psychiatrist. You're blocked.

Hunting is one thing, but the animal is a natural predator just like you and me. I dont understand how you can HATE based on nature.

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Go back and read the first sentence of my post.

I agree. It's pure ignorance that fuels these people. I would be willing to bet most have never actually caught a wolf in the act. They see dog tracks in the live stock pen and think wolf so that's what they kill.

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In my case sir, you would lose that bet! I have SEEN what they do. I, and most real outdoorsmen that I know, can easily tell the difference between a Wolf track and a feral dog track. I sat up on a hilltop and watched as a pack of 9 Wolves trailed, circled, then brought down 3 Elk, 2 cows and a a yearling calf. They ate one ham out of one of the Cows, both hams out of the other, and less than half of the calf before they trotted off. I also have seen many ranchers that have been having problems with Wolves in Montana taking down calves. An adult Wolf track is, at minimum, twice as big as a Coyote track as well as MOST feral dogs so they know it's Wolves.

Walking_arsenal, creativetownsman, And JustinJ, before you pipe up and spew your own brands of ignorance about a subject, bone up on some facts please. Those of us in the real world that actually DO have experience with these animals may just know quite a bit more than you guys reading animal digest for your knowledge base.

BikerRN, in one way I have to agree with what they said to a degree. NO animal deserves an inhumane death. Except maybe the Human animal that rapes and molests children. THEM I would agree deserve as slow and painful a death as possible. But no animal deserves that. Wolves are following their nature. They are predators and are VERY good at what they are designed for. They do need to be controlled so that their nature does not decimate the deer herds. BUT they do not need to be wiped out completely. They are part of natures population control and should always be respected.

BikerRN, in one way I have to agree with what they said to a degree. NO animal deserves an inhumane death. Except maybe the Human animal that rapes and molests children. THEM I would agree deserve as slow and painful a death as possible. But no animal deserves that. Wolves are following their nature. They are predators and are VERY good at what they are designed for. They do need to be controlled so that their nature does not decimate the deer herds. BUT they do not need to be wiped out completely. They are part of natures population control and should always be respected.

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Freedom Fighter in IL: We will have to respectfully agree to disagree on what wolves deserve.

BikerRN

Walking_arsenal, Dr.Mall_Ninja, creativetownsman, And JustinJ, before you pipe up and spew your own brands of ignorance about a subject, bone up on some facts please. Those of us in the real world that actually DO have experience with these animals may just know quite a bit more than you guys reading animal digest for your knowledge base

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FreedomFighter: I admit I'm from the city of St.Louis and have never even seen a wolf in the wild. I never said that hunting a wolf is wrong, I'm not on expert on the problem with livestock and such, but if they need to be controlled so be it.

Yet you said I was spewing ignorance. I think that you don't have to be an expert on wolves to know it is wrong to wish an inhumane death upon an animal. It is also absurd to hate something based on it's nature.

Just to clarify once more
Wolf hunting=OKAY
Wishing them to suffer=Wrong

Just to clarify once more
Wolf hunting=OKAY
Wishing them to suffer=Wrong

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Agreed there, My apologies there Doc. I went back and reread what all you all said and noticed my mistake in putting you in that list.