Wolf

If i had your place a few can of bear spray would be there for walks and use at the cabin. I love my compact handguns for CC but in the woods it will be something larger and high cap as a defence firearm. Maybe along the lines of a full size Glock, XD or M&P. Caliber of your choice 9mm to 10mm or 45acp as a defence handgun. Still lighter than many compacts as with the glock atleast but with way more rounds and carried open in a good flat pancake holster. Nothing to hang on like with brush like so many Kydex holsters can do. Look to this type holster-http://www.simplyrugged.com/cuda/

Up side of the handgun. You can still go hands free and pick up firewood and you need something that all can be functional with. A rifle or shot gun depending on a caliber heavy enough to do the job well might be hard for a newbe to also master. But a 20ga would do well with buck shot and slugs. The bear spray atleast around the cabin, or for wolfs or bears that you might walk up on while on trails works wonders. For a Cat, Good luck. If times are bad they will stalk you. Have several people armed with something if attacked. I have 43 years of stump'n around the woods and have walked up on pathers and bears in the everglades and bears in NC and they did not want anything to do with me . They were as suprized as me and left quickly.

You really no better than any of us as to how your family will react to the animals around you. If there not shooters or hunters. bear spray and dogs is it.

Biggest thing I would think, is to make sure your dogs are under control ie. leashed when outside. Not really necessary to change weaponry, as the wolf is a very human shy animal, and will in almost all cases disappear before you see them. They have been known to attack loose dogs, or other pets, but are usually hunger driven, they can however, be very dangerous if hurt or starving. Very few attacks by wolves are recorded in any media or other sources.

I personally would have nothing less than a .357mag but that will probably not stop a wolf or bear in there tracks. I think that a 9mm and.38spl is to light if you have to use them. I would recommend .44 mag or larger for a handgun and a rifle would be even better.

I personally would have nothing less than a .357mag but that will probably not stop a wolf or bear in there tracks. I think that a 9mm and.38spl is to light if you have to use them. I would recommend .44 mag or larger for a handgun and a rifle would be even better.

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I think you are vastly overestimating the capabilities of the average wolf. A typical North American wolf only weighs around 80 pounds. I would expect a .357 to easily stop a such an animal with proper shot placement (which is necessary for any firearm). A .38 or 9mm with proper loads would probably do so as well. As far as bear go, the .357 may be marginal, but again we are not talking about grizzly or coastal brown bears. While a rifle or shotgun may be the best bet, sometimes they are simply not practical to carry while performing many outdoor tasks.

You are seeing it from your cabin, all you need is a rifle and a shovel!!

DM

I spot a few around the house, other people here in this valley spot them pretty regularly.
It's hard enough to get one to stay around for a picture, let alone get a shot.
Which is a big time no no around here anyway.

I have a house that backs up to a large state forest in Western WA and have had many talks with the local game wardens about a big kitty (cougar) that has frequented our yard. Here's the way I see it: No handgun that you'll actually carry on a day-to-day basis is going to stop a bear so you may as well forget about that. Maybe the report will scare one away if you're lucky, but you're not gonna kill one before it gets you. That leaves cougars, wolves, and coyotes. These are all relatively small, thin-skinned animals. Whatever works well against two legged predators will work well against them as well, but they are much faster moving than humans so shot placement goes right out the window. The warden I've talked to many times carries a high capacity polymer .45ACP with +P hollow points. I do the same.

I think you are vastly overestimating the capabilities of the average wolf. A typical North American wolf only weighs around 80 pounds. I would expect a .357 to easily stop a such an animal with proper shot placement (which is necessary for any firearm).

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Agreed, I spent some time around a Wolf one on one and even though an amazing animal it is still very much a dog, and not like you are trying to shoot a "Bull mastiff" charging you even then a .357 Mag. can handle that with good shot placement.

You really no better than any of us as to how your family will react to the animals around you. If there not shooters or hunters. bear spray and dogs is it.

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Also true, if you are being very careful as to your surroundings than hopefully he will do nothing more than pass through the area. I would certainly have family members armed with some type of spray at the least and be mindful of their surroundings and not travel alone outside for sure.

AVG. wolf only weighing 80 lbs? Obviously these are not avg.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=138536

you can p around, that will keep them away! skunk scent works also, spend rounds work as well!

The real lesson to learn here is to always set the camera back to auto mode after tinkering with the settings. I have needed to snap a quick photo numerous times only to find out that the last time I used the camera, I was taking time lapse photos with a 10-second shutter, 200 ISO and F/22 :banghead:

Regarding the wolf, I second mdauben's remarks. Wolves are not larger than your average fully grown german shephard or lab. I was actually shocked at how small the ones at the Wolf Center in Ely, MN were. And they were average. jcwit, methinks those photos are 'shopped And from my research, IF that photo was real, and the alleged 230 lbs wolf was real, then it obliterated the previous record of 175 lbs, but it hasn't yet been confirmed. But even then, the record-largest wolf 230 lbs? I still think .357 will do the trick. For the typical 80-lbs wolf, it will DEFINITELY do the job. But still, usually only a desperate animal will attack a human, and a wolf that gets up near 175 lbs is probably one heck of a hunter, and ain't desperate!

We have the re-planted Mexican Grays up by us and have had them all around including up against the cabin when they feel they're alone.

One morning I had the door open and noted by dog making noises I'd never heard her make in the past - in fact didn't think it was her doing it till I squinted out into the dark - and blew it off while setting up the coffee. Eventually, her sounds grew so weird that I couldn't ignore them (and it was getting seriously cold in the kitchen) so I went out to make sure she wasn't tormenting an elk or antelope as she was wont to do. When I walked to the edge of the porch and out side of the porch light I could see she was standing board stiff with her tail straight down, quivering fiercely and making some bizarre inhaling sounds that stone, gave me the willies. Now, she's half coyote so odd behavior was the norm but her presentation this morning was waaaay beyond her usual weird.

So, I walk up to her to try to talk her down as I've had to do in the past but she's completely ignoring me and in no way acting like she might bite me (this time) so I ease up on her, put my hand on her back and look up the hill side where she's staring daggers in the dark. Exactly as I focus, I see dark shapes against snow patches almost floating towards us due to the complete lack of sound. As Daisy tenses (not gonna "give" an inch) I grab her scruff with my left hand and wave my right and in my best military "hoooaaah!" voice belt out a single cinematic "WHOOOA!"

Now these shapes finally make a sound as the first three scrape to a halt and dash back up the hill in the dark and I try to scoop up my own beast to finish the coffee - of course she's having none of that so I shine her on and go get me Mossberg just in case, tie her on a long lead where she's standing and commence to finish up the coffee till the sun comes up and she calms down enough to bring her in.

After it brightens up I see by the tracks that there were actually two wolves closer than the three that I had seen and none of them must have seen me slide up to the dog as I came around the other side of my pick-up. In total, there were tracks for eight wolves coming down the hill to feast on my beastie but they locked solid and turned away when one human hollered at them. For the entire rest of the week they would follow us around - usually just out of sight - trying to whine our dogs into the woods for a snack.

I figure, carry a gun if only to increase your own confidence as mostly, dogs acting foolish will be based on the nervousness or fear that they read in you.

Oddly, I'm considerably more concerned about mule deer and elk layin' the hoof whammy on me or my dogs than I am the wolves.

Individual 80 lb wolves are not as big a concern as a pack of 80 lb wolves...I would want some more capacity or faster reload than a revolver or double barrel shotgun. Just sayin'.

DM~ said:

You are seeing it from your cabin, all you need is a rifle and a shovel!!

DM

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The OP saw one wolf, one time. He does not need to add any howitzers to his arsenal. He needs to be aware they are there and keep good track of his pets if he wants to keep them around for long. As far as his family, he'd be better off to be concerned about the icy roads and other accidents doing them harm as statistics have shown the odds of a human getting attacked by a wolf or a pack of wolves in the lower 48 is lower than being hit by a meteorite. Odds are he is more likely to be injured by the gun he is carrying to protect himself than he is to be attacked by wolves. Folks need to be realistic and level headed instead of believing in fairy tales.

With the lifting of wolves from the endangered species list, there will be more seasons and more control on wolf populations. Their numbers, once seasons and control is established will never reach problem numbers again in the lower 48. Once they are hunted again, they will quickly learn to avoid humans or die. This is reality, not Little Red Riding Hood.

Wolves in the lower 48 have been hunted so ruthlessly that their fear of humans is too high to make an attack a valid concern. The new dog you vetoed would be far more likely to bite a person than that wolf. If you're worried about it get the bear spray but i would consider myself lucky to actually see a wild wolf.

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AVG. wolf only weighing 80 lbs? Obviously these are not avg.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=138536

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Cough-Photoshop-Cough.

Am I the only one who feels like wolves are on the list of critters I don't want to mess with at all at handgun ranges? I would stack them with bears and cougars, as in, overkill is appropriate, since they can mess you up if you miss. A coyote on the other hand, is not nearly as likely to cause you serious harm if you injure it. I put them in .357/10mm territory. And I would rather use a rifle.

If it is limping, I might also call the local wildlife authorities, they might be interested in trapping it.

Cough-Photoshop-Cough.

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They claim it wasn't photoshoped. I have no idea, all I did was forward the post. Did you read the whold thread? Can you prove its photoshoped?

Sure glad we have all sorts of folks who know all about wildlife management!

I'd go with a shotgun and buckshot myself. Shot placement not as critical. A sidearm as a backup would be a good idea if you miss and it gets in close, but by that time you're screwed anyway.

I HATE, not dislike, wolves and belive they have no place in the lower 48.

Having seen what wolves do to other game animal herds and livestock I have no use for them. I think the reintroduction of them is part of a long reaching goal by the bunny loving tree huggers to stop grazing on public land.

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This may come as a surprise but Wolves were here long before Europeans so it must have been God who put them her instead of your "tree huggers".

Wolves do nothing to game that other predatory animals dont. Characteristics of a predator are generally learned in elementary school. Personally i'd rather people that actually understand biology and ecology and who can make better arguements than "kill them because tree huggers like them" determine policy.

I have to wonder about the comments here about feeling the need to be armed to the hilt because there might be wolves in the area, or the idea they should be eradicated from the face of the earth.

Have any of these people actually been up close to these animals in the wild?
In this mountain ranch country where I live they're common, as are grizzlies and mountain lions.
No one worries about it; the kids roam and play with no concerns of the parents.
Cattlemen don't like the ideas of the introduced wolves, but they're here and we've always had to deal with the bears and lions anyway.

The only thing we watch for are grizzlies that start hanging around.
The word goes out and if they don't move on we get Game&Fish to come in and trap them.

I guess you haven't had to deal with lost livestock due to a reintroduced problem that was handled, correctly I might add in my opinion, years ago.

Mastredons were here on the earth years ago as well. Should we scientificly create a few in a laboratory using DNA from these creatures and reintroduce them to thier native homeland in the Hollywood hills?

Biker

Mastredons were here on the earth years ago as well. Should we scientificly create a few in a laboratory using DNA from these creatures and reintroduce them to thier native homeland in the Hollywood hills?

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Another thing taught in elementary school is that man was not the sole cause of mastodon extinction.