What Caliber For A Wolf Pack?
- Thread starter Cosmoline
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RancidSumo
Member
I would carry a 10mm. Can't wait untill next year when I can hunt them here in WYO.
Mannlicher
Member
we don't have any wolf packs down here in north Florida, but when I used to help my Brother in law clear out packs of feral dogs on the timberland he managed, we used a Sweet 16 Browning A5 with #1 Buck, and a M1 Carbine with 110 grain soft points. Both were extremely effective.
Cosmoline,
First off I'd like to say thank you for your candidness and your humor and your level headed understanding of the situation regarding wildlife behavior. Too often emotionalism kicks in and people tend to over-emotionalize a situation, so thanks for not doing that, thanks for being real.
A question: how do you carry your SKS on your bicycle? Do you shoulder sling it or carry it in a scabbard of some sort, or some other way? Do you carry extra ammo in magazines or speed clips? More curiosity than tactical baiting.
As to the emotional ones out there, coyotes, cougars, bears, wolves, while not known to primary human hunters, they will and have done so. We don't have to panic and fret, but it is wise to be aware of changes in their behavior and not be so boldly blinded by the assumption that they won't attack people, they won't until they do then they did and it's too late then to change your game plan. With the wolf encounters with people walking dogs, are the wolves there targeting the dogs as the easier prey, or are the wolves targeting the dogs thinking the dogs are guarding the humans? As mentioned by others in this thread, take out the pack leader and you might change the intentions of the pack, so if the wolf takes out the guard dog then targeting the humans becomes easier. As the wild animals become more accustomed to being in close proximity to humans they become bolder with testing the boundaries of what they can get away with. I was driving across Wyoming one year and stopped to stretch my legs, and a lone wolf just casually came loping along across an open area, through a dry wash, passed within 20' of me, then continued across the parking lot on it's way to where ever it was going, I'd guess it was a good 120-150Lbs easy. I lived out in California when a woman was attacked and killed by a cougar in the American river canyon up the hill from Sacramento while she was out running. Yeah, never happens until it does.
As to what to use if need be, use what you've got handy and what you're comfortable with and what will be reliable. A .25acp that functions is better than a .30 caliber rifle that's jammed or stovepiped. In known territory where it is permissable to do, I think I'd have a pistol or revolver handy at all times, probably a .45acp or .357mag or whatever was handy. If the conditions changed to what was noted by Cosmoline at the start of this thread then I'd probably add a rifle or shotgun of some sort in addition to the handgun with the longarm in some sort of scabbard on the bicycle. And, yeah, a good knife of some sort. Not going looking for trouble, but would prefer to have the means to get out of trouble if worse came to worse.
Funny thing here in Wisconsin, there have been rumors of cougars in the state with some little spoken of unconfirmed sightings, yet recently a sighting made the news. Yeah, they're not here until they are, and they're usually here for awhile before they're known about. Does this mean I'm going to panic and arm myself for big critters? Nope. But it does refresh my awareness while being out and about.
Funny in a way how people believe wolves won't attack people, but wolves will attack moose, leave the 125-250Lb people alone and go attack a 500-1,500Lb moose instead. Yeah, right, they'd never attack a human, humans are too hard and tough, yeah, right. And I've got a loaf of bread I'll sell you, might be getting a little fuzzy in the bag, but don't worry, it's just a little green flavoring, add character to the bread, honest.
The wolf: you don't have to hunt it, but you don't have to trust it either. YMMV
First off I'd like to say thank you for your candidness and your humor and your level headed understanding of the situation regarding wildlife behavior. Too often emotionalism kicks in and people tend to over-emotionalize a situation, so thanks for not doing that, thanks for being real.
A question: how do you carry your SKS on your bicycle? Do you shoulder sling it or carry it in a scabbard of some sort, or some other way? Do you carry extra ammo in magazines or speed clips? More curiosity than tactical baiting.
As to the emotional ones out there, coyotes, cougars, bears, wolves, while not known to primary human hunters, they will and have done so. We don't have to panic and fret, but it is wise to be aware of changes in their behavior and not be so boldly blinded by the assumption that they won't attack people, they won't until they do then they did and it's too late then to change your game plan. With the wolf encounters with people walking dogs, are the wolves there targeting the dogs as the easier prey, or are the wolves targeting the dogs thinking the dogs are guarding the humans? As mentioned by others in this thread, take out the pack leader and you might change the intentions of the pack, so if the wolf takes out the guard dog then targeting the humans becomes easier. As the wild animals become more accustomed to being in close proximity to humans they become bolder with testing the boundaries of what they can get away with. I was driving across Wyoming one year and stopped to stretch my legs, and a lone wolf just casually came loping along across an open area, through a dry wash, passed within 20' of me, then continued across the parking lot on it's way to where ever it was going, I'd guess it was a good 120-150Lbs easy. I lived out in California when a woman was attacked and killed by a cougar in the American river canyon up the hill from Sacramento while she was out running. Yeah, never happens until it does.
As to what to use if need be, use what you've got handy and what you're comfortable with and what will be reliable. A .25acp that functions is better than a .30 caliber rifle that's jammed or stovepiped. In known territory where it is permissable to do, I think I'd have a pistol or revolver handy at all times, probably a .45acp or .357mag or whatever was handy. If the conditions changed to what was noted by Cosmoline at the start of this thread then I'd probably add a rifle or shotgun of some sort in addition to the handgun with the longarm in some sort of scabbard on the bicycle. And, yeah, a good knife of some sort. Not going looking for trouble, but would prefer to have the means to get out of trouble if worse came to worse.
Funny thing here in Wisconsin, there have been rumors of cougars in the state with some little spoken of unconfirmed sightings, yet recently a sighting made the news. Yeah, they're not here until they are, and they're usually here for awhile before they're known about. Does this mean I'm going to panic and arm myself for big critters? Nope. But it does refresh my awareness while being out and about.
Funny in a way how people believe wolves won't attack people, but wolves will attack moose, leave the 125-250Lb people alone and go attack a 500-1,500Lb moose instead. Yeah, right, they'd never attack a human, humans are too hard and tough, yeah, right. And I've got a loaf of bread I'll sell you, might be getting a little fuzzy in the bag, but don't worry, it's just a little green flavoring, add character to the bread, honest.
The wolf: you don't have to hunt it, but you don't have to trust it either. YMMV
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