Northern BC Wolf Hunt

Thanks’ to Randy for sending in this story of his wolf hunt:

  A group of us were on our annual moose trip in Northern B.C. This is always the highlight of the year, and is looked forward to much anticipation as to who will get the Limited Entry Draws and participate in the hunt. We use car topper boats for the most part of our moose hunting, and by travelling up and down the river, have quick access to a number of great fields and meadows to walk into and check out for moose. I was the fifth guy on the trip, so I hunted solo in my familiar areas while the other two man teams kept in contact by walkie talkies.

  I decided to check out a huge meadow one morning, and walked in at the downstream end of it, keeping close to the brush line. I heard a far off call, and not registering what it was due to the walking noise I was making, I made a cow moose call in answer. The call was immediately answered by a long wolf howl and then another. As the hairs rose on the back of my neck, I checked my ammo. stuffed my heart back down to where it was supposed to be, and made the decision to wolf call back and see what would happen as I approached. I got answered back right away, so I kept up the back and forth calling as I worked my way closer, always trying to stay out of line of sight at the edge of this 500 acre plus field. I saw the first big timber wolf at the brush line at the edge of the middle of the field, he had of course already made me, and ran a short distance into the field to the gut pile from a moose taken two days earlier by our team. I could only see his head in the deep saw grass about 250 yards away, I knew my opportunity was quickly reducing as I was sure by this time they knew I wasn’t one of them. I used a brush branch to rest the 300 Win Mag, placing the first shot as he launched himself in jumping lunges back towards the brush, I fired twice more as he ran, but he didn’t drop. Then through my scope, at the brush line where the big alpha disappeared, was a black timber wolf, standing broadside and not moving. It dropped in it’s tracks from a single shot. It took half an hour to find it in the deep field grass, surprising me when I almost stepped on it in my search. It was all in all a very interesting morning!

  The bag limit in this area then was three wolves, and has since changed to NBL, no bag limit, no tags required. I think this change to NBL is because the proliferation of wolves has caused such an imbalance in the wildlife population, and is resulting in dramatic drop in game animals, as well as the effects on graze land domestic cows. In my earlier hunting experience, I had the personal philosophy of  harvesting only animals that I would eat. Now I am glad to have the experiences of predator hunting and harvesting. It assists in overpopulation control, and it’s exciting and rewarding. A person with no exposure to this hunting may not understand it. To him I would just say, think for a minute before you pass your judgement. Put yourself in a rancher’s position when wolf packs attack his calves, or as a cow moose watches helplessly as a dozen predators tear apart her only calf each year she has one. We hunters are the only controlling factor in the overpopulated wolf situation in Northern B.C. Ray’s Taxidermy in B.C. did an outstanding job in preserving this memory with a full size mount.