Adjusting Archery Elk Hunting Tactics.. Wolves

[WapitiTalk1]

I've hunted where there are grey wolves for the past three years (two states). I haven't done much in adjusting in my normal tactics except to not hunt in a drainage in which they were howling the night before when I was location bugling after dark. I'm curious as to what anyone else has deemed necessary or cost effective (productive) to adjust in their elk archery tactics while hunting where there are wolves present?

[wawhitey]

Well I would like to comment on this but in a different light. if you think im getting your post off track tell me and ill remove this or whatever. but im in a position where i have solid wolf activity pretty much all around me. north, south, west, but east not so much, theres a town 26 miles that way, but more or less surrounded by wolves. but my immediate area somehow has not yet had a problem. we have had a couple stray wolves show up on occasion, but they seem to just pass through. however, i have been finding small pockets of elk in areas where traditionally they just havent been. even the long time local old fellas here have never seen elk in these areas. now i know the calf survival rate is almost 0 (bears cougs and coyotes to thank) so the only thing that i can figure is that im in a place where the surrounding elk are retreating to in order to escape the wolves. could i be so lucky? are these new little elk populations refugees? or is my half baked theory a long shot? for the record we seemed to have a moose explosion in the last year or two, right when the elk started showing up in unusual areas. if im right i may be the only guy in the state who is actually benefiting from wolf pressure.

[Indian Summer]

I don't change anything either. It might sound crazy but not hard to imagine that if there are wolves the hunting isn't half bad. There must be elk or they wouldn't be there. One thing I do is try to let the wolves see me. I won't call but I will stalk them if they are inn a spot I can get too without spending too much time at it. If they see hunters there's a chance they'll relocate leaving you and the elk behind. The year before last we had zero wolf activity where we set our outfitter camp. The morning the clients showed at the trailhead a guide hiked out from camp to meet us and said they kept him up all night howling like crazy. To the surprise of the hunters we never saw or even heard a wolf the entire hunt and they killed some dandy bulls. Wolves have a big home range so it's not uncommon for them to just be passing through and no question if they sense danger they'll hightail it to other places. I think they passed so close to camp that they realized the top predators, us, had already staked a claim to the area.

[BrentLaBere]

I think venturing over the ridge is the key to finding vocal elk. But I would also think you could hunt elk in the same drainage they were in if you just adjusted to where the elk move when they get pressured. Just like if other hunters would pressure them. Last fall, I sat on a ridge line listening to wolves behind me while glassing elk/listening to bulls bugle in front of me. Never forget that morning.....
I wouldn't adjust much if you are finding fresh sign and little activity from wolves. If you constantly are having a predator problem, I would then pick up camp and move because the elk will already be gone by the time you notice the problem. IMO

[twinkieman]

I don't change how I hunt them. I have heard wolves howl, I have had a few actual sightings of wolves, and witnessed a pack kill a mule deer doe, all at a distance. I know wolves are there at times, but the elk are still there as well. I haven't seen enough change in the elk in the areas I hunt to do anything different than I ever have.

[Toby]

I have had them start howling on several occasions when I was working a bull, the bull shut up immediately. Agree that the wolves are where the elk are, but sure screwed up a couple good hunts.

[twinkieman]

While whitetail hunting in No. Idaho 3 seasons ago, one of the guys I was hunting with killed a female wolf. I went with him to help get her out to a road. When we were within 75 yds downwind of her, we could smell her. The stench was horrible, the smell was in her fur. When we took the animal to the check station, the biologist said that while not always the case, the odor was common in wolves. Have any of you that have helped to control the wolf population experienced that same odor?

[Lefty]

,..... Have any of you that have helped to control the wolf population experienced that same odor?

I had a friend that was the lower 48 government wolf trapper. One year he killed 54 wolves ,.. each of those wolves he had to catch, and relocate three times before he put them down, In the summer those wolves wore the nastiest looking things. I use to have some pictures of hundreds of ticks on the head and thousands more ticks on the body. The ticks were really gross. when filled up the wolf my stcratch and pop dozens , that made for a bloody smelly mess on the wolf.
Wolves are a lot like dogs. Some will roll in the nastiest stuff they can find.
Some of the smell comes from killing and eating their kill. I bit of blood here some meat there, a bit of fat or grease; then give it a few days and you have a bad odor

When I lived in Washington I almost hated catching coyotes in my cat sets . Some coyotes because of the constant wet weather stunk real bad when the fur was wet.

I own 7 acres along the Bear River. While mending fence I kept getting this nasty odor. It didnt smell right for dead livestock. I followed the smell to a sand bar. Im not sure if someone killed it and tried to bury it, But that was one stinky wolf

[Indian Summer]

Have any of you that have helped to control the wolf population experienced that same odor?

Absolutely. Lions have a very unique smell. But wolves downright stink and I mean bad!!!

[twinkieman]

Thanks for the input, which has me thinking(dangerous), how often do elk smell wolves and change their immediate zipcode? I have witnessed how elk react to human odor, do they react the same to a pack of wolves/ As bad as wolves smell, an elk ought to be able to smell them at considerable distances. What do you all think?