north woods wolves

[ESSGuy]

back in 1985 i started deer hunting with my dad in Hovland,mn 20 miles north of Grand Marais,he started there in the mid 60's.never was great deer population, my first deer as a 12 yr old was a 210 lb. 9pt shot on the 6th day of season. this was the first deer i saw after spending dark to dark in the woods.we saw numerous moose back then, i almost got trampled by a huge bull that smelled the blood of a buck we had hanging in a big pine. my question is this, even though we were in wolf country, we never saw any or any tracks.DNR,to my knowledge has always said wolf population is 3000 animals,has said this since i remember. Now,2014 we have land near Bruno,these last couple years we have 5 wolves on trail cam, lots of tracks and my brother just had a big gray come into his stand last weekend after doing some light rattling. I think our wolf population is way higher than any of the officials want to believe,or are they all just blowing smoke up our rears? What have other people in these non traditional wolf areas encountered?

[going4it]

I saw 6 in 2 days last season north of hibbing. I hunted for 21 years and never saw one in the woods before. Maybe it was just right spot and right time but our party has been seeing way more sign and sightings.

[Guest Kyle]

The DNR has failed to manage the deer population in part by the drastic over estimation of population. Would it surprise you if you found out there were three times as many wolves as they currently think there are?

[DaveT]

Remember the part in the movie Rainman where they're in Vegas and Ray hits 18 and takes Charlie's queen? "There's lots of them. Lots and lots."

And if the DNR counts wolves like they count deer, they have no friggin' idea how many there are.

[Stringerless!]

And ducks,and fish,and pheasants ,and grouse,and hunters.

[trumy]

I live out in Makinen area of northern st.louis county wolves everywhere. I see them around my 80 acres often buddy of mine had one come in his yard after his irishsetter. Had a a notice to people of biwabik as wolves are coming right into town including coyotes. I think the quotas could be raised a bit which will in turn get activists cranked up but can't please everyone in short yes the wolves population is larger then we are being told.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Neighbor saw one in a wooded area on the edge of Virginia today. They are where the deer are.

Not much for deer in the big woods away from towns, and I haven't seen much for wolf scat during my bird hunts/scouting trips this year (haven't seen much for deer sign either).

The wolves will follow the deer population. The deer are at (hopefully) their bottom, the moose are all but gone, too. Wolf populations will soon follow without the food. There will always be pockets of good deer/wolf numbers near towns and developed areas and neither should be a measure of populations as a whole.

Hopefully now that the wolves are off the Endangered list and are hunted, the DNR will do a better job of managing their numbers going forward and will increase harvest quotas as the years go on. (I won't hold my breath though).

The DNR misjudged their numbers for a long time and with the explosion of deer numbers and federal protection, the wolf was able to explode in numbers. They've officially eaten themselves out of house and home. The packs have been forced to disperse and move to "greener pastures". Hope the folks down south enjoy them!

Have also been hearing about wolves being seen in town in Grand Marais and that there have been multiple attacks on dogs. Same with Duluth area. This is a sign as to how desperate they are becoming for food.

[Monkster]

My uncle was a logger in Northern MN, near Ely/Babbitt area. I remember 20 years ago him telling my dad and I that there were "lots of wolves". He always contended way more than the DNR let on. I guess I tend to believe a guy that spent 10-12 hours a day, six days a week in the woods and not always in the same area, a bit more than the DNR. If that population was just, let's say "ok" back then, it has to be pretty large now since the only threat to them would be humans!

[leech~~]

The DNR misjudged their numbers for a long time and with the explosion of deer numbers and federal protection, the wolf was able to explode in numbers. They've officially eaten themselves out of house and home. The packs have been forced to disperse and move to "greener pastures". Hope the folks down south enjoy them!

You make a good point at the end. The National Geographic reading, tree huggers down here in the burbs that make a big stink about the Wolf hunts, sure will make a stink to the DNR and Marky once Fluffy gets chewed on!

[RipNLips]

Co-worker sent me this photo of his land near Grand Rapids.

I think we have a problem...

[bigbucks]

Holy dump! Real or real Photo Shop? That's a lot of wolves in one pic.

[leech~~]

Holy dump! Real or real Photo Shop? That's a lot of wolves in one pic.

Probably a family with yearlings. We had a group of 8 of them all in like a skirmish line spread out lift to right going right through the woods on our Bow stands. I had two of them go by on each side of my stand. All were very quiet with noses down looking for something to eat!

[smsmith]

Target rich environment

[Bear55]

Nice group there, I've heard of a few hunting parties in the upper teens before so nothing unusual about that pic.

[ozzie]

If I recall Wolves are pack animals so to get a trail cam with more than one in the picture can't be too far fetched.

[KawishiwiKid]

In the early 90's I got to see a research map of pack territories in the area generally east of Ely. Most packs were 2 to 5 wolves each in about 25 sq mile territories. Those packs were deer and beaver hunters if I remember correctly. One pack of moose hunters had 15 wolves in it!

[ClownColor]

Had 13 by my stand and have shot nice deer by it or have seen deer by it every year. If there are wolves, there are deer...they need to eat!

[BuckSutherland]

Target rich environment

Couldnt have said it better myself. I will not bite my tongue or hide my feelings when it comes to them parasites. I will lose my guns and hunting privileges if it comes down to it.

[smsmith]

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[Todd Caswell]

Bucky you just might, I know and the local CO knows where you and your land is, as well as your comments on a public FM, if you feel the need to dust one of these guys to fill a deer tag then do it , and quiet talking about it, you have been full of [PoorWordUsage] for the past 3 years, you only have 2 different options>>>>>