Tips to increase your odds to hunt a wolf

Wolves are among the biggest hunting games in the U.S. and catching them is not an easy task.

These intelligent, group working animals are keen enough to spot hunters, learn about their tactics and ultimately avoid them, so if you are planning to go out for wolves, it's mandatory to be smarter than they are.

In fact, for most wolves hunting is a secondary target. Many hunters are out for deer, elk, or even moose when suddenly a wolf's pack cross on their road and they just take the chance, but there are not too many hunters out there leaving to the bushes with wolves in their mind as the main target.

For hunters going beyond elk, whitetails, or any other big game and wolves are just a matter of opportunity, no special strategies are required since they will take the chance if wolves show on, otherwise their main target is another big game.

But for those going specifically for wolves, it remains paramount to have a plan based on knowledge of wolve's behavior in order to increase success odds.

Experience is a key factor, but a few tips to keep in mind will help young wolf hunters (and perhaps some experienced ones) to increase your chances to beat a wolf:

1. Be aware of local regulations
That's a key for all hunting expeditions and wolves are not the exception. Time, dates, areas where wolves may be hunt as well bag limit are important topics to know about to avoid law infringements.

At the same time, permits, authorizations, and all regulatory paperwork must be up to date before hitting the bushes.

2. Scouting, the old great trick
There's nothing new about this. Wolves, same as many other big games, use to have behavior patterns and if you can decode it, there's a great chance to succeed on your wolf hunt.

Identifying walking trails, feeding areas and signs of wolves' activity will give you a complete overview of where they are in the land you are hunting on.

3. Talk with local livestock owners
A great place to start is livestock owners having problems with wolves. If there are problems is because wolves are around there, so you don't need to go out for your game but wait for wolves to show up.

If there's no problem with missing cattle or any livestock, perhaps it's better to find another place.

4. Follow wolves' preys
If you can identify an elk's herd as well as any other wolf's prey, just follow them from the distance. It won't take long before wolves show on.

Perhaps it's a matter of hours or a few days maybe, but sooner or later wolves will claim for a prey and you must be ready for them.

5. Look for signs of recently beaten preys
The main sign might come from the sky. If you see birds like magpies, gray jays, or ravens over a particular area, that's because a prey was beaten recently, probably by wolves, so head to the area and be ready for the action.

You may find wolves feeding, a returning pack to claim what they left behind or even a new pack coming for the leftovers. No matter why there's a real chance to find wolves near a fallen prey.

At the end of the day, a combination of knowledge, hard work, and a little bit of luck will pay and you probably will have a big, wolf trophy on your truck and if not, that experience will help you to succeed in your next wolf hunting raid.