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Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 21, 2006, 10:29 AM:
Visited Albert Pilling for a seven day wolf hunt. Bad weather, wind and two feet of snow kept us out of many areas, three days running, a break in the weather and then more wind and blowing snow. Saw several recent wolf tracks, scat and scent posting; had them return howl twice, but never actually laid eyes on one.
Very unique experience. Thanks, Albert.
Good hunting. LB
[ November 15, 2008, 12:42 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
Posted by Brad Norman (Member # 234) on December 21, 2006, 10:38 AM:
Wow Leonard! Looks like a great trip, regardless of the weather. What is that in the last picture? Looks like a buffalo?
Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on December 21, 2006, 10:58 AM:
Neat looking place Leonard. The question is... did you own enough clothes to wear up there and stay warm or did Albert loan you a few layers? ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Posted by TundraWookie (Member # 1044) on December 21, 2006, 11:03 AM:
Leonard,
Great pictures, thanks for sharing them. If you could, can you elaborate on how you went about calling the wolves (sounds used, stands made, time on stand). It's good to see that they have snow. Here in AK, we only have 5 inches on the ground and travel into good territory on snowmobiles isn't happening. Thanks again.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 21, 2006, 11:17 AM:
Brad, we were skirting a National Park, or reserve. Yes, that is an escaped bison.
Lance, I had more than enough clothes, but Albert did provide the Mil.surplus snow camo. PS I hope I get them back, Air Canada lost my luggage!
Tundra, Albert thinks that snowmobiles scare the animals and are illegal, in some cases, maybe most? Sounds used, once sign located, WT wolf howls and some distress sounds. Time on stand ranged from twenty minutes, to (approaching) an hour. Way more snow than usual in this particular area and it isn't going away soon. It helped (somewhat) on locating sign from the road, (every day, fresh) but it hampered movement of both vehicles and animals.
Good hunting. LB
edit: once you see a clear wolf track in the snow, you will never mistake dog or coyote for wolf.
[ December 21, 2006, 11:21 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
Posted by TundraWookie (Member # 1044) on December 21, 2006, 11:32 AM:
Leonard,
The snowmachines definately can put the scare on wolves if it's in an area where they never hear them. In some of the areas that people go to "play" with their snowmachines, wolves are accustomed to it and will stick around (on the edges). Here in Alaska, you can use them to locate, but cannot drive them or shoot from a moving one. The WT Lone Wolf Howl is a really good sound for locating wolves. Glad you had a nice hunt.
Posted by Rich (Member # 112) on December 21, 2006, 11:55 AM:
Leonard,
Very nice photos, thanks for sharing them.
Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on December 21, 2006, 02:07 PM:
Oh my!
That looks cold , thanks for sharing the pics Leonard.
Paul
Posted by Tim Behle (Member # 209) on December 21, 2006, 04:12 PM:
Looks like you had an awesome trip!
You really know how to make a fellow feel jealous!
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 21, 2006, 04:24 PM:
Here I am. First trek, I "caught a tip" and had a heck of a time getting squared away!
edit: which means; I fell on my ass and needed help getting up and pointing both shoes in the same direction.
[ December 21, 2006, 04:27 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
Posted by TundraWookie (Member # 1044) on December 21, 2006, 04:48 PM:
Leonard,
That's the pitts when you do an endo on those things. It looks like the snow there is fairly "wet" and you can stay ontop of it pretty good. The snow is so light and fluffy here, that even with snowshoes, you sink down a foot or more, depending on the load. I've talked to a guy who used to hunt wolves from his dogsled. The dogsled is fairly quiet and got him into some really remote areas. Plus, he used some of his dogs howls to locate wolves. Pretty neat idea and apparently it worked for him because he seemed to do alright.
Posted by TA17Rem (Member # 794) on December 21, 2006, 04:50 PM:
Great pic's Leonard. Glad you had a good time.
Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on December 21, 2006, 04:52 PM:
Very, very cool, literally and figuratively. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Leonard, why did you use black and white film on all but one photo?
[ December 21, 2006, 04:55 PM: Message edited by: Rich Higgins ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 21, 2006, 05:03 PM:
TW, don't be fooled.
The snow was veriable, some powder and some crusty stuff, wind blown, uneven depth. Almost always breaking through the crust, when present, but most of the time, still sunk 4"-6" and other times, pulled up a lot of powder on top of the shoes, which is very tiring, but not as tiring as without the snowshoes.
In the last pic, I'm on the shoulder of the road, it just "looks" like it's firm, but one more step and you are up to your thighs, without snowshoes. There is a ditch on both sides of almost all roads, but it is blown level so you cannot tell, until that first step.
Good hunting. LB
Posted by TundraWookie (Member # 1044) on December 21, 2006, 05:21 PM:
I know exactly what you're talking about Leonard. It burns up some energy trecking across the country on snowshoes. If you ever get a chance, read the book "Alaska Wolf Man", about a federal predator hunter here in Alaska. Great story and makes you really understand how intense the guy (Frank Glaser) was by traveling hundreds of miles on snowshoes. Leonard, how do I post pictures on here? I have a wolf pic I'd like to post if possible.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 21, 2006, 05:36 PM:
Just go here:
http://photobucket.com/
and follow the directions.
Then copy the url and just paste it in a HM post.
Good hunting. LB
Posted by Norm (Member # 240) on December 22, 2006, 05:33 AM:
Leonard, wonderful pictures and I am sure many great memories as well.
Catching a tip can be far more painful than stubbing a toe, but it happens to almost everyone at some point in time.
The coyotes seem to be nice and furry. about the same size and all to the CA coyotes you hunt.
Posted by James L. (Member # 239) on December 22, 2006, 12:10 PM:
Looks cold is an understatement.. Nice Coyote Leonard..
I assume you killed it ? It doesn't say????? James L.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 22, 2006, 12:47 PM:
Oh yes. Perfect fur gun, ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
22-250 Rem. #1365 55 gr. Sierra. (no exit) He weighed 36 pounds.
How do I know? Albert bought a scale, at the country store, while gassing up, to settle a bet; which I won, BTW.
Good hunting. LB
Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on December 22, 2006, 01:15 PM:
Silly Albert. I could have warned him.
Posted by ACC (Member # 903) on December 22, 2006, 07:55 PM:
Leonard,
Good job on the hunting trip. This is my type of hunting day in day out for 5 months a year.
ACC
[ December 22, 2006, 07:56 PM: Message edited by: ACC ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 22, 2006, 09:20 PM:
Just remembered something. NORTHERN LIGHTS
I have heard the term, in the past, paid it very little attention; maybe a sort of glow on the horizon, no big deal, right?
Wrong! Freakin' awesome, under the right conditions! I have never seen anything like it, and it's almost impossible to describe. Certainly not as I had imagined, they are overhead, for one thing, not on the horizon. I have some vague idea about ions or some such, but it is difficult to understand how the effect gets overhead. You just have to see it to believe it.
Good hunting. LB
Posted by TA17Rem (Member # 794) on December 22, 2006, 10:41 PM:
Yes Leonard they are a great site to see and everyone should see them atleast once in there life time. With the right conditions here we can also see them..
Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on December 23, 2006, 04:22 AM:
They said that last week, there was a huge sun spot burst and the radiation wave should produce some awesome auroras, so I bet that's what you saw. That's cool. We see them sometimes this far south as well. A handful of years ago, I posted on here that I was at my truck on my birthday early in the morning waiting to walk into my deer stand and the northern sky started lighting up in shades of green, pink and red. That was a true treat.
Posted by albert (Member # 98) on December 23, 2006, 05:58 AM:
The amount of snow did make getting around difficult. To make matter worse we had two days miserable weather that dumped another foot of snow. All the back roads were impassable before this snow never mind after. There was already record snowfall in the month of November.
On the plus side Leonard is a fantastic guest and great to be around.
I am disappointed that we didn’t get the results that we hoped for, but Leonard is not one to complain. I only hope that Leonard will come back another time when we have more “average” conditions.
Thanks Leonard I really enjoyed the time we spent together.
Posted by RickE (Member # 818) on December 23, 2006, 06:49 AM:
Hey Albert/Leonard. Riddle me this. How is it possible that Leonard hunted coyotes and wolves in Sask. when it's illegal for non-residents to hunt furbearers here? Were you able to get a special permit? Rick.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 23, 2006, 08:22 AM:
Oh great.
Well, they'll never take me alive. And, I've been so good honoring the terms of my parole!
I'll try and call Albert before I leave for the airport, (running late) ...see what he says?
Obviously, a man that can't spell the name of his Province might not be current on fur bearers or non-game animals or any other regulations?
If it turns out that I did something illegal, I'll acknowledge it. Bye for now, LB
Posted by albert (Member # 98) on December 23, 2006, 09:18 AM:
Hi Ricke; Nobody said anything about killing a wolf and as far as I'm aware it is not illegal to call a wolf.
It is certainly not illegal for me to call and kill a coyote or a wolf for that matter.
It is also not against the law to have a guest with you on the stand. If it was Randy Anderson would be the most wanted man in Saskatchewan.
Coyotes are considered a varmit in southern saskatchewan (Same as sunks) which is where we were. At one time the gov. issued non-resident coyote liscences but this was discontinued when it was found that it cost more to print liscences than they were selling. The talks that I have had with fish and game have indicated to me that charging someone that shot a couple of coyotes was not high on there list of prioritys.
Why the Interest?
[ December 23, 2006, 02:17 PM: Message edited by: albert ]
Posted by ACC (Member # 903) on December 23, 2006, 09:35 AM:
Hunting wolves is a difficult proposition at the best of times. Introduce the amount of snow we have been getting as well and it gets even harder. The wolf population around my place right now is fairly high. Soon as the snow melts ddown a bit, I will be after them.
It is good to see a southern boy sticking it out in conditions like that. A lot of guys won't even atempt it.
The auroras are created by solar burst/flares that are traveling through our magnetic field that surrounds the earth. There is some indepth science to it which doesn't matter right now. They are a sight to see when they are really good.
I have a big bay window that faces the north and I get to watch them during the winter cozied right up by my fireplace. Doesn't get any better than that.
Maybe next time Leonard.
ACC
Posted by George Ackley (Member # 898) on December 23, 2006, 09:47 AM:
Look's as though you were having a good time pal. and nice coyote.
congrats pal.
sorry to here about you bags
Posted by varmit hunter (Member # 37) on December 24, 2006, 09:48 AM:
What the hell is snow, and why do you have to have shoes for it?.
Sounds like the Northen lights were worth the whole trip. Proud for you Leonard.
Posted by Yoteboy (Member # 534) on December 26, 2006, 09:47 AM:
Albert,
For interests sake can we hunt "escaped buffalo"?
I was wondering if they are like the wild hogs that people that occasionally come across here in Sask. and that you can shoot on sight without a licence. Seeing the picture just made me wonder, cuz it sure would be fun.
Posted by Locohead (Member # 15) on December 26, 2006, 02:08 PM:
Congrats Leonard. What a neat opportunity! Glad to hear you had fun. Something I would love to do someday!
Posted by albert (Member # 98) on December 26, 2006, 04:19 PM:
Yoteboy
The buffalo have not escaped but are rather wild. Considered big game and as of yet there is no season for them. The locals are lobbby for some thing as the bison are causing lots of damage. No respect for fences etc. When a large herd tramples through a field there is significant crop damage. In the 50's the local's took matters into there own hands and eliminated the problem. these day's the eastern influence makes it harder for a person to look after there own problems.
Another increaseing prolem in this area is the wolves with several head of cattle being lost this summer.
Posted by Yoteboy (Member # 534) on December 26, 2006, 04:34 PM:
So do they actually just plow through the barbed wire or do they jump over it. And how many are we talking here? 2 or 3 or 10-20
It must be a little freaky to be out pushing bush for deer only to send 3 or 4 buffalo out the other end to an unsuspecting buddy? ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Posted by albert (Member # 98) on December 27, 2006, 05:55 AM:
Yoteboy
There is no fence they are "wild" these bison have been there since the beginning. A river seperates the farmland from the forest.
It is my understanding that there is close to 400 bison roaming this area
[ December 27, 2006, 05:57 AM: Message edited by: albert ]
Posted by happy trapper (Member # 1016) on December 28, 2006, 10:12 PM:
Albert & Lenard it is very interesting that they do not realize that Albert can call and Lenard can record with video.
It is not just the shooting but the thrill of watching them charging in.
Posted by TedN (Member # 1040) on January 05, 2007, 10:03 AM:
Awesome hunt!!
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