Oh yeah...the wolf

Back on my September 16th post, I told you about a wolf sighting and included some trail camera photos.

I have an update on the wolf that I forgot to write about!

On September 12th, I got the contact information for the 'Carnivore Specialist' with the WI DNR.  I emailed him the story of me seeing a wolf and attached a few photos.  Namely, I was interested in him identifying the collar as being the same style as one placed on a wolf by the WI DNR.

He replied back the following day stating that it did appear to be a wolf and was interested in the location.  I sent him the approximate location and he said they would take to the air the following week to try and pull a radio ID on the wolf.

On September 18th, I got my answer!

Looks like the wolf in your area is Wolf 825F....she has been missing since early April.  Her location today is shown on the enclosed map.  She was caught in a coyote trap 2 miles east of the Menominee Reservation, northwest of Suring on 11/8/11. Let me know if you have any additional questions....Thanks for helping us find her.

At the time she was trapped, she was estimated to be a 2-4 year old, ~70lb female. 

The DNR tries to locate collared wolves regularly.  This is in an effort to study dispersal patterns of wolves in the state, given that this is a relatively new (reintroduced) animal in the state and the DNR is interested in home ranges and reproduction.  In addition, regular contact with collared wolves lets the DNR know if the animal is still moving/alive or if it has been killed by a vehicle, poacher, etc.

The map they attached showed her location at the time they located her approximately 1 mile southeast of my hunting location.  On the days following the response from the Carnivore Specialist, I continued to get photos of the wolf on my trail camera.  A majority of photos were at night.  And, several photos were minutes after a bear had been at the bait (maybe showing the same tendency to follow a bear around that I saw on the 11th of September).  Regardless, what I learned from the DNR is that this particular wolf seems to have at least a 1 mile range...daily!

Based on the information provided about her last-known location in April, she moved just shy of 30 miles (as the crow flies) to her current location.

What I was told by the DNR is that it's not uncommon for a wolf to use a bear bait as a food source.  I never saw photos of the wolf sticking her head in the bait log eating the bait, but there were probably a couple photos of her picking up some scraps on the ground around the bait log.  Perhaps she was more interested in using the bait as a stalking point for the numerous raccoons that visited during nighttime hours.  Since the conclusion of my bear hunt, we've ceased baiting.  Only time will tell if this wolf continues to call this area home or if she moves on to a new area now that the bait is gone.

A few photos spanning several days (there were many photos captured....she would visit for several minutes, and often several times, almost every night):

(remember...DNR got her radio signal 1 mile southeast of this location on 9/18 during daylight hours)

Possible prey (these masked midnight bandits were regular visitors and were very happy when a bear had opened the bait log for them):

And so it happens!!

On Sunday, 9/30, I was sitting on stand waiting for a bear to approach the bait.  There were only two days left in the bear-hunting season.  Clearly, my anxiety over the situation  - whether or not I would fill the bear tag I had been waiting 9 years for - was through the roof! 

I sat for most of the day and had not seen any bears.  At 6:30pm, I was entering my 110th hour on stand since September 7th.  The sun had fallen beneath the trees, and the slight wind had died down to almost nothing.  The woods was quiet now - except for the sound of a few snapping twigs that my ears were picking up on.  As I scanned my eyes in the direction of the noise, a black bear was working its way out of the swamp to my south.  As my heart raced, the bear slowly and cautiously worked its way towards the bait.  I could immediately tell this was a good-sized bear, so I slowly readied my bow and myself for a shot.  The bear started heading away from the bait for a few steps, and I feared it had either smelled or seen me.  Thankfully, it turned back and headed into the bait.  My trail camera captured one (dark) photo of the bear as it was standing next to the bait log:

At this point, the bear was facing directly away from me, so I took the opportunity to draw my bow.  What felt like an eternity was probably only 5-10 seconds, but when the bear turned, I let the arrow go.  With an illuminated nock, it was very easy to see that I had made as good of a shot as I could have hoped for.  The bear took off and ended up expiring in the thick brush 20 yards from the bait log.  I had my first bear!  With shaking hands and a quivering voice, I radioed to my Aunt, Uncle, and Dad back at the cabin that I had just shot a bear.  After an excited run back to the cabin to get a gun and ATV/trailer for the ensuing tracking/hauling job, we found my bear right where I was sure it was.  I was elated to be holding onto my first-ever black bear!

We quickly took care of the bear, got it registered, and delivered it to the taxidermist.  It was a 270-pound (dressed) female!  I couldn't be happier!

There's a lot that goes into a hunt of this kind.  The planning, the practice, the baiting, and the waiting.  As I think back to all aspects of this hunt, I'm extremely pleased with how all of it went.  The hunt that I had started orchestrating in February ended up exactly as I had pictured it!  God blessed me with this rare opportunity and provided the perfect ending to my dream Wisconsin hunt!

If there's anything that can make a good hunt a great one, it's the people you share the experience with.  I'm incredibly fortunate to have shared this achievement with my Uncle, Aunt, and Dad.  They were all present to congratulate me and help me with my bear on Sunday.  My Aunt helped create/make/bake some of the bait we used.  And, a special shout-out to my Uncle.  His diligence - going to the cabin to bait almost every day for the last month and a half - was without question the key to this successful hunt.

The last chance

I had spent a LOT of time on stand going into the last weekend of the season.  My opportunity to get a Wisconsin Black Bear was to end on Tuesday, October 2nd.  With that in mind, I was going to try my luck once more with some long hours on stand Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday - whatever it took!

We were still seeing bears on the trail camera.  The daytime activity was sparse.  But, the nighttime activity was relatively steady and we were seeing a lot of bears on camera.  On one particularly eventful night, there were five or six different bears at the bait in the course of an hour!!  Here are some neat photos from that series:

While these photos were all at night, I was pleased to see so many bears.  With them all around the bait at the same time, I was hoping they would get a sense of 'urgency' to get into the bait earlier the next few nights to beat their competition.  If luck is was on my side, one of these good-sized bears would approach during daylight hours.

It happened the next night!  A good bear approached the bait about 6:30pm on Wednesday 9/26.

Now I just need to be on stand when this happens again...