I got two wolves this year in January and got my cheque from the county of Opportunity, (Wabasca) in Feb. $200.00 per wolf and I keep the pelt. I had to register the wolves with the county rep and fill out the paper work. He took a 8mm plug out of the base of the left year of each. That stops the double dipping.
That all being said, I believe most hunters don't have the equipment and the time to go out for wolves when it is a very low success rate even when they are targeted. This is the first year I have gotten two, and only have three others and one was not while targeting them (moose hunting).
Unless you are a trapper, and you can snare them, here is your options, or at least what I do to give myself a chance.
1. You need to have a sled that can make many miles to cover country to find fresh track. Right now unless you have machine that can handle the power snow we have right now in northern Alberta, at slow speeds, your out of luck right there. I have a Ski-doo expedition. Remember, you are not following roads and trappers trails, but virgin cutlines and drainages. Oh, you need extra gas, a 100km or more day is not unusual.
2. Once you have a idea that the wolves are in an area, you need to either stay right till dark, or be there before legal light to call. That can easily be an hour or more once you park the truck.
3. WE've found the colder the better for success. Of the seven my son and I have gotten over the last five years, the temperatures have been minus 18 or colder, for six of them. So now you need all your survival gear incase something goes wrong. It's not an inconvenience like it is in a fall hunt where you can just hunker down for a night around a fire. Minus 20 and colder is not to be fooled with. I also hunt where cell service sucks. I have hand warmers and a plug in helmet to help on the long morning rides in the dark.
4. You have to have belief you can actually get one. With so little knowledge out there on how to call, what to call, when to call. It's a guessing game. We have only specifically called in two, the others were by just waiting over a kill that we stumbled on, or seeing them and then doing a stalk, and or ambush like on the last one I got this year.
I have a cabin that is in wolf country and getting out of bed on a cold winter morning takes a lot of determination. This wolf hunting is not for the faint of hart. Of all the hunters I know, my son and I are the only ones I know that target them. It's just too hard for most, or expensive, and the time it takes.
As much as I love the trophy deer, elk and sheep I have gotten over the years, a rifle hunted wolf is a very rare and worthy trophy. Why??? Because they are so darn hard to get. Maybe someone else has an easier way, but I'm still looking.
If I was a tech wiz young guy,I would add a picture or two. Sorry boys and girls.
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