The mind-wrecking adventure of wolf hunting is exactly that, mind wrecking, and a complete mental game.
A beautiful grey wolf was something I had wanted to add to my trophy collection for a long time. I reviewed some outfitters and came to the conclusion that my best bet was to hunt them in Canada. After some research, I decided to hunt north of Manning, Alberta with Byron Wolf of Wolf Huntin Adventures.
The hunt was scheduled for January 15-20, with arrival on the 14th and departure on the 21st. With everything checked over and packed, I headed out bright and early on the 14th for a 6:00 a.m. flight out of St. Louis with my final flight landing in Grande Prairie, Alberta around 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening and then a three-hour drive to Byron’s. Air travel sometimes doesn’t go as planned, and getting there proved to be very difficult. My 6:00 a.m. flight to Toronto was delayed three hours because of weather. I was rerouted to Calgary with hopes of making my last flight to Grande Prairie. I got to Calgary on time, but it did not allow me enough time to go through customs and make my last flight. I rented a car in Calgary and drove the nine hours north to Manning. I finally made it there by 11:00 a.m. on Monday, and Byron was eagerly waiting on me. We unloaded the car, grabbed a bite, and were off to a bait sight by noon.
The first location I hunted looked very promising. The trail camera there had shown a pack of six wolves coming to that bait regularly during daylight hours. I sat, eagerly awaiting the sight of a wolf. With the sun setting and the bait getting harder to see, my first sit was over with no wolf sightings.
After a good night’s rest, I was taken back to this bait early the next morning. I was to sit there until dark or until I closed the deal. Again, the sun set with no sightings of wolves. There were tracks all over the place and all around the area. At dinner that evening, we tried to make a better plan for day three. We thought our best chance was where I had been sitting.
The next morning at breakfast, Byron had informed me that he had a new bait sight that was getting hit hard. The cameras showed a big pack of wolves, and there were fresh tracks everywhere. The kicker was that there was no blind there. We set out that morning, popped a blind up, and I was set for the day. Around noon, I could hear what sounded like warning barks and I had a feeling the wolves had caught my scent. The sun faded, and the third day was over.
After another full day sitting on the first bait and not even seeing a raven or magpie, my mind was completely scrambled. That night, Byron asked if I would be alright staying overnight at a different bait in a holiday camper, a small camper set on the edge of a field equipped with a propane lantern and heater with a bait about 200 yards out from it. Staying in it overnight may keep us from spooking wolves on the way in the next morning.
This was my last day to hunt before I had to return to Calgary. At around 11 a.m., I caught movement on the left side of the field. It was a wolf. I patiently waited for him to come to the bait and run the ravens off. He paused to scan the field for other dangers. I settled the crosshairs on the wolf’s chest and pulled the trigger on my Christensen rifle. It was a good hit, but he was spinning circles. I quickly reloaded and hit him again, and he went down.
I called Byron and said, “I got a wolf!” He showed up and we retrieved the wolf, took photos, did the trophy prep, and celebrated. It was one of the most mental hunts I have done, and I consider it a great accomplishment.
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