Dog Hunting Popular
Topics
Idaho Fish and Game News Release:
Hound Hunting Precautions in Wolf Country
Released December 2006
Hunting mountain lions with hounds is inherently risky in wolf country, but a few simple precautions can prevent most conflicts.
Mountain lion hound hunting in Idaho is open through mid-February in some units and the end of March in others. State and federal wildlife managers remind hound hunters that wolves may be present where they hunt mountain lions.
Hounds risk a wolf attack if they are released to track lions for long distances in wolf territory.
Wolves are by nature extremely territorial, and have developed ritualistic behaviors such as scent-marking and howling to mark their territories and indicate their strength to neighboring packs. Wolves also guard their territory and recent kills from other canids, including coyotes and domestic dogs.
The risk is compounded when the mountain lion season is open during the wolf-breeding season, which generally begins in February when wolves are especially territorial and aggressive.
Wolves still are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and it is illegal to shoot a wolf attacking pet dogs or hunting hounds on public land. But dog owners can take precautions to reduce the chance of conflicts. It’s impossible to completely eliminate wolf-dog conflicts in wolf habitat, but precautions when walking dogs or hunting with hounds include:
- Check the area for wolf sign, and don't release hounds if fresh sign or a recent wolf kill is found or wolves are heard howling nearby.
- Release hounds only on fresh mountain lion tracks to shorten the chase time.
- Yell or make noise when releasing hounds and going to the tree to announce your presence to wolves that may be in the area.
- Some suggest using bells or beeper collars to emit a non-natural sound that indicates the hounds are not wild canids.
- Get to the tree as quickly as possible – barking, unattended dogs may attract wolves.
- Leash dogs at the tree to prevent them from pursuing other cats.
- Run more hounds to discourage lone wolves from attacking dogs.
- Use radio telemetry tracking collars to help relocate lost dogs quickly.
- Howl to see if any wolves in the immediate area respond. If they do, hunt elsewhere.
- Use protective dog vests, which may shield hunting hounds from a wolf attack long enough for the hunter to reach the dog before a wolf can kill it.
- Use spiked collars, which have helped reduce injuries in some wolf attacks on herding and guarding dogs in some areas.
- Don’t release dogs at baits or kill sites recently visited by wolves. When looking for bear or lion sign at a bait or carcass, make sure to also look for wolf tracks.
- Be aware of wolf pack locations; a map is available on the Idaho Fish and Game Website.
Because wolves tend to travel the same trails that people do, wolf sign can often be found if wolves are nearby. The following distinguish wolf sign from other animal sign:
Scat: Wolf droppings, or scat, are generally 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter with tapered ends. Coyote scat typically is less than 1 inch in diameter. Wolf scat usually contains elk and deer hair, as well as shards of bones. Wolf “meat scats,” typically deposited after a fresh kill, are loose and tar-like.
Travel and tracks: Wolf tracks are generally larger than dog tracks, usually 3 1/2 to 4 inches wide by 4 to 5 inches long and with distinct claw marks. Wolves usually travel in a more “business like” straight line, while dogs meander back and forth. The distance between one set of wolf tracks and the next is usually greater than 26 inches and often more than 30. Wolves typically have narrow chests, and their tracks appear almost in a straight line. A pack of wolves traveling together in snow often walk directly in each other’s tracks so that there appears to be only one animal.
Report wolf conflicts immediately to local Fish and Game offices or to U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services toll-free at (866) 487-3297.
|
