I got a phonecall this morning from 243Sniper, who greeted me with squeelching screams of rabbit in distress calls from his freshly arrived FoxPro FX3. As soon as I got off the phone with him I jumped in my pickup and headed down to the post office. I turned the key in my PO Box and slooowly peeked behind the door. There it was, a parcel pickup notification!!

I got home and got my new FX3 full of batteries. I had some lunch then hit the road around 2pm, heading to a spot Ive been to a few times this winter already.

I exited my truck, geared up, and headed to a spot I thought might be a good spot for a calling stand. I set my FX3 up 100 yards upwind of me, hit the remote, and started calling.

After 20 minutes on stand, nothing showing, I went silent and waited a bit more and then packed up the FX3 and headed a half KM to my next stand.


I set up with my back along a fencepost looking over a small field bordered on 2 sides by a brushy swamp, and the other 2 sides bush. The caller was 100 yards out in the field on a small rise. I started with a female invitation howl and then after a few minutes of silence I went to the snowshoe distress. Nothing but a mulie doe came out to investigate the noise.

I was winding down this stand after 15 minutes or so, and tried a few more howls, this time a male interrogation bark/howl, along with the rabbit being shredded by coyote sound. I switched to a fairly quiet rodent in distress sound to slow the pace down and wait for another 5 minutes before packing up and leaving. A few minutes after starting the rodent in distress I noticed something in the corner of my eye, 60 yards upwind along the field edge.

Wow that is one big coyote I thought. There he was, standing on the edge of the field looking towards my FX3. He began to trot out into the field heading for the caller when I tried to mute my remote, but didnt manage to shut it up. I was trying to make the damn thing stop so he would stop and offer me a standing shot! Well he stopped at 30 yards from the caller, and I got my rifle on him, set up rock solid in my Steady Stix. One quick glance through the scope made me think that it looked like a wolf, but the crack of the 223 and the whomp of the Ballistic Tip hitting canine snapped my train of thought. 75 yard shot, broadside, he starts into the death spin, biting at himself. Three of four spins and he was on the ground, a few kicks later and he was done for good.


I switched my caller on loud with the wounded coyote sound, but after a couple minutes nothing showed so I headed towards the fallen dog. As I got closer to it I could see it was indeed a wolf! The feet were a dead giveaway from 15 yards away.


He's a nice male, about 80 lbs or so. The 55 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip out of my m700 LVSF 223 hit him behind the shoulder and exited the far side. This FoxPro FX3 is the real deal folks.

Great going todbartell. We need those wolves delisted in the USA and we need a bunch of posts like this from Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Great work, pics and story! That sounds like a lot of fun to me. Good luck with more calling and smoking!!

Regards--Don

Ditto, great story & pics !

Nice work, we have a small pack roaming between Lewiston-Troy-Moscow but I'd be in a heap o'sh&* if I fed one a lead bisciut.....

Some day soon perhaps.....

IV

Absolutely Cool Deal---"DWDT" (darn well done Todd)

I've called in a few down here but as of yet cannot pull the trigger.

This stuff is about as close to Viagra to me as it gets....grins

Mark D

Idaho Vandal,

Remember the three S system!

(Shoot, Shovel, Shut Up)!

Same day as the package arrived!! Cool!
Hope everything keeps going that way!
Thanks for the photos.

Well, unfortunately, SSS wouldn't go over to with my colleagues in the "wildlife profession" if you know what I mean....

IV

Nice going! Thanks for sharing the photos and story.

Hey Todd, Absolutely a great story, excellent flicks, and a clean 1-shot kill while using the brand new caller. Congratulations and keep those excellent hunting stories going for us.

OUCH!!! Looks like You shot Wiley my big Malamute!!

Wish we could legally shoot them down here.

Cool digitals.

FN in MT

Dead dog = good dog

Good on ya, mate.

Way to go todbartell. I just seen 4 wolves 1/2 hour ago when I was driving back to town. Should of taken the rifle, but I had a client with me and we were going to look at a project thats going to be tendered soon. I seen one wolf in this very spot last week. Going back tomorrow with a buddy to see what w can do! My brotherinlaw shot one on tuesday! Go GET EM!

WTG, todbartell!! That's awesome. The long wait for your Foxpro was worth it, eh!

Hey, that wolf's gotta count for at least a half dozen 'yotes for your contest on the other forums, eh?

Cheers,
Canuck

Damn that looks like fun; great story and pics....

Regards,
Craig Nolan

quote:

Originally posted by Jay Johnson:
Great going todbartell. We need those wolves delisted in the USA and we need a bunch of posts like this from Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

. . . Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan.

You,
Sure made my day!!!

Charie



Boulder Co... 38sqmi surronded by reality

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by Jay Johnson:
Great going todbartell. We need those wolves delisted in the USA and we need a bunch of posts like this from Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.


. . . Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan.

Start with Wyoming!

Great photos, one down, 1000 to go!

I love threads like this. Excellent setup with the pictures and story!!!

I'd love to hunt wolves.

Tod, Thank you for showing one of the best sides of AR. Great class and a wonderful presentation. Bottom line is effort = success (on a good day!) Good hunting.

Dave

Sweet story, sweet pics, and sweet presentation.
thx
Jordan

Everyone above said it already...

Excellent post, story and pics!

congrats,

cheers
seafire

congrats--so cool when things happen like that--chris

The pics are awesome! Great story!

Hey Todd,

Congrats on the wolf!! I am finally going to try and get my first one in BC this May. It is good to see you posting.

Good Hunting,

Bob

Hello;
Good story and Pics. I've wondered how often wolves are confused with coyotes and vice versa, in areas that have both. Some wolves even have coyote like coloration, right down to the black spot on the tail, so its not always obvious The big head is the give away.
Were abouts did you bag this sucker? Looks like stubble field to me, so must be close to civilization.
Grizz

shot about 20 minutes from town. closest house was less than a mile away