Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We live off Dufort Road in Sagle. A couple weeks ago I found a big buck dead on our property, about 75 yards from the house. It had been down a couple days when I saw it, and had been so picked over and the snow so packed down I couldn't tell what killed it. I figured it might have been a lion. Well today my wife had a chat with the neighbor, seems like a dear was killed in his yard the other night. He found some suspicious tracks and called fish and game, they confirmed that there is a wolf pack in the area. Something to keep in mind, and keep an eye on your critters. Our dogs have been barking and howling up a storm lately...figured it was just coyotes, we've always had them around.
BTW...anyone have any first hand experience with a .223 on wolves?
I hope your house is built with bricks. No twigs or straw.
i've had them here on my property with no problems, even during lambing season. We have plenty of firearms but have never had to use them on a wolf or bear.
Dufort is such a great area--close to the essentials of civilization, but still only minutes away from the wild places. Obviously! I know about the cougars in the hills, but that's the first I've heard of a wolf pack. Keep your dogs inside at night! The pack in the Coeur d'Alenes/Green Monarchs by Clark Fork was very active last summer. We heard them almost every night. I'm sure they haven't gone away since then.
Also, something else to consider when it is known that a wolf pack is around: Keep your Shepherd-looking dogs close. A CF neighbor's German Shepherd was shot last year, supposedly because he looked like a wolf (maybe just a bad excuse/bad neighbors...). I think I've mentioned before that we put a red bandana around our White Shepherd's collar just to mark her as a dog, because at a distance she really does look like a white wolf. She howls with them, too! Uh-oh!
CFF, we were just talking about that today. One of our dogs is a Husky/Shepard mix, he would be easy to confuse with a wolf. We're going to pick up a bandana for him.
I talked with the neighbor today. He has had 2 deer killed by wolves, one 20 yards from his house, one 30. Turns out that several other neighbors have seen them too. Sounds like there are at least 5 in the pack in our neighborhood.
Misty, IIRC you have a Great Pyrenees (sp?) for a protection dog. Has he ever gotten into it with a wolf? I seem to recall you saying that the barking tended to keep them away. In his prime our Newfie might have had a faint chance, but I doubt it, especially with a pack. Our dogs have been out and gone running towards 'yotes and have never been bothered, but I'm a lot more concerned with wolves. I might have to study up on Irish Wolfhounds.
@Elousv, the last time I went snowmobiling up the Bunco I came across a fresh wolf kill. Cow elk, the only thing they did was to tear out the fetus, they left the cow to die. I talked to the groomer operator (he was at our ATV club meeting). He says he has to push carcasses off the trail pretty regularly. It's sad what is happening with our wildlife.
I took the wife out shooting today. She did well with the .22...going to out shoot me if I'm not careful. We need to work on the 9mm a bit more. Might have to get her a full size, rather than a compact CCW gun.
Misty, IIRC you have a Great Pyrenees (sp?) for a protection dog. Has he ever gotten into it with a wolf? I seem to recall you saying that the barking tended to keep them away. In his prime our Newfie might have had a faint chance, but I doubt it, especially with a pack. Our dogs have been out and gone running towards 'yotes and have never been bothered, but I'm a lot more concerned with wolves. I might have to study up on Irish Wolfhounds.
.
Irish Wolfhounds are pretty much a recreated breed, not a lot left of the original and in any case they were/are sight hounds originally used to chase down wolves, not to guard against them. If you want a dog to protect your stock, Livestock Guardian Dogs ( Great Pyreneees are an LGD breed) are the way to go. They have been bred and used for thousands of years to do what they do...really no training required to do their jobs. But they do have drawbacks. They bark. They bark a lot at perceived threats so if you have nearby neighbors, it can be a problem. They tend to roam and they are very different than other breeds of dogs.
My dogs have marked their territory well and they patrol and bark and the predators leave them (and their charges) alone and make do with easier prey. They've never gotten into it with any predators that we know of..at least no signs of injury on any of them. We have just one now and still no issues whatsoever with wolves, coyotes or any other predators.
Irish Wolfhounds are pretty much a recreated breed, not a lot left of the original and in any case they were/are sight hounds originally used to chase down wolves, not to guard against them. If you want a dog to protect your stock, Livestock Guardian Dogs ( Great Pyreneees are an LGD breed) are the way to go. They have been bred and used for thousands of years to do what they do...really no training required to do their jobs. But they do have drawbacks. They bark. They bark a lot at perceived threats so if you have nearby neighbors, it can be a problem. They tend to roam and they are very different than other breeds of dogs.
My dogs have marked their territory well and they patrol and bark and the predators leave them (and their charges) alone and make do with easier prey. They've never gotten into it with any predators that we know of..at least no signs of injury on any of them. We have just one now and still no issues whatsoever with wolves, coyotes or any other predators.
Thanks for the info. I think you've told me most of this before. One of our neighbors a mile or so up the road has one, he's been down to visit our dogs a few times. Seems like a great dog! Looks like a white version of our Newfie. The other breed I've just been reading about is the Caucasian Mountain Dog or OVCHARKA. We don't have livestock (other than a herd of cats) to worry about, I just want a dog that isn't going to be taken down by a pack. Though if we had a Caucasian Mountain Dog...some idiots would call us racist!
Thanks for the info. I think you've told me most of this before. One of our neighbors a mile or so up the road has one, he's been down to visit our dogs a few times. Seems like a great dog! Looks like a white version of our Newfie. The other breed I've just been reading about is the Caucasian Mountain Dog or OVCHARKA. We don't have livestock (other than a herd of cats) to worry about, I just want a dog that isn't going to be taken down by a pack. Though if we had a Caucasian Mountain Dog...some idiots would call us racist!
If you get a Caucasian Mountain Dog, you might want to really, really pump up your liability insurance. Personally, I think anyone with a dog that naturally aggressive is seriously nuts.
Are your dogs outside all the time? Fenced in? Or do you let them roam?
I hear of a lot more roaming dogs causing problems around here than anything else. Definitely more dogs are shot than wolves. I'm sure you don't do this Toyman, but when people move to the country and assume they can just let their dogs roam, they have a tendency to lose their pets. Dogs are far worse of a problem to livestock owners than predators because they have no fear of people. They kill chickens, run sheep to death or simply kill them and can really wreak havoc. I know ranchers and farmers who will simply shoot unknown dogs who cross their pastures. Sad but true. And it isn't the dog's fault. It's the owners who let their dogs roam. You just don't do that unless you live way out where the dogs can't get onto other people's property. And even then, domestic dogs will sometimes go after deer and if someone sees them do it.....they generally shoot them.
We had a visit from the sherriff a few years ago because a rancher saw a "white dog with some tan dogs" eating a deer carcass and was concerned the dogs would go for her newborn calves next. They weren't my dogs but they probably ended up shot to protect the calves.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
(maybe just a bad excuse/bad neighbors...). I think I've mentioned before that we put a red bandana around our White Shepherd's collar just to mark her as a dog, because at a distance she really does look like a white wolf. She howls with them, too! Uh-oh! 
