"Pay homage to all you harvest"

Trappergbus.

I meant to say something in an earlier post, but neglected. Just wanted to mention that I liked your enclosed quote. To me it reflects a respect and an appreciation for those furbearers that we depend on for our livelihood, both financially and mentally. Kudos, man!

Thanks, always felt that was important. Gotta lot of respect for the animals that keep us mentally stable

Nice post. Nobody mention your humor. Enjoyable to read.

How do you use gland lures for wolves?

Tell us more about your deep snow setting.

Jack, you got me thinking now regarding "orienting or lining up" their bodies to urinate...mark a post.
How did go about figuring this out? And how long did it take you? I always figured it was the animal attempting to get the best angle to first detect the urine/ odor and then configure their body for the easiest/best way to cover it up with its own?
In regards to this....have you ever figured out why the canines put so time and effort " kicking back"
at good marking areas? I wondered if the kick back action possibly stimulated more anal glandular secretions?

For what it is worth, i requested our central arkansas library to purchase Mr. Whitmans book. Looks like it is going through, and i am first on the read list, lol

Ringbill, many thanks for the post. I'm not an accomplished lure-maker. I'll tell you precisely how I use the glands, and hopefully somebody that really knows the ropes will offer up their suggestions, educating both of us.

On a fresh carcass, I spend probably 20 minutes slicing and dicing. On a wolf, it only takes about 4 carcasses to fill a quart jar. Coyotes, probably 10-12 carcasses per quart. The glands (including the foot pads) are diced very finely, with no chunks bigger than a raisin. I let this "ferment" for about 2 weeks at relatively cool temperature (50-60F), then mix thoroughly with about 1/10th the volume of glycerin (as an antifreeze). I would undoubtedly be better off with some stabilizer, as the real strong smell of canid glands is only good for about 2 years, then it seems to get just plain stinky with rot. Most of my sets (for both wolves and yodel-dogs) using this gland lure are flat sets, but I have had some success even in dirt-holes.

Deep snow... Most of my deep snow chasing of wolves pretty much ended a decade ago in Alaska. Truthfully, when the snows deepened (and I still do this with coyotes down here in Idaho), I switch largely to snares. Just easier and, I think, more efficient. Too, I trapped in Alaska with my SuperCub, so carrying a pile of footholds was problematic, just because of the weight. My deep-snow foothold sets were usually blind sets in established wolf trails or on snowmachine trails (or airplane ski tracks I'd lay down along a river or frozen slough). Periodically, I have had some success with pee-posts alongside of snowmachine or airplane ski tracks as well.

That helpful?

I got another ? for you , will adult wolves commit to a set better than adult coyotes?

MChewk...

Actually, the incomparable White17 got me thinking about this several years ago. He's the first one that brought the British work to my attention. Obviously, I then started taking notice. My old chukar dog (female Brit), given the unlimited possibilities, was about 85% "aligned" (Yeah, I actually spent about 6 months watching, with compass in hand). My next Brittany (another female who's a real sweet dog, but not the quickest trap in the box) was about 82%. My wolfing dog (a male Hangin' Tree Cowdog) is currently at about 88%. Of course, I then followed countless wolf and coyote tracks for a couple of years; compass in hand, in the snow, and sure 'nuf, they do the same thing. Why not take that to the next level, and orient my pee-post sets to take advantage of this natural propensity?

I'm in full agreement with you that a canid's first task at the virtual fire hydrant is to check out the existing smell, read the advertisement, then attempt to "cover" it with his/her own. So why not take advantage of their "comfort zone" and orient the post to allow them additional "comfort"?

Hey Spot. Many thanks for taking a chance on the newest book. It's basically a self-publishing outfit I go through (Trafford Press), and the up-front costs are outrageous. I get about $0.80 per copy, so will need to sell 2,400 of them to break even. The first book I did with them about 15 years ago, I'm still saving up all the royalties so I can maybe buy a decent used skinning knife someday.

Anyway, hope you like "The Last Hunt". Let me know...

Wolfer! I just turned 60 (a few years ago). I like your PCLIF; might use it myself, with your permission; shows major initiative. Too, I'm a firm believer in the works of Comrade Pavlov.

Far as I know, there's still no quickhatch, skunk bear, stink-bear, carcajou, or rossamahah on TMan.

Mornin' Gbus.

In my opinion, the simple answer is "No". Adult wolves seem to me to be a bit more "gun shy" than coyotes. I've watched quite a few trail-cam sessions (both video and series of stills) of wolves being captured in footholds. They're generally pretty spooky. They appear to be on high-alert with their feelers out. Have I had them walk on by? You bet! When I told him about a couple videos I had of wolves being caught, a friend of mine over on the other side of the divide (Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks wolf trapper) showed me one of his trail-cam videos. It was a young female black that came to the set 4 different times over about a 20 minute period before stepping in the right place. It was frustrating to watch the first three visits without the trap firing.

Since I've not been a "regular" on TMan for a couple of years, have any of you noticed any discussion on "handedness" of wolves or coyotes? To me, it's another biggie, and footholds should be set accordingly.

Jack

Great thread with a lot of info. Mr. Whitman, I am wondering about the "handedness" tendencies of canines. I usually set righthanded, but Andy Weiser in his video sets mainly lefthanded. What have you seen them do?

Thanks Gulo,

That's what I figured, I see that here with snow cover with some coyotes.
Handedness is a biggy not many talk about.

Hey Jack, how's it hanging? I'm sure going to check that north/south and south/north theory out next winter!

Jack is prone to typo's. He meant to write "unconscionable".

Here's a bit more information that supports Jack's information about canids aligning themselves N/S S/N

https://phys.org/news/2011-01-predation-foxes-aided-earth-magnetic.html

Guys how does wind direction play into all of this....as if animal is facing North( North east) and wind is gusting from opposite direction???

Another intriguing and thought-provoking question, MChewk.

In my opinion, regardless of where the wind is coming from, I still try to construct my pee-post sets for wolves so they can align their bodies north/south. However, I do take into account the prevailing wind direction. For instance, out here, the prevailing winds, especially noticeable on ridge-tops and other upper elevations, are from the west or southwest. Therefore, I'm going to find a north/south trail or road, and put the post set on the west side of the track I'm suspecting the wolves will take. Putting it on the east side, there's a real good chance that the wind will take the smell of the urine away from the passing wolves, without them ever noticing. Can't have that. Certainly, like everywhere else, we have the daily "microclimate" changes in wind drift, where scent typically drifts downslope in mornings and upslope in afternoon. I often-times take this into account as well (on all my sets, not just pee-posts). That brings up a whole 'nother topic (another teaser) on "when does a wolf usually travel during any 24-hour period; when are the activity peaks?"

Mr. Whitman, would you care to elaborate on your handedness of canines comment from above? Thank you sir

17hornet. Sorry for the length of this post. It's basically verbatim out of the wolfing book that I plan to publish (one of these days).

Handedness
As is the case with humans, wolves (and coyotes and domestic dogs, and probably most other vertebrates) have a dominant “hand”. Certainly, just like humans, there are undoubtedly wolves that are left-handed, those that are right-handed, and a small fraction that are ambidextrous. It’s a relatively simple matter to determine your dog’s handedness. Put him or her sitting at the base of a stairway. Give the “come” command and the dog will generally take that first step up the steps with its dominant paw. Alternately, put a piece of masking tape on the dog’s nose, and see which paw it uses to try to remove the tape. I’ve read that in some studies, most female domestic dogs are right-pawed, while most males are left-pawed. I can’t vouch for that assertion; I’ve still never had a dog that was a south-paw.

(Bear with me here; there really is a point to this segment.)

Human fingernails (and undoubtedly wolves’ claws) grow disproportionately depending on handedness. If you are left-handed, for instance, your fingernails grow faster on your left hand (as do your left toenails). Thus, after mulling over this fact for a couple weeks (and not just a few toddies), I started measuring, with a very accurate set of calipers, the length of claws on the front feet of captured wolves (to the nearest 1/10 of a millimeter). In the vast majority of cases that I’ve measured, the four major claws on the front feet of wolves on one foot are longer than those corresponding claws on the other foot. Interestingly, the dewclaw, or “thumb”, is usually not consistent with the rest of the claws on that particular paw. That is, if the right paw has shorter claws than the left foot, it usually has a longer dewclaw. Makes perfect sense to me, in that the dewclaw probably grows faster but is not used in digging, and virtually never touches the ground.

Now, I’ve taken a bit of a leap of faith here, and I’ve assumed that the dominant paw would have the shorter four main claws simply from more use in digging and other activities that may wear down the claws. This has led me to the assumption (with perhaps questionable scientific rigor and an unverified assumption) that most wolves are indeed right-pawed. For the limited data that I’ve collected, this is regardless of gender. I’m still trying to increase my meager sample size, and will probably continue to do so until I’m taking my final dirt nap.
Okay. Let’s take this to the next logical step. Because of the above steps I’ve gone through over the years, I’m assuming that my conclusions are valid. Therefore, in dirt-hole/snow-hole sets, I offset the center of the pan on foothold traps two inches to the left. Sounds counter-intuitive? Not at all. In approaching a hole, with all senses at full alert, more often than not that particular wolf is going to want to use its dominant front foot to paw at and dig at the hole. Thus, I’m thinking that the left foot will be that last “committed” foot to hit the trap bed (and hopefully the pan). I’ve caught right at 90% of wolves at a dirt-hole by the front left foot (wish I could boast that percentage on flat sets and pee-posts).

Several years ago, a retired ADC guy (the fine Mr. Craig Parker) and I were trapping wolves in north Idaho. I was the designated “instructor” and he was the “student”. I probably learned more from him than he from me. I have no doubt that he’d caught more coyotes than I’d ever seen. He’s also one of the finest “cowboy-gentlemen” I’ve ever run into. However, he’d never caught a wolf. We were making the same sets, in the same country, and along the very same line. We were summertime catch-and-release trapping, trying to put out a few radio-collars. One of my traps just happened to catch the first wolf. One of my traps just happened to catch the second wolf. We were into this now for a week. He was feeling a tad bit down, as his traps hadn’t produced a thing. If I remember correctly, it was about the sixth or seventh day, and as we drove the old, two-track logging road, we came upon one of his trap sites with a missing trap. We stopped the truck, Craig going one way and I the other. Within 10 or 20 yards, I had a couple of overturned stones that looked like were probably hooked by the drag. Another few paces, and I could discern a decent drag mark, and a handful of paces beyond that, I could hear a rattling chain and sure ‘nuf, there’s a nice wolf hung up in the brush about 10 yards off the two-track.

I whistled to Craig, and he came a’runnin’. I looked hard at that wolf, and, serious as I could manage, I said to Craig, “Sorry, man. We’re gonna have to let that one go without a collar.” Craig was obviously in a state of mixed emotions. He’d caught his first wolf, and here I was saying it wasn’t any good. Not enjoying the suffering he was obviously going through at that time, I continued, “That was a dirt-hole set you hooked her in, yeah?” He confirmed that indeed it was. I continued, “Well, we only collar those wolves caught by the left front foot, and it appears that you got her by the right.” We both broke out laughing, and 30 minutes later, that old gal was wearing a new necklace and heading back into the puckerbrush.