I don't know much about wolves, I'm trying to figure out if this is a big one. SE Alaska is not known for having big wolves. I snared this one a few days ago. After dragging it a short distance I'd swear it's as big or bigger than some of the blacktails I've shot. Had no way to weight it, so I measured the carcass from the tip of the nose to base of the tail after skinning; measured 50 inches. That corresponds with the largest taxidermy form I could find at vandykes taxidermy supply.
Any ideas what it may have weighed?
Fur color and quality as expected is not great.

[img:gal:65175c153a3c73e38]https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/userg[align:left][/align]als/2018/12/full-6517-431587-dscf2249_1544847190256_001.jpg[/img]

Hmm, i see I don't know how to post pictures from my phone, I tried to use the same procedure as I use on my PC. Any suggestions?

The link in your post didn't allow me to see anything there, or I would have gladly posted it for you...

I have a coyote hanging on my wall that's 53" nose to tail.

^^^^^^^
The 50 inches I measured is the skinned out carcass measurement, not the skin length.

Gulo might have the best estimate on that Mark. Did you open the cavity ??

I cant help you with the measurements but its a nice looking wolf.

Regretfully I didn't look at the stomach contents, I meant to, but it's feeding the crabs right now. The only things I can imagine it eats in the area I caught are beaver and goats. I snared it along the trail they run along the River Bank looking for beaver. We lost a beaver in a conibear to a wolf just a week or so ago about 500 yards down stream from where I caught this.

Thats a nice one for SE AK and appears to be on the larger size...Without a scale its purely speculation on weight..A Juneau local guy caught a large one last year that he said was 150#. I dont doubt it was a large one but I doubt it was 150#. From what i have seen,mature adults in SEAK weigh in around 85-100#. Dean Wilson talked about wolf weight and size in the book, Alaska trappers Handbook.

This was caught on the mainland If that makes any difference. Generally 100 pounds is a pretty large for most of the island wolves around here.

I think Gulo said the largest he has weighed was 135....and I believe that ADF&G has weighed one that was an honest 145. Largest I have weighed was 106.

I'll bet that guy was your beaver bandit. By the looks of him in the picture he may have had a full gut. Be sure you wear glove s if you open one. Seems to me that ADFG even tells their people to wear masks or don't open them. .

That one sure looks like it has a full belly, and it would be an average size wolf here. Heaviest I've ever weighed was 130, but caught a couple that may have went heavier, but they all had full bellies too.

What's the reason for this, white?

I have never been able to guess ones weight, but one thing I can say, when you pick one up to load them in the sled they always seem heavier than what they actually weigh on the scales.
Biggest one I have seen here was one my brother caught a few years ago and it weighed 128lbs on the scales.

I'd have to agree with rosscoak, 150 lbs seems a little farfetched.

Nice wolf Waggler, congratulations. Looks like you have been having to trap in a rain coat too,

From the pic I would guess 70-80 lb.

Mark, and others...

From hundreds of necropsies on wolves, a 50 inch (nose to tip of tail) is generally in the neighborhood of about 84 pounds live weight (for interior Alaska wolves). That varies tremendously depending on many factors, such as 1) food in the stomach and intestines, 2) age class (pups are nearly the same length as older adults, but mass increases with age to at least 4 years old) 3) time of year (summer wolves about 8% lighter weight than winter wolves), 4) sex (males usually slightly heavier than females, 5) method of skinning (of course, clean-skinned carcass weighs more than rough-skinned), Etc.

I absolutely agree with Spek in that I'm still amazed at what a good scale tells me after I've packed the stinky thing around in the woods.

I'm agreeing with you, too, Roscoak, in that I've heard way too many stories about a supposed 150-pound wolf (that was actually 90). I've still never seen one weighed that went over 140. I'm sure one exists, but I've yet to see it, and I suspect I've weighed several hundred "big" wolves over the years.

By the way, Mark. Congratulations. Nice looking SE wolf.

Jack

Jack,

My measurement was to the base/root of the tail; not the "tip of the tail".
Im not attempting to make it bigger than it is, although I'd like it to be, I sure don't want to be guilty of saying I have a "50 pound coyote/coon/bobcat".

I have very little experience with Wolves, since they don't have much fur value in this area I generally don't set for them, but it's sort of considered my civic duty in this area to at least make an attempt as long as I'm out there trapping.

My only basis for thinking it might be on the large size is that the measurement I took is the largest form size that's available from one of the major Taxidermy Supply companies.

Thanks for the input.

I mis-spoke (mis-wrote?) Mark. Sorry for the confusion. Apparently not enough coffee today, or maybe I didn't kick off toddie-time early enough. The column I was looking at in my data was total body length, not including tail. If the wolf was 50 inches from nose to tip of tail, it would have made it about a 13-pounder. So, for the data that I have gathered over the years, it still computes out to be about an 84-pounder (nose to base of tail, if the tape measure was formed around all the bends of the carcass ). This is just a (semi-)educated guess, because of the myriad factors I listed above. Wish I could be more precise. You've been guiding hunters and packing fish totes around for years, and can probably come closer to the actual live weight than I can. A big adult male wolf from Interior Alaska or even Idaho is about 1370mm (54"). I don't know much about the size of mannequins sold by the taxidermy shops.

Jack

Well, I caight a 50# wolverine(looked 50, carried like 50), that actually hit the didgital scale at 34.6. Empty tummy, and taxi had to add clay to the head shell for the rug.

The comments of 150lb wolves caught my attention.

Last year I had one of mine weighed on a beam scale.
It registered 150, and had been frozen for a week.

I'll try find a pic for comparason.

Most canines and several ungulates carry Echinococcus granulosus. This is a cyst that usually encapsulates hundreds of tapeworms in the larval stage.........if I remember correctly. The gloves are obviously to prevent contact and transfer to the person excavating the guts & lungs of a critter. I suspect the mask is just to prevent splashing or squirting fluids into your face.

I know a wolf hunter who nearly lost his hand from an infected finger.

You ever eat a wolf white?

No I have never been in that bad a situation

Just wondered,cause I heard you like chowing down on the odd marten,lol.

LOL ! Yeah that was bad enough I never want to be in that position again !

Went through some of my records on Thompson Manitoba wolves, these wolves go on the tundra in the summer calving grounds.
166-170 cm length minus tail40-42 cm.= 104 pound wolves December/January nose to base of tail= 51 inches girth 73cm

We are experiencing in southern Manitoba the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis in our canids and have human infections. I helped in some of the collections last summer.

Are the humans getting it from domestic canines ?

White; Due to personal health privacy rules it can not be discussed.

Wild canine scat had the parasites present as well as harvested canines.

There is a warning in Manitoba's trapping guide 2018-2019 that you can look online at.
Our Chief Medical officer is also a vet.........so things got going when the #### hit the fan.

When I skin wolves I spray the fur with a mixture of bleach and water to kill that chit.Especially around the butthole.
Trapper Ron(Lancour) wrote a good article about it in the Trapper magazine back in the 80's.
It follows a moose deer canid cycle.Wolves get it from eating raw moose and deer meat.They pass the eggs in the scat,as can domestic dogs that eat raw moose or deer,then humans contract it in cyst form called hydatids cyst when dogs lick them etc.Humans handling wolf pelts can inhale the dried fecies dust from the fur and get it in the lungs.
Never, ever feed your dogs raw moose or deer scraps.

A few dog drivers in Alaska and Canada have gotten it from sled dogs. One of the top female drivers from your neck of the woods was diagnosed with it a few years back now.

Another good reason not to let you dog lick you.....especially after it has butt groomed.

Doesn't have to lick you, you can get it from petting them, or handing them in the case of the dog drivers, although we pet our sled dogs too.

Geez, this thread went to , the umm, dogs!
I did not know about this..is the parasite present in just raw deer and moose? Or is it delivered by a insect?

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjd4YCbsqTfAhXpq4MKHX9zCBcQFjABegQIDhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FEchinococcus_multilocularis&usg=AOvVaw2uIbdRXJGfCwWWhOzY_oEW

a little stimulating gut wrenching reading material before breakfast.

Clickable link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis

If I remember correctly, the parasite White mentions can be inhaled. If it is, it can end up in your brain and be a real problem.
If I also remember correctly, there was an area bio in Nome in the 90s who had one of those cysts. Not sure if it ever caused her serious problems. Her name is/was Kate Persons.
Maybe Gulo knew her?
MT

Yes, supposedly Echinococcus can be transmitted through inhalation (from the semi-dried, microscopic eggs that are shed). Lots of hype down here in Idaho and the intermountain west about the need to kill all the wolves because they brought the dreaded hydatid cyst disease down here. Simply, and loudly, I call BS. The imported wolves were injected with so much Ivermectin and other things that they were probably the "cleanest" wolves ever been in this state. Coyotes, red foxes, and yes, even sweet Fifi have been carriers of Echinococcus forever. According to the hype in the local Post Office and elsewhere, hydatid cyst disease is going to wipe out the human race in Idaho. Come on, man! Far as I know, there's never been a fatality attributed to the disease in Idaho. Taking a bath is statistically much more dangerous.

MT. Yes, I knew Kate. Quite the musher! I was not aware that she suffered from hydatid cyst disease. Have not kept up with her.

Jack

Another "Oh my God" story that will not effect 99.9999999% of the world. If digging around in animal guts was 1/10 % the danger claimed through-out my life, I wouldn't have lived long enough to learn to count to ten.
I do reccommend gloves of some sort for skinning, as it cuts down on how often you need to wash your hands before eating.

Really ?? Before eating ???? That seems excessive if you use enough whiskey.

Jack; was Kate married to Dave ??

...

The guy is 6"4"

Another way to get an idea of size is to measure the skull. A length measurement near or above 12 inches is a very large wolf. Most are around 11 inches or less. The largest I have caught was a female with an empty stomach at 115 lbs, and 12 1/4 length.
Good looking wolf waggler.

I concur. And I am rarely asked to be camp cook more than once. Mother Gue never raised such a fool.

Good point Todd, if everyone scored wolves the same way Boone and Crocket scores bears it would be a more accurate measure of size. Then the amount of meat they had in their belly at the time wouldn't matter.

Jack, in YOUR local P.O.. It isn't big enough to post any info. Ya don't even want to blink going by it cause you just missed it.

White17. "Jack; was Kate married to Dave ??" No. Different areas of the state, Way different politics. Even different spellings of the names.

decoy. You making fun of my local post office?

This is a lower 48 wolf. That is a 10 foot ceiling if it helps. He was not frozen as we had a 24 hour check when we had a season. He had a full belly that I suspect was venison and he weighed 136 pounds.

The largest I have weighed in Southern BC is 106 pounds which is a big wolf for here. Mine average around 100 pounds. Just big enough to play this old trapper out dragging them out of the bush.

Heres an article on wolf weights

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=503

I was on Adfg website and am amazed at the info on there...for any species..you can go to research, and find annals of history and research reports.
I got sucked into reading the report on the fatal wolf attack at Chignik Lake back in 2010.

That was a good read. 126 pounds is the heaviest I've ever caught and weighed myself. He had a full belly snared coming off a kill. I average in the 90 to 95 pound class in my country. Lots of game out there but seems like they cover a lot of country protecting their territory which makes for slimmer dogs, kind of like sled dogs.

Kate Persons in Nome was married to a retired Fish bio in the Nome area. He sure disliked beaver trappers and trapping around Nome! I forget his name.
mt

Levinson?

Waggler,the largest wolf mannikins on the market run about 55".I helped sculpt one of those and it was sculpted from an AK wolf that weighed 120 lbs.I think of a 52"-53" male as being about 95-100lbs.This is based on a few where weights and measurements were available.Jack's estimate sounds very accurate to me.He's handled a ton more than me.Nice catch!

No Jack, kind'a wish ours up here was that size, you know, postage stamp size

Waggler, do you still have the skull on that wolf? Since Nooksack mentioned it, I'm curious about what it measured. I wish I had been keeping weight and skull measure records on wolves in the past, it would make for some interesting data. I only have two that I can connect with weight and skull measure, one male weighed 94 lbs (with empty stomach) and scored 16 1/2 inch skull (width plus length). The other was a male weighing 96 lbs, also with an empty stomach, and scored 16 11/16ths.

I believe Safari Club International is the only club that keeps records on wolf scores. I couldn't find any records of them in B&C or Pope and Young. To view SCI's online record book you have to be a member of the club. I'm not a member and not interested in joining. I did find a site that claimed to show the top five wolves recorded by SCI and the scores were 17 12/16; 17 10/16; 17 9/16; 17 3/16; and 17 3/16. Being the internet and all, that may or may not be true, but sounds reasonable to me.

Jack,
E-mail Trafford Press "the last hunt'
Said they hadn't heard of it ?????
HELP

decoy -

Try Googling "Amazon, Jack Whitman, The Last Hunt". Same price, they have it in stock.

Sorry for the hijack, Mark.

Jack