How Big??

[MKotur325]

Anyone think they can guess the size of a dog by the size of the foot? Ran into this fresh track up Ninemile this past weekend. Any guesses as to how big this guy is?

 

[Horn Seeker]

69#

 

[ric]

smaller than my labs.

 

[MKotur325]

Maybe it's not clear from the picture, or maybe I just have big hands... Just an FYI, From my thumb to the tip of my index finger is just under 6", and my hand is in the snow next to the track. This is about the biggest foot that I've seen on a dog.

 

[----]

Unless there's something weird with the picture going on, that looks like a pretty typical sized wolf track to me. The damn things practically wear snow shoes. I think a big reason why people exaggerate their size so much is they see tracks like this when they're used to seeing fido's, and automatically assume the body size scales the same way.

Now breaks wolfs, those are a whole other story. I ran into these tracks elk hunting this fall, and assume he was at least 3-400 pounds.

 

[deer_shooter]

My malemute has feet that big! I'm 6' and 200lbs for perspective.

 

[.280 Remington]

Unless there's something weird with the picture going on, that looks like a pretty typical sized wolf track to me. The damn things practically wear snow shoes. I think a big reason why people exaggerate their size so much is they see tracks like this when they're used to seeing fido's, and automatically assume the body size scales the same way.

Now breaks wolfs, those are a whole other story. I ran into these tracks elk hunting this fall, and assume he was at least 3-400 pounds.

Is that a 17 HMR??? Lol

 

[Festus]

Impressive animals, no doubt.

The biggest I've seen...(Clearwater NF, Idaho)
I didn't measure the track, but I just measured from the base of my thumb to finger tip is 5-3/4".

Wish I coulda weighed the woof for ya!!

 

[mtmuley]

Length of stride tells more than a track will. mtmuley

 

[ERSS]

Looks like a good size track, and not much distortion as that snow looks pretty crisp. I agree, hard to tell size of animal accurately from a single track.

Followed these in the Beaverheads back in early Nov.

 

[MontanaWild]

I'd say 80 pounds give or take a bit. Pretty much an average wolf. Foot size is large compared to weight on wolves. Spread your hand open and cover about 85-90% and that's what I'd call a big wolf.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Just make sure you don't shoot the alpha male.

 

[1_pointer]

Just make sure you don't shoot the alpha male.

HAHA!! I see what you did there.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Unless there's something weird with the picture going on, that looks like a pretty typical sized wolf track to me. The damn things practically wear snow shoes. I think a big reason why people exaggerate their size so much is they see tracks like this when they're used to seeing fido's, and automatically assume the body size scales the same way.

Now breaks wolfs, those are a whole other story. I ran into these tracks elk hunting this fall, and assume he was at least 3-400 pounds.

Lol that's funny

 

[hnt4life]

I think that is a 338 ultra mag! There are some seriously large wolves in the Ninemile. This last late Feb my brother and I found a fresh whitetail kill with at least four sets of tracks on it. The biggest track was amazingly large and dwarfed the others, including a set about that size. Last year, Liz Bradley told me they (the FWP) hasn't had a collard wolf in the NInemile for a long time, so they don't really know the population or distribution around there.

You have obviously found them, but if you want to know where we have been seeing sign send me a PM. If you are hunting them.

 

[danr55]

Ever seen an Akita's feet?

 

[bigozzie]

I recreate in an area where wolves frequent and neighbors have dogs.
The difference between the average wolf and any dog is considerable.
My large labs stepped directly in a fresh snowy wolf track and it was not even close, actually got a giggle out of it. Wolf track dwarfed the dog tracks. The neighbor has a great dane, and that track is comparable with a young wolf.

The weight of a wolf make the toes more distinct than the toes on a dog track, especially in the mud.

If I were trying to discern size of a wolf by it's track consider amount of snow and recent snow melt, depth, and dept of toes particularly, also gate and stride should be looked at. When you see where a pack has gone through an area they are vastly different, big tracks and med. tracks and smaller tracks for the young ones.

I'm also working on a theory that weight causes spread between toes. Some tracks have a wide spread and some not so much. I am theorizing that the heavier wolves have the spread toes.


oz

 

[406LIFE]

Guess I'm headed up 9Mile afte biggame season...I used to get my deer there as a kid. I'm not sure there's many left.