Was that a typo Buzz?
wolf calibers
- Thread starter 220yotekiller
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BuzzH
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No, I have a .338 for wolves. Are the 250 grain partitions a stout enough bullet?
I think we’re saying the same thing you disagreeable curmudgeon!
Tom8475
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Biggest grizzly bear ever killed for a while was from a .22....juuuuust saying lol
As most have eluded to almost any regular hunting caliber will kill a wolf. I shot mine with a 300 R.U.M. 210 Berger. I shot it running up the other side of a draw. Bullet went in just in front of the pelvis and did not exit. She dropped in her tracks. No pelt damage besides a 30 caliber hole where the bullet went in and one tiny hole in the chest from a piece of shrapnel. The chest cavity was jello.
If it was broadside there would have been substantial pelt damage. I know because my buddy has killed 2 that way with the same caliber and bullet. Both had a football sized exit hole. One was stichable. There was more tearing than anything else. The other was sewn but just doesn't look "good" as it was missing a baseball sized chunk of hide. The only wolf I've seen shot and lost was a 338 R.U.M. using lapua slugs. Poked through without opening. So keep that in mind.
I guess it depends on what you want left. If I were trying to have a nice hide left I'd use something in the 22-250, 6mm, 308 light load range and be picky with my shots. Bigger is fine but I wouldn't use bullets that shrapnel like a berger. In my mind I would think whitetail sized body with a thinner hide that tears easy.
Just my 2 cents from the ones I've seen killed.
If it was broadside there would have been substantial pelt damage. I know because my buddy has killed 2 that way with the same caliber and bullet. Both had a football sized exit hole. One was stichable. There was more tearing than anything else. The other was sewn but just doesn't look "good" as it was missing a baseball sized chunk of hide. The only wolf I've seen shot and lost was a 338 R.U.M. using lapua slugs. Poked through without opening. So keep that in mind.
I guess it depends on what you want left. If I were trying to have a nice hide left I'd use something in the 22-250, 6mm, 308 light load range and be picky with my shots. Bigger is fine but I wouldn't use bullets that shrapnel like a berger. In my mind I would think whitetail sized body with a thinner hide that tears easy.
Just my 2 cents from the ones I've seen killed.
220yotekiller
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l should say that the thing that got me to thinking about wolf calibers was an article that l read several years ago in one of my dad's magazines. the guy was an old trapper in alaska, he called a pack of wolves out on a frozen river. he killed two of them, his rifle was a touch light, it was a 17 remington shooting 30 grain bergers.
6mm Remington
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I went out with a friend just yesterday trying to call in a wolf. We found a two day old track but never had any response to my calling. Still a good day to be out. I was carrying my Ruger 1B topped with a 6x42mm Leupold scope. I shoot 100 gr. Nosler Partitions in that rifle and have no doubts that it will kill a wolf quite handily. That's my choice.
6mm Remington - 100 gr. Nosler Partition, 90 gr. Accubond, 90 gr. E-tip
25-06 - 100 gr. Partition, 100 gr. E-tip, 110 gr. Accubond, 120 gr. Partition
6mm Remington - 100 gr. Nosler Partition, 90 gr. Accubond, 90 gr. E-tip
25-06 - 100 gr. Partition, 100 gr. E-tip, 110 gr. Accubond, 120 gr. Partition
Don Fischer
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Don't laugh. #2 Grizzly in the world was killed by an indian woman in Canada with a single shot 22RF!
Tom8475
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Yeah I think we're talking about the same woman!
That wolf on a two day old track could have been 10 miles away. mtmuley
6mm Remington
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Oh absolutely he could have been. We were there so we tried anyway.
ImBillT
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Perhaps I overreacted, but the post you quoted simply gave recommendations for the kind of shots that the wolf hunters I’ve encountered in media seem to be preparing for. Some of them have even gone to trouble of explaining why they are preparing for much longer shots than they usually would. You chose to suggest that shooting at that distance was for paper punchers and not hunters. You’re the one that SEEMS to be picking a fight on this one.
If you think that shooting a low BC bullet at low velocity isn’t going to reduce the probability that your shot placement is correct, compared to a high BC bullet at high velocity, then you’re the one who needs more experience in the “shootin field”. That’s substantially more important when hunting than when “paper punching”. When you’re hunting you don’t have wind flags, you’re often shooting at some degree of inclination, your range(even using a range finder) is less precisely known, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, you often only get one shot. When “paper punching” you have numerous advantages over hunting conditions, and even so, the best shooters in the world benefit from good external ballistics. The need to reduce the effects of wind drift and ranging error are even more important for the hunter(at long range, which seems more common in wolf hunting) than for the “paper puncher”.
Scott85
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Bella Twin, the .22 Used to Take the 1953 World Record Grizzly, and More
On 10 May, 1953, Bella Twin was hunting small game with her partner, Dave Auger, along an oil exploration cutline south of Slave Lake. She was 63 years old.
www.ammoland.com
NAHMINT
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Evening IBT,
A slight misunderstanding friend......Lets start over
As wolves are very seldom more than secondary targets by deer and bear hunters on the big island, 400-450 yards is considered a long shot..........big clear-cuts /old logging roads where we hunt kinda limits shooting distances........And a wounded critter that has to be blood trailed thru heavy timber ,over streams and ''goat'' cliffs on mountain sides is no pleasure to anyone..........Not being an advocate of the 800-1000 + yard shots and not being equipped with any firearm / scopes for those shots, I simply suggest leaving such shots to target shooters..Where, a few inches off target matters not. If one IS equipped with a round like 6.5 x .284win, and have proven a rig capable of those 800-1000 yard shots ,then more power to you......With my .300wm, .284 model88 lever gun I am certainly NOT set up for those long shots........
cheers NAHMINT / Glenn
ImBillT
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Evening IBT,
A slight misunderstanding friend......Lets start over
With my .300wm, .284 model88 lever gun I am certainly NOT set up for those long shots........
cheers NAHMINT / GlennView attachment 260218View attachment 260219View attachment 260220
Even 400yds seems long to ME on a wolf sized target in a hunting situation. I based my recommendations only on the fact that my exposure to folks claiming to target wolves is via internet media, and they seem to be preparing for very long shots. I have shot both short range benchrest and F-Class competition, and from my experience in those, plus my somewhat familiarity with folks who shoot 1000yd benchrest and others who have done very well at the national level in F-Class leads me to suggest a high velocity 6mm with 105ish gr bullets as MY minimum recommendation for shots at long range, particularly on something that could weigh around 100lbs. The OP was asking about what would be recommended for specifically targeting wolves. He did not ask if hunting rifle would do the job if he happened to encounter a wolf. Also, by no means am I suggesting that a smaller bullet, or a bullet with a lower BC, or a cartridge with a lower MV would not kill a wolf. If the question was “will my 222 Rem kill a wolf at 200yds?” my answer would be “of course it will!”
I would guess that most wolves that aren’t trapped are killed by hunters who happen to see them while hunting something else. I doubt that’s unique to your location. I would also guess that almost any firearm a hunter would be carrying would be enough to do the job under the right circumstances. My recommendations were based entirely on the fact that the wolf hunters I’ve been exposed to seem to be expecting very long shots. Achieving good shot placement at long range is very much facilitated by good external ballistics, and that’s what I recommended.
Don Fischer
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First wild wolfI saw was up near Dease lake, B.C. about 2002. next one I saw was at Clarno, Oregon about 2020. Not like they are not there, seeing them is the hard part. I have no desire to hunt them right now but choosing a cartridge would be no problem at all. Someone mentioned an AR rifle for a fast follow up shot. Tell ya whay make the first shot good and won't be a need for a follow up shot! Think, no, know I'd take my 243. Every rifle I have from my 22 mag to my 30-06 will do the job if I do mine!
AlaskaHunter
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In Alaska, most wolves are shot when grizzly bears are active during the Alaska Aug-Sept hunting season.
So typically a fairly large caliber. This one was shot with a 180 grain partition from a .300 mag.
If below timberline, as this one was, typical shots are less than 200 yards.
So typically a fairly large caliber. This one was shot with a 180 grain partition from a .300 mag.
If below timberline, as this one was, typical shots are less than 200 yards.
Dakotakid
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I have a custom 264 that I continually recustomize. Lately I have considered dedicating it for wolf hunting. I have several hundred Bergers to try.
Previously mentioned were Barnes bullets, which I use extensively for big game hunting but for wolves I think a little more expansion and higher bc would be my thinking.
Now whether 6mm or 257 Roy or… dozens of options. What ever is fast to get on target- both set up and delivery.
Previously mentioned were Barnes bullets, which I use extensively for big game hunting but for wolves I think a little more expansion and higher bc would be my thinking.
Now whether 6mm or 257 Roy or… dozens of options. What ever is fast to get on target- both set up and delivery.
FairWeather
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My sister-in-law’s husband killed one with a 40s&w on his drive home from work on Prince of Wales Island.
elevatorman
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I've unalived a few foxes with a 9mm. Works good
