What caliber for Wolves

I use a 22-250 loaded with 60 grain Nosler partitions @ 3500 fps muzzle velocity.

The Barnes X-bullet would also be a good choice. DON'T try to use any old varmint bullet in a 22 or 243 calibre rifle. Many wolves will go close to - or even over - 100 pounds and they are as tough as nails.
 
I have seen a wolf hit with a 168 grain fail safe from a 308 at about 150 yds in the boiler room run about a mile. It went down in a clump of willows. When we got to it, it was on the fight and had put another one into it.

We were calling along a lake near spiritwood sask one day and managed to get a pack come across the ice to us. We hit one with a 22-250, shooting a 60 grain hornady soft-point. Hit him good, right where it needed to go. We tracked him for about 4 miles and never found him.
I do not call myself an expert, just my experience. These animals are extremely tough.
i have heard of guys using the 204 with success and some use 30-06's and 7mm's as well. Myself, I now shoot a 243 with an 80 grain softpoint. I feel heavier is better.
 
Wolves are not coyotes

captonion said:
A 223 is plenty for wolves!
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Not in my opinion friend. It would be okay for ideal conditions only. (close in, and they are unaware of your presence rare with wolves!!!) Because, I once shot a young wolf (about 60 pounds) at less than 100 yards with a .222 Remington 788. It took two shots to put him down for good. I was lucky in that the first shot anchored him with a smashed up front shoulder.

In retrospect, I think Willy11's newest calibre choice is a sound minimum, and even better, is based on his real-life experience.
This forum is excellent, as one can benefit from the mistakes of others.
 
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I shot 3 last fall with 180gr TSX's out of my 300 ultra. Two of them folded on the spot and one did a somersault. It was definitely enough fire power, but I was hunting big game when I came across them. There were 5 together in a big field and had the other two given me a chance at them I would have shot them too.
 
I spoke at lenght about wolves, with a friend of mine in the interior of BC, that works on a ranch that is losing a LOT of stock to the wolves each year.

He wanted an opinion on a decent caliber for long range shooting, I suggested a 7 Rem Mag, with as good glass as he could afford, and as good a range finder as he could afford, even if it meant cutting corners on the glassware. All they want is dead wolves. The government trapper/hunter is only able to put a small amount of time in to the effort, and frustration builds...

I told him that a 300 or 338 Win mag would also bear looking at, if he could stand packing the weight around.

Honestly, I've seen two wolves. One in Northern AB (Peerless Lake area, boondocks!) and one in central BC, in the upper Yalakom area (also boonbocks).

I think big game rifle, rather than Varmint rifle, is a better fit.

Cheers
Trev
 
I'd hazard a guess that the majority of wolves shot by hunters in BC are shot with their big game rifle- A 30-06/7RM/300WM /270 etc

The lowest Id' go is a .223 and that is with a TSX bullet. I wouldn't willingly shoot a wolf with a .223 and a 50gr VMAX!:) That said, if I was calling yotes and called in a wolf, I'd shoot with whatever I had.

If I was specifically targeting wolves, I'd opt for my 300WSM with 125gr Ballistic Tip at 3500fps. I wouldn't need to hold over until past 350/400 yards with that set up:)
 
I'm loading up some 140 gr Accubonds for my .270 Wby Mag. If I run into any wolves this season that are stupid enough to give me a shot, I'll let you know this works out. I'm thinking 3400 fps with a 140 gr Accubond is gonna make a wolf wish he'd stayed in the woods that day.
 
IMO 223 is too small...not enough at longer range. I would go with minimum a 22-250-then 243 or 6.5x55 for small calibers. Nothing wrong with 308 and 150gr bullets. I seen large timber wolves in Alberta hit with 180gr bulets from 300WM. Hunting moose at the time.

Since I didnt get drawn for moose this season, along with 4 others out of 7 in our group, I almost tempted just to take my 243 to moose camp and just call for wolves. So many wolves last year and the moose were pretty timid comng to calls......but the wolves sure weren't.
 
a wolf is just like anything else we encounter on horseback- 308/180- one bark from that, gggoodbye- but we're not trying to save the pelt - makes a pretty good bang-flop
 
Shot one with a 7 mag 175 gr partition 75 yards did a somersault flop around. Started to walk up to him and up he goes . Could not find him again.
 
While the various varmint caliber will do the job with a well placed shot, If I was buying a gun specifically for wolves of the Timber variety I'd look at the 243 as minimum & 280 as max with 25-06 or 260 as my perfered caliber size.
Most of what we see around here run 40-75 lbs but there is the odd big lad around.
 
We hit one with a 22-250, shooting a 60 grain hornady soft-point. Hit him good, right where it needed to go. We tracked him for about 4 miles and never found him.
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If the wolf was not recovered,how can you be so sure of the shot placement?I have tracked several animals that people swore were hit properly,only to discover that they weren't hit nearly as well as the shooter thought they were.
 
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