Wolf Hunting Rifle/Cal.

I will guess that those people who talk about the importance of pin point accuracy and rifles shooting light, fast bullets, have never done much wolf shooting.
If you are going to shoot wolves, you shoot at any part of him you see, among the trees and bush, or as the wolf moves through the bush and trees.
I have wounded a wolf with a 30-06 and it took a lengthy follow up in the snow, to finish him.
I also wounded a wolf with a 270 and had a tougher follow up, no snow.
Those people who are saying a 243 is minimum are spot on.
 
While I think a .243 is an almost perfect wolf cartridge, I won't argue with it being recommended as a practical minimum. Around here wolves are shot with the hunter's primary moose or caribou gun; be it a .22-250, a .303, or a .375. Those folks who like the idea of a high velocity small bore, need to pay a bit more attention to bullet construction than the guys armed with a .30/06 or a .375.
 
RT said:
Im going to give wolf hunting a try, what calibers should I look at...Ive got a couple rifles in .223 but would kinda like somthing in a more " classic" caliber like a 22-250, 22 hornet, 220 swift or 6 mm. Any other suggestions, I dont mind hard to find or almost obsolete calibers!

Thanx
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the hardest part is getting the wolf in your scope they are very smart....one wrong move on your part and its over ..
..all the above calibers will do the job .
 
Heavy/Fast .22 at minimum and a 6mm in a more practical setting I believe would be better. I have only shot one personally, but I have seen a few, most were taken in the 6-7.62 range for calibers and it was adequate. I seen three taken with a varmint loaded .223, they had a follow up shop on each animal. All were well placed shots, but didn't quite have the "oomph" required for a dropped shot. So if anything he should have maybe been using a 55gr or more in a .224 choice.

JMO.
 
H4831 said:
I will guess that those people who talk about the importance of pin point accuracy and rifles shooting light, fast bullets, have never done much wolf shooting.
If you are going to shoot wolves, you shoot at any part of him you see, among the trees and bush, or as the wolf moves through the bush and trees.
I have wounded a wolf with a 30-06 and it took a lengthy follow up in the snow, to finish him.
I also wounded a wolf with a 270 and had a tougher follow up, no snow.
Those people who are saying a 243 is minimum are spot on.
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100% agree. Most of the time you aren't going to have prefect broadside shots on wolves unless over bait or get lucky. I think anything under a .243 is too light for a dedicated wolf rifle. Personally I'd go .257 Roberts or .260 rem. Wolves are very tough and hard to kill animals, You don't want to have to track a wounded wolf on foot, You will be walking for days.
 
So quite a few have mentioned the .257 BOB as the "classic"....so last night Im cleaning out a bunch of reloading stuff that I havnt seen in years and I open a box with a new set of .257 dies and about 60 brass.....maybe its a sign!

I kinda like the 220 swift idea tho:D
 
I have shot coyotes with a 257 Roberts. Yeas ago when I was associated with the official BC government predator hunter he had a nice, custom made 257 and I sometimes went with him.
He once got called out on a coyote complaint and he picked me up to ride shotgun for him. He drove his jeep into the area and sure enough, there were two coyotes. Being with the official government hunter has its advantages. I went to open the door to get out, but he said, "No, no, you'll scare them. Just poke the rifle out the window!" The angle they were at allowed for a perfect, comfortable aim.
The first one collapsed, without moving a foot. The other one, a little farther away, didn't know what was going on and stayed right there while he got the same treatment. And twice my friend said, "Good shot."
 
I think the 257 Wby/25-06/264WM are ideal wolf rifles if you must have a new caliber to play with, but in reality your favorite deer rifle is just fine.

I've shot them with the Swift, 223 and 22-250 and IMO bigger calibers are definitely better, especially in tight cover when you don't have time to pick a perfect shot.
 
I'd be using the 6mm, but only because I have a .243 with a developed 90 grain FMJ load. Wolves are bigger than Wiley, but they're not Cape Buffalo.
 
257Roberts.jpg
 
sunray said:
I'd be using the 6mm, but only because I have a .243 with a developed 90 grain FMJ load. Wolves are bigger than Wiley, but they're not Cape Buffalo.
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I'd advise a careful check of the regulations as it is certainly illegal in BC to use FMJ on Game.
 
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