Wolves in Southern Ontario?

Should go over wolf vs. coyote again, as I'm certain nearly all Southern Ontarian wolf sightings are misidentified. Going by your location dlsy, I can at least let you know that wolves aren't the animals you're encountering.

Wolves are far bigger, and far more wary of people than all these south-Ontario 'encounters' would make you believe. A real Wolf puts fido to shame, they are very big animals, and overlap into the lower end of blackbear weights. The first pic is borrowed from DVXDUDE.

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Wolf

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Coyote

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Coyote1.jpg
 
Biggunners said:
.223 to .270 WSM anything goes , just read hunting manual and may be carry one with you when hunting yotes. Mostly CO's doubt that you are poaching deer with rifle.No shooting across or from the road , no loaded in vehicle and watch what's beyond the target - Biggs
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I agree with the .223 and the .270 but the wsm maybe a little much. Most people in this area do not realize that a .270 is legal for hunting varmint/problem animals.

With the populations around us we have to be Very Careful of our target and beyond. Happy hunting.
 
Wolves.
SW Ontario coyotes are: wolf and coyote hybrid, or coyote dog hybrid. If theres a pack, you have wolves. I am thinking north of the 401 too, as opposed to the very south. We have a very very large coyote resident here, female. She cleans up rodents from the farm next door. I have yet to find any signs of fawn be taken, but am watching. So far, lots of fawn tracks, doe, buck, turkey mixed with some of the coyote. If i see any downed fawn from coyote (December deer hunt), she is being culled.
Other question about gun: answer is we use .223 and 62 gr. minimum, .243 is popular, or .270 (more than enough).
 
the spank said:
Southern Ontario I would henge my betting money on Coy-Dog. My buddies shoot a lot of them in the Fort Erie area and at a glance the colour and size appear wolfish but up close and in hand the differences are easily seen. Want to see what real Timber Wolves look like and get a good size reference google KapRiver Outfitters. Buddy of mine owns it. He specializes in guided Wolf hunts in winter. He has some amazing photos of Wolves taken by his hunters.
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I agree, likely a coy-dog or bush dog as we call them. I live in this area and saw a black cougar about 4 years ago near Komoka. No lie.Not sure if it was wild or somebodys pet that got away. Not to change the topic but it is estimated there are around 500 cougars in Ontario, and I wouldnt be surprised if there was a healthy wolf population moving south.
I have seen the odd wolf up around Kap, mostly just pups though. I wonder what a wolf tag costs?
 
Trotter said:
Wolves.
SW Ontario coyotes are: wolf and coyote hybrid, or coyote dog hybrid. If theres a pack, you have wolves. I am thinking north of the 401 too, as opposed to the very south. we use .223 and 62 gr. minimum, .243 is popular, or .270 (more than enough).
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We are north of hwy 7 between Lucan and Parkhill.
We often hear howling at night. It starts with several howls from different directions, which repeat as they converge, then they have a yip-yip session for about five minutes, then all goes quiet. Whole event covers maybe 20 minutes. Hard to tell, but there would seem to be four or five voices.

From the pictures posted, and the size of the wolves, what I saw had to be a large coyote or a coy dog. It's the colouring that puzzles me... all the coyotes I've seen were like the one in the picture, but what I saw (and neighbour saw two of) were dark brown with lighter brown patches, more like the wolf picture.

Two summers ago a horse near Parkhill was attacked by a large cat, and had to be put down. The OPP and town authorities issued warnings not to walk at dusk in woods, keep clear of low hanging branches. One of the men I work with had a cougar run across in front of his car on hwy 81 just south of Parkhill a few months later.
About four years ago, there was a yearling black bear in the field across from the school where I worked in Strathroy. The herd of deer would come out into the harvested corn field to eat, and he would follow them out, staying about 100 yds back.
We saw him five times over a two week period, then he moved on.
There's a lot more wild things in the woods than the authorities would care to admit.
 
dsly said:
There's a lot more wild things in the woods than the authorities would care to admit.
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Yes.

For decades the CO's/MNR insisted there were no moose south of the Severn River. Having viewed dozens over half a lifetime, that don't hold much water.

Wolverines?, same. "None south of the French R."
Tell that to my son, who has twice viewed this animal ... 15 minutes drive north of Orillia. Or me, after tracking his unique spoor in the fresh snow, for miles, and starting out from the same place my boy laid eyes on him.

Cougar?, reliable sightings, ... from the top of Blue Mountain over through the Kolapore region. Bears in this region now, as well.

The official denials may have more to do with strained budgets and manpower resources, than actual, on the ground, realities.
 
Ardent said:
Coyotes come in any colour you can imagine. Once someone sees a real wolf, there will never be 'Is it or isn't it...?' debate, as the difference is incredibly clear. Wolves have a massive head compared to coyotes, with a 'square' face. If you're ever not sure, it's not a wolf.

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100 percent .... agree ^

If ever I was to be re-incarnated, .... wolf for me.

Have locked eyes with pretty much every NA carnivore, 'cept cougar, polar bear, and wolverine, ... the power of a wolf's gaze trumps all.
 
vviking said:
100 percent .... agree ^

If ever I was to be re-incarnated, .... wolf for me.

Have locked eyes with pretty much every NA carnivore, 'cept cougar, polar bear, and wolverine, ... the power of a wolf's gaze trumps all.
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I have had incidents with moose, lynx(had to shoot in defence), wild dogs(treed and shot 2), had coyots with in 10 yrds while turkey hunting but having a wolf stare at me even though I was in my truck was nerve wracking. Such a powerful and magestic animal for sure.
I don`t know if anyone remembers but on the highway 403 around Hamilton/Ancaster a cougar was killed by a motorist about 2 years ago. dsly is right, there are more anomals around than they care to admit to. They don`t admit to this because they don`t want the public to panic. This of course is ridiculous, the animals where here first.
 
I can send you some, because we're over-run with them here in Alberta. We've been popping at them all week in one area, waiting for them to move off so we can go after our big bucks. I have a two year old, healthy black one in the back of my truck. My Girlfriend wants me to do the bleach skull thing with a wolf head. Its a shame what a 7mmSTW does to a healthy black dog. The head is the only thing that is worth saving.

For those that don't live in cattle country with wolves, there are Grey wolves and Timber wolves. The Timbers can get up towards 200 pounds, and the Greys (sometimes black) up to 120 pounds. Both are plentiful and everywhere on the foothills side of Alberta. They aren't pests like gophers, they eat your livestock and livelihood. On ranch land, we shoot them on sight.


For the OP, its doubtful that a wolf would get that close to you. Humans and their scent are not genetically programmed for wolves, They see it as an alien threat in their world.
 
hondaryder said:
I have had incidents with moose, lynx(had to shoot in defence), wild dogs(treed and shot 2), had coyots with in 10 yrds while turkey hunting but having a wolf stare at me even though I was in my truck was nerve wracking. Such a powerful and magestic animal for sure.
I don`t know if anyone remembers but on the highway 403 around Hamilton/Ancaster a cougar was killed by a motorist about 2 years ago. dsly is right, there are more anomals around than they care to admit to. They don`t admit to this because they don`t want the public to panic. This of course is ridiculous, the animals where here first.
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You shot a Lynx in self defense? That has the be the first case on the continent. I've been around many, and all they want to do is get the hell away- they're often only a 20lb animal as well, all fur and legs.
 
Ardent said:
You shot a Lynx in self defense? That has the be the first case on the continent. I've been around many, and all they want to do is get the hell away- they're often only a 20lb animal as well, all fur and legs.
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Could have possibly been it's young or den nearby. Or just stumbled upon it and was a reflex. Maybe was just close and got worried. Or something else.. :p
 
Ardent said:
You shot a Lynx in self defense? That has the be the first case on the continent. I've been around many, and all they want to do is get the hell away- they're often only a 20lb animal as well, all fur and legs.
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Don`t under estimate a hungry cat. Me and a buddy where out hunting and I just caught sight of it ready to jump down on my buddy. Thank god I had a shotgun with me. Scared the living crap out of my pal when the gun went off and the cat landed at his feet behind him. This incident happened in Newfoundland and I was 17 years old, now I`m 40.
 
Yanni_S said:
Could have possibly been it's young or den nearby. Or just stumbled upon it and was a reflex. Maybe was just close and got worried. Or something else.. :p
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I might have over reacted due to the fact I was only 17, now I`m 40 and probably would have yelled to scare it away.
 
Wolf/coyote mix

Spoke with a fellow from MNR who told me that in 2000 they did DNA tests on some of these animals, as they were so large. They found that in this area there is a cross between western coyote and eastern grey wolf.
He says they run about 5 feet nose to tip, and about 50 lbs, and comes in a mix of colours.
This definitely describes what I saw. Thanks to all for the input!
 
dsly said:
Spoke with a fellow from MNR who told me that in 2000 they did DNA tests on some of these animals, as they were so large. They found that in this area there is a cross between western coyote and eastern grey wolf.
He says they run about 5 feet nose to tip, and about 50 lbs, and comes in a mix of colours.
This definitely describes what I saw. Thanks to all for the input!
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This is what we have running around our farm, they come around once a week, my neighbour has some rabbits around the tree line at the corner of their property, so the 'yotes come trampling through our backyard, our Golden Retriever freaks out whenever they come around.
 
I shot this male about 1 hour West of Ottawa. My hunting partner owns a 60lbs dog & he said this one was heavier. Didn't seem quite big enough for a wolf, but seemed way larger than a coyote. It had a short nose & wide head, with large paws. Is this what is called a brush wolf?

George

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glang1 said:
I shot this male about 1 hour West of Ottawa. My hunting partner owns a 60lbs dog & he said this one was heavier. Didn't seem quite big enough for a wolf, but seemed way larger than a coyote. It had a short nose & wide head, with large paws. Is this what is called a brush wolf?

George

Geowolf_006.jpg
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This kind of looks like some of the coyotes we have here in N-B,on fellow up northern N-B shot one that weighed 80 lbs .
 
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that up here (in Algonquin Park area) there are Eastern or Red wolves. Smaller than Grey wolves but larger than coyotes.
 
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