Wolf tracks in central CO

While elk and deer hunting last week in central CO, my son and I found these tracks. They were found about 100 yards south of a cow elk carcass that looked like it was harvested during 1st rifle. Over the several days we walked past the carcass, you could tell something big enough to move it around was feeding on it.

The US Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife have been very interested and I've had to send pictures and geos of the tracks to three different individuals and even give a statement via phone.

https://i.imgur.com/5WAaq2Wl.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/OYC4QOJl.jpg

BTW, I also found someone's rangefinder. If you can identify the make, model, and approximate area where you lost it, we can get it shipped back to you.

Very cool find - I have never seen any evidence of wolves in all my time here in CO.

I'm just starting to recognize spoor, and saw my first Moose (Meese) in the wild the other day, but that is very cool.

-John

Pretty neat. Looks like a big print.

Central Colorado, pretty big area.. any nearby towns?

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Originally Posted by def90

Central Colorado, pretty big area.. any nearby towns?

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Yes, the towns toward the middle. Not really trying to be funny, but I didn't want to be bombarded by guys trying to get a free rangedfinder if they knew which GMU I was in.

Sounds like the I-70 corridor. Me and a wolf are going to get in it, some day. ;)

I'm not even mad.

-John

How about being more specific about where you found those tracks? Who cares about the range finder?

Also, I lost my fancy Fenix flashlight in unit 33 on Friday, so if you find that, let me know.

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Originally Posted by Irving

How about being more specific about where you found those tracks? Who cares about the range finder?

Also, I lost my fancy Fenix flashlight in unit 33 on Friday, so if you find that, let me know.

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If you're concerned about your safety, PM me your hiking/hunting plans and I'll let you know if you should be a bit more vigilant.

Also, never saw your flashlight.

Why the secrecy about the tracks?
Nobody cares about a range finder. But we are interested to know where this potential wolf is at

Yeah, what are the odds that someone on this site lost a range finder in your unit anyway?

If your unit is part of Summit county or runs north along hwy 9 (in other words a highly populated and traveled area) who’s to say this isn’t just someones pet husky hybrid running around in the woods? I know some people up by Green Mtn Res that have some very large dogs that like to run.

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Originally Posted by sniper7

Why the secrecy about the tracks?

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Explained. Twice.

Again, if you're concerned about your personal safety, PM me. According to the internet, wolves can travel 10-30 miles per day and can range 500 miles from heir home, so giving you an exact location is probably meaningless if you're worried about being stalked.

Didn't think this was particularly noteworthy or I would have mentioned it earlier: A ranger at the Forest Service told me there had been several sightings of lone wolves in the area, so finding the tracks wasn't an unprecedented indication of wolves in that general location.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Also, I lost my fancy Fenix flashlight in unit 33 on Friday, so if you find that, let me know.

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Did you leave it on ? Easier to find if you did [Sarcasm2]

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Originally Posted by def90

If your unit is part of Summit county or runs north along hwy 9 (in other words a highly populated and traveled area) who’s to say this isn’t just someones pet husky hybrid running around in the woods? I know some people up by Green Mtn Res that have some very large dogs that like to run.

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I'm not an animal biologist and to be fair, we didn't know what predator they were from when we found them. It wasn't until we checked a trail guide book that we had an idea. The forest service had no qualms about calling them wolf tracks when we showed them, so take that for what it's worth. What I was fairly confident about was that they were fresh.

I understand the secrecy about the location until the rangefinder has been figured out. If it was unit 15 or unit just to the east of that i hunt both but over the counter archery so dont pay attention enough and lost my rangefinder it is a Leopold i can give you the model number.. maybe even serial number if i can find the box.

If not my rangefinder, i also got pictures of wolf tracks near where im talking about. I am from Michigan and have seen tons of wolf tracks and saw where the wolves took down a deer. Showed it to the DOW and he didn't want to believe it and also kept saying a dog

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Originally Posted by Blockhead

Explained. Twice.

Again, if you're concerned about your personal safety, PM me. According to the internet, wolves can travel 10-30 miles per day and can range 500 miles from heir home, so giving you an exact location is probably meaningless if you're worried about being stalked.

Didn't think this was particularly noteworthy or I would have mentioned it earlier: A ranger at the Forest Service told me there had been several sightings of lone wolves in the area, so finding the tracks wasn't an unprecedented indication of wolves in that general location.

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You’re kind of a tool aren’t you. You really think guys on this site are concerned about their personal safety because you found a track? That’s special and insulting. Some of us are interested where this supposed wolf might be at and couldn’t give two shits about some sorry ass range finder. If you wanted to be secretive about the whole thing then why bother coming on here touting about your special track.

They're coming...

To be fair, I thought the found rangefinder might be a hunting buddies. He "misplaced" his sometime over the weekend in GMU 59. I also jumped the gun, sent a direct message with the query, and then found out he had found it in his day pack. Just too cold and wind-worn to have found it when he looked and we assumed it was left on a ridge somewhere. <shrugs>

I too would like to know where the tracks are though, I know there was a collared wolf spotted in Northern CO a few months back, linked to the Wyoming herd.

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Originally Posted by sniper7

You’re kind of a tool aren’t you. You really think guys on this site are concerned about their personal safety because you found a track? That’s special and insulting. Some of us are interested where this supposed wolf might be at and couldn’t give two shits about some sorry ass range finder. If you wanted to be secretive about the whole thing then why bother coming on here touting about your special track.

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Why are you so concerned where it is?

Wolves in Colorado are a hot topic that many of us like to discuss. Why wouldn't we be interested in where they are? When you say "central" Colorado, that make me think of somewhere like Tabernash, where I'd have assumed it'd be more North.

Why so shady about the whole thing? It's not like it's your wolf. It's a public resource that belongs to everyone. We all live here and are curious what they are getting up to.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Wolves in Colorado are a hot topic that many of us like to discuss. Why wouldn't we be interested in where they are? When you say "central" Colorado, that make me think of somewhere like Tabernash, where I'd have assumed it'd be more North.

Why so shady about the whole thing? It's not like it's your wolf. It's a public resource that belongs to everyone. We all live here and are curious what they are getting up to.

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^LIKE

I don't get the secrecy thing, either. Obviously the range finder is a certain brand and certain model with maybe other specific identifying characteristics. That should be enough for the real owner to easily be able to identify it to your satisfaction, regardless of whether he/she knows the general area where it was found.

The wolf aspect is far more interesting than the range finder and I'd also like to know more about it.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Wolves in Colorado are a hot topic that many of us like to discuss. Why wouldn't we be interested in where they are? When you say "central" Colorado, that make me think of somewhere like Tabernash, where I'd have assumed it'd be more North.

Why so shady about the whole thing? It's not like it's your wolf. It's a public resource that belongs to everyone. We all live here and are curious what they are getting up to.

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I have no idea how you came up with a conclusion that I am taking "ownership" of this wolf. The only reason, as I've stated numerous times, why I didn't disclose the exact location of the track was because I was offering to reunite someone with their valuable gear and I didn't want to be bothered by those trying to take advantage of that. No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.

Don't share something on a public forum if you're not actually going to share. Seems like a childish game of "I know something you don't know." You could have easily disassociated the range finder from the wolf.

The odds that the owner of the range finder is a participant here is also unlikely.

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Originally Posted by Blockhead

I have no idea how you came up with a conclusion that I am taking "ownership" of this wolf. The only reason, as I've stated numerous times, why I didn't disclose the exact location of the track was because I was offering to reunite someone with their valuable gear and I didn't want to be bothered by those trying to take advantage of that. No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.

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So instead of putting the range finder in a lost and found section and on Craigslist to promote better exposure to returning the precious little rangefinder, you’ve added it to the hunting sub forum embedded in a post about wolf tracks and then want to be secretive about the whole thing like you are going to give away your hunting spot. Which I’m going to guess either sucks, you failed to find anything but a track, or you don’t want to share a story of a successful father-son hunt in the successful hunting thread. I’m going to pick a combination of 1&2 out of those three choices.
As I said before, you are a bit of a tool. So either correct that and enlighten us where your precious “wolf” track was at or stop posting and wasting our time with useless information. It’s also a bit insulting you come into this site and automatically assume guys from this forum are going to bombard you with guesses and location of a range finder to take advantage of the situation. Show a little respect.

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Originally Posted by Gman

Don't share something on a public forum if you're not actually going to share. Seems like a childish game of "I know something you don't know." You could have easily disassociated the range finder from the wolf.

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Posting one thread about finding a range finder in an undisclosed GMU and then my next thread says, "Hey guys, look at these tracks I found in GMU XX" doesn't make a lot of sense. How much location detail does the forum really need? 100 mile radius? 50? 10 feet? Perhaps make an actual argument why this is valuable instead of just saying, "bbbbbut, we wanna know!" and "you're a childish tool because you won't tell us!"

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Originally Posted by Gman

The odds that the owner of the range finder is a participant here is also unlikely.

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You're probably correct, but I have had several guys ask about it.

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Originally Posted by sniper7

So instead of putting the range finder in a lost and found section and on Craigslist to promote better exposure to returning the precious little rangefinder, you’ve added it to the hunting sub forum embedded in a post about wolf tracks and then want to be secretive about the whole thing like you are going to give away your hunting spot. Which I’m going to guess either sucks, you failed to find anything but a track, or you don’t want to share a story of a successful father-son hunt in the successful hunting thread. I’m going to pick a combination of 1&2 out of those three choices.
As I said before, you are a bit of a tool. So either correct that and enlighten us where your precious “wolf” track was at or stop posting and wasting our time with useless information. It’s also a bit insulting you come into this site and automatically assume guys from this forum are going to bombard you with guesses and location of a range finder to take advantage of the situation. Show a little respect.

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Good suggestion on Craiglist. I'll do that.

And since you asked, I'm not trying to hide the location of some sweet hunting spot. Out of the 10 hunters we met in the area none saw a live elk. It was my first time hunting that area and I doubt I'll go back. My son and I did have a great time though.

Well, this thread has run it's course. We've all been trolled, well done. Part yourself on the back.

See everyone in a non-potato thread.

I think I’m just going to Rick Roll myself. That’s the only thing missing in this worthless thread. Im positive that wolf died of boredom hanging around the OPs camp.
I’m out as well Irving.

If your idea of "Central" is really North Central everyone I know in Steamboat that spends time in the woods knows that wolves range from Rabbit Ears up north through the Mt Zirkel Wilderness area and occasionally are heard in the Flattops area. They all hear them at night while camping. I would assume they travel east of there in to the Walden area as well and wouldn't doubt if they travel south along Rabbit Ears or south East out of the Flattops down in to the Gore Range area on occasion. No big secret..

Now in my mind Central Colorado is I70 South through Summit down to Salida and the Collegiate Peaks to the West and East to the Front Range.

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Originally Posted by def90

If your idea of "Central" is really North Central everyone I know in Steamboat that spends time in the woods knows that wolves range from Rabbit Ears up north through the Mt Zirkel Wilderness area and occasionally are heard in the Flattops area. They all hear them at night while camping. I would assume they travel east of there in to the Walden area as well and wouldn't doubt if they travel south along Rabbit Ears or south East out of the Flattops down in to the Gore Range area on occasion. No big secret..

Now in my mind Central Colorado is I70 South through Summit down to Salida and the Collegiate Peaks to the West and East to the Front Range.

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+1.

This past summer, one of my old units had a reunion in Cotopaxi and one the guys swears he ran into a wolf while camping not too far from the reunion site. Take it with a grain of salt...

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Originally Posted by OneGuy67

This past summer, one of my old units had a reunion in Cotopaxi and one the guys swears he ran into a wolf while camping not too far from the reunion site. Take it with a grain of salt...

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I have seen many coyotes in that area

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oa...=w1112-h625-no

[ROFL1] hahahahaha

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Originally Posted by Irving

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oa...=w1112-h625-no

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Can I get the GPS coordinates? I need to try out this near new Garmin that I found, when a member here foolishly shared his hunting spot with the whole forum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Irv found all my stuff! I had my dog with me at the time I lost it. I can describe it in a way that's worth a 1,000 words. It looks like this;

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Originally Posted by Irving

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oa...=w1112-h625-no

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Someone was probably hunting/hiking with his big dog.

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Originally Posted by def90

If your idea of "Central" is really North Central everyone I know in Steamboat that spends time in the woods knows that wolves range from Rabbit Ears up north through the Mt Zirkel Wilderness area and occasionally are heard in the Flattops area. They all hear them at night while camping. I would assume they travel east of there in to the Walden area as well and wouldn't doubt if they travel south along Rabbit Ears or south East out of the Flattops down in to the Gore Range area on occasion. No big secret..

Now in my mind Central Colorado is I70 South through Summit down to Salida and the Collegiate Peaks to the West and East to the Front Range.

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A very long time ago I spotted a wolf that had been eyeballing our camp in the Colorado State Forest just below Ruby Jewell Lake.