Wolves in Illinois?
 

Are there wolves in Illinois? My dad swears up and down he seen a wolf in the field across from our house. He said it was alot bigger than a coyote and it looks somewhat like a German Shepherd and it was kinda grey. I didnt think Illinois had wolves, but he says he seen one.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

You know i was bowhunting last year and i was hunting next to a field, and i saw at first what i though was a yote. But then i realized its way to big to be a yote and it was white black and gray all mixed. i couldnt swore it was a wolf but no one believes me:eek: lol but o well. although we do have a few coydogs around here, for those of you that dont know what those are they are a cross between a dog and a yote. and those things can get mean.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

there was one killed in 2003 in central illinios

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Really?!?! i was hunting central illinois when i saw what i thought was a wolf....maybe it was afterall

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

My friends got a coydog. Its acually pretty nice. The first time I met it, I just walked up to it, and started petting it. And hes like "thats part yote" Naturally I jumped back and took a good look at it. Its was very nice.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

I heard about being killed in Champaign county a few years back. Some guys were coyote hunting and mistaked it for a yote. No citations were issued and the wolf was taken in for test to find out what it had been eating and to see if that gave any clues as to where it came from. I never heard anything else about it after that.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

i was hunting in schuyler co. the first week of november this year.there was what sounded like a wolf howling with the yotes one night right after dark.sounded just like the wolves i've heard in canada.but everyone said i was crazy.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

i have never seen one but i heard they were going to release them in IL. i would just like to know where they are letting them out of the trucks and i would be happy to practice my shooting skills.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

About 6 years ago I was bird hunting a brushy creek, my dad was on one side and I was on the other. The dog kicked up what we thought was a yote but they never saw luckily b/c he would have chased it. Anyways. It came out of the creek about 20 yds in front of my dad, stopped for a few seconds and looked at him and then trotted off. But this couldn't have been a yote b/c it was a little reddish and was the size of a German Shepard!! A few weeks later we heard a rumor that 2 pairs of red wolves were released in that general area so we think it might have been one of these "so-called" wolves. Who knows though?

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

hey duramaxlt around where do you hunt in schyuler co. i hunt near camden.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

bwhunter501 i've been hunting Harlon & Steve Terry's place not too far from camden i believe it's off highway 101.i'd love to find a place up there and retire but everbody i owe wants me to keep working.anyway i spent 2 weeks up there this past year.plan to do same this year.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

:D
Nawww, they're dropping them from black helecopters behind your deer stand ;) :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

the scary thing is i hunt close to an airport and see 5 helicopters fly over each time im out huntin

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

This is kinda funny. I thought I heard a wolf last night, actually yesterday afternoon. There are a couple of farms, locally, that breed hybrid wolves.

I was shed hunting last weekend and I saw what I first thought was a coyote. I walked right up on it. It jumped up and then just stared at me at about 40 yards. It was big. If it was a coyote, it was a coydog with something big mixed in with it.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Red Wolves are not native to IL so they would not be releasing them.

I believe it is illegal to raise wolf-hybrids in Illinois.

Correct me if I am wrong on either account.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

There was a wolf killed in Henry Illinois in the winter of 2003-2004 and I am told one was killed in Henry county this year. The one in Henry was a transient male from Minni (DNA testing) and I haven't heard much about the one from Henry County (This was a tale told by someone at the archery shop saying that his uncle killed one this year. He said it was confirmed but I never heard anything about it except from him and being that I run in livestock circles every wolf/couger sighting gets the jaws flapping and the news spreads like wildfire).

You can get some big coydogs though if they are crossed with the right breed. And I mean big, I saw one out west that was a Malamute X coyote and he weighed 95 pounds or something like that. (It was a freakishly large Malamute female that was bred to the coyote). He was a real sweet dog but jeez, big and wooly.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

So, would it be legal to kill one if I got the chance?

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Yes, im pretty sure since it isnt native right? or how does that go i cant seem to remember but im pretty sure you can.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Wolves are federally protected. Here in idaho we are all chomping at the bit to shoot one but know we will be hung by the feds if we do. The darn things are eating us out of house and home. Just look at the west forums and see what is going on. I would refrain from shooting one. We are now having them responding to elk calls and have had several come in to within 15 yards. There was just a law passed in which Bush acted illegally when he relinquished some control over the wolves to the States. It dealt with native populations, successful introduction etc. Some of the animal lover groups claimed a big victory over that. The law that was passed was supposed to have overturned a court decision from 1978, however it was deemed to be illegal and the ruling was overturned. The law currently states that the wolves are protected in all areas until the wolf has been delisted. If you have wolves and they begin to populate kiss the hunting goodbye as you know it today.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Illegal but... Since they aren't official here all are often treated as escaped pets. The people who have killed them have all claimed to have thought they shot Coyotes so as far as I know haven't been punished or even fined for the accident. I would guess that this excuse won't fly in the near future as wolves continue to disperse into the area and these incidents become more common.

Eventually they will have to delist them as the population gets larger and larger and so something similar to the hunting seasons they have in Canada for them. I lived out in Montana from 96-2000 and the wolves were really getting going in Yellowstone during that period and the livestock kills were going up. Of course, the amount of sheep killed by wolves still pales compared to bears and coyotes killing them.. I can only imagine what it is like out there now.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

I see by your name on here you are a rancher. The ranchers out here have to sleep with their cows and haze the wolves. We were not supposed to have any wolves for many years when I was seeing them while out hunting. I had them come into turkey calls even. I told fish and game and they said no way I didn't see a wolf. My brother in law found 10 elk kills this last year. The feds turned the laws around and ranchers were going to be given the right to kill wolves that attacked the cattle and also Idaho fish and game would have been able to dipatch those in areas with depleted game. The greenies stepped in and overturned the ruling saying that Bush violated the laws and illegaly removed the protection order. You can hear the wolves howl at night almost anywhere in Idaho now. To me they are vermin and there is a reason why they were killed off in this area many years ago. I can't wait to see what happens when they expand the recovery range for the grizzly.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Yep. Raise cattle and also sheep and worked with some ranchers out in Montana when I lived there. Loved it out there but I don't envy the environment, the land prices per production, or the depredation they have to deal with. We have yotes and I had a bunch of sheep and lamb kills this year from them. Finally a neighbor took out a pack, yes a pack, of 7 in one night and the problem stopped. I haven't had problems until this year with them so I basically left them alone. I was always taught that sometimes, if you have predators around and they aren't killing your stock, you are best to leave them alone as they will keep other predators away. Well, either someone shot the resident pack, a new male came in or the deer population is down this winter (I don't think that one is it). Oh well, we are starting the investment in Guardian dogs to deal with the growing predator problem. Won't stop the problem but might keep it from getting out of countrol.

When I lived in Montana a person near Red Lodge looked out her window and saw a 3 year old Griz chasing her horses. She ran outside with a .22LR and shot at the bear to scar it away. Somehow, the bullet clipped the femoral artery (I think that is the one) and the bear bled out. since the horse was not injured she was prosecuted for not calling the game wardens first to deal with this endangered species. If the horse was being injured it is okay to shoot they told her. So you have to wait until your expensive cutting horse is being torn up and mad useless before shooting the bear with a 22LR. Come on now. She got fined BIG time 10,000+ and some other stuff. This is why shoot, shovel and shut up has become a way of life for people out in the countryside out there.

I'm sure you have heard that Defenders of Wildlife, the group that promissed to pay Ranchers for their livestock kills by the wolves and bears have now decided that they won't do that if the kill happened on public lands... Ahh, and they wonder why farmers and ranchers don't give much credit to Fish and Game or environmental groups word.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

HA! :D

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

I was in my treestand lat year 2003 and had 2 timber wolves come in about 10 yards below me. I have seen a thousand coyotes and these were not coyotes as i got a great look at them and gave a few lip squeeks to get their attention. I am in henderson county Illinois on the mississippi river. I spent hours in the tree this year 2004 and did not see any though but the couger that was found dead was less than 10 miles from where i hunt. Thats kinda scarry.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Suspected timber wolf found near Chain O' Lakes
By Sue Ter Maat Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted 2/19/2005
Born in central Wisconsin, he made his way to Illinois, traveling south along the natural corridor of the Fox River.

Along the way, he ate roadkill, mice and raccoons. At some point, he found himself in the Chain O' Lakes State Park in Lake County.

On Thursday morning, he was crossing Route 173, about a mile from Wilmot Road, when a car struck him, cracking his pelvis and crushing his internal organs.

At the side of the road, he died - a young eastern timber wolf whose kind died out a century ago in Illinois.

It's a likely scenario assuming the dead animal is truly an eastern timber wolf, considered a threatened species by the federal government.

Officials with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources are trying to figure out if the animal - which has all the physical hallmarks of a timber wolf - is indeed just that and not a hybrid or a domesticated wolf.

If it is, it would be an encouraging find, more proof Wisconsin wolves are thriving, said Brad Semel, a natural resources specialist with the Illinois department.

Last year, a female timber wolf with a Wisconsin radio collar was found in northwest Indiana, he said.

These lone wolves do not signal the species is re-populating itself in Illinois, Semel said. The state no longer has the type of habitat it once had to support these animals.

"It won't be packs moving out," Semel said. "It will be the aberrant wolf that is setting out."

Residents should not be alarmed. Wolves are afraid of people and there is no documented case in North America of a wolf killing someone.

However, the migration story may be unfounded after all. The dead animal could turn out to be a wolf that was locally raised. Sometimes when a domesticated wolf pup grows up, people find it difficult to manage and it's discarded.

More worrisome is the possibility it is a wolf hybrid - half dog and half wolf.

Hybrids retain their natural wolf instincts, but being part dog, they don't fear humans. Hybrids have been known to attack people, Semel said.

Still, this animal's narrow chest, large head and big paws suggest he's a wolf that migrated to Illinois from a Wisconsin pack, Semel said.

A DNA test would settle the matter. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering whether a test will be done, Semel said. A necropsy will be performed in upcoming days.

Eastern timber wolves once roamed large swaths of North America, but they died off more than 100 years ago when settlers moved in and the wolves' natural hunting habitats were plowed up for farms.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, more than 350 timber wolves were counted there in 2003. Wisconsin is one of 12 states where timber wolf packs still exist in the wild.

As a federally protected species, it's unlawful to harm a timber wolf.

The dead wolf was spotted by a passing driver, who put it in the back of his pickup and dropped it off at the state natural resources department offices in Lake County.

Semel examined the 88-pound male, about 1¨ years old, looking at the shape of the head and thickness of the coat.

No ribs were showing, so the wolf was eating well. His coat was filled with sticky burdock seeds, indicating he'd recently been out in open fields.

"I think it's intriguing that there is still a little bit of the wild left in Illinois," Semel said. "You never know what to expect if you're out enjoying the open landscape.

"It makes you realize what it could've been like 100 years ago."

Wolf: Expert says animal likely traveled alone from Wisconsin



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