A Near View of the Den.
Wolves breed much earlier than is commonly supposed, even by stockmen who have resided for a considerable length of time in the wolf country. The majority of young wolves are born in March in the Western States and the young of the coyote make their appearance mainly in April, but occasional litters of both will appear in May, and grey wolves may be born at any time during the summer.
On the western cattle range, the dens of the wolf and coyote are located mainly in the valleys among the foothills of the mountain ranges and among the low mountains, but seldom at any great elevation. The steep side of a hill or canyon facing the south is the most favored location, and the rougher and more broken and brushy the ground, the better it suits the wolves for denning purposes. They especially like knolls, strewn with large boulders, from which the male parent can watch for the approach of enemies.
As before mentioned, the mode of hunting is very simple. All that is necessary is to look carefully over the breeding grounds until tracks are found and these should be followed to the den. It is safe to say that at that time of year, nine out of every ten tracks will lead to a den. On the northern portions of the range, there is almost certain to be good tracking snow during the early part of the breeding season, but even if the ground is bare it is not generally a difficult matter to trail the animals to the den. A track that has been made in the evening should be followed backwards and one made in the morning should be followed forwards, as the wolves do most of their hunting at night and return to the den in the early morning. When the track can not be followed, if one can get the general course of it, the lay of the land will enable one, on many occasions, to locate the den.
Whenever the hunter hears of wolves, or their signs having been seen frequently, he should make a diligent search for the den. As the old mother wolf always goes to the nearest water to drink, the number of tracks at a watering place will often be a dead give-away and a careful search of the locality will usually result in the discovery of the den. As the den is approached, the tracks will become more numerous, and near by there will be well beaten trails. Where tracks are numerous one should keep watch for the male, sentinel wolf, as he will always be on the lookout somewhere near the den and his position will enable one to locate it more readily. As one approaches, the male animal will howl and endeavor to draw the hunter off in pursuit and thus prevent the finding of the den. Their tricks on such occasions show considerable intelligence.
When looking for dens on bare ground, a dog, if he understands the work is very useful. A fox hound that is well trained on fox is good, but if trained for this style of hunting especially, will be found to be better. Unless on the trail of a bachelor wolf, which by the way are occasionally found during the breeding season, the dog will readily trail the wolf to the den. It is best to go early in the morning as the trail will be fresher at that time and the dog is more apt to follow a fresh trail, therefore, more certain of locating the den. In all probability, one of the old wolves will attempt to draw the dog off for a mile or two, but in that case the mother will endeavor to return to her young. Sometimes they find it necessary to fight the dogs and try to keep them from approaching too near the den. Anyway the actions of the animals will show when they are in the vicinity of the den, which may then be readily located.
Young Wolf Pups at the Entrance of a Den.
One hunter who uses a dog for this style of hunting says: "The kind of a dog needed is a good ranger, extra good cold trailer and an everlasting stayer. Then if he will only run a short distance after starting the wolf and come back and hunt the pups and then bark at them when found, you have a good dog that is worth a large price. There are plenty of dogs that will hunt and trail wolves all right, but very few that will hunt the pups."