Just curious on how likely I would be to hear wolves howling on Stuart lake? If it's unlikely, which EP would suggest?

On Horseshoe we listened to a pack howling back and forth with a lobo solo for more than an hour in the dark. They weren’t that far off, it was wild.

It's kind of random where you hear them. I've heard wolves on Loon and Lake Three at least. Knowing what I do about Stuart, I think your chances are as good as anywhere. I can say that the last night I camped on Stuart was in October. I heard 2 flocks of Snow Geese fly over, a Great Gray Owl, and 2 Northern Saw-whet Owls were calling right in camp, so the night life is good.

I’ve heard wolves howl only twice in 30 or so trips. One, and the best, was on Gillis over 30 years ago - 3 packs in different directions. Second was in winter just a couple years ago on Brant.

Highly likely! Not only have I heard them on Stuart before, I’ve seen a whole pack of them just down the road at the Angleworm EP parking lot. This pic is on the Echo Trail, just a little ways down from Stuart River.

Tony

Wow gopher that is so cool! I was just watching a coy wolf documentary and was thinking of how cool it would be to hear some wolves out there. Figure some of the more seasoned veterans would know if they are in that area. Thanks for sharing!

I heard one on South Hegman two weeks ago that was pretty far off. Just once though over four days.

I've heard them twice i roughly the same area. One trip, staying on Oyster peninsula site, they were straight west. Another trip, staying on the nice north shore site on Hustler, they were to the N/NE of us.

This just a little off-track, but for anyone interested in getting a bit more of a wolf experience, consider camping or hiking in winter. The amazing thing about winter is the snow holds and shares the history. In summer we may portage down a path and have no idea if a wolf or anything else was there hours or minutes before. Snow, especially with the right conditions, can tell us.

A couple years ago a snow storm hit as I drove north, so I stayed in Grand Marais. Early the next morning with 8 new inches of snow I drove up to Round Lake and dragged my sled in toward Brant. At the last portage just before Brant there were prints of two wolves, and a large moose and calf. The prints were chaotic, with the wolves obviously going for the young moose. The snow had stopped falling just 2-3 hours before. I could read how the chase went, and found just onto Brant a small blood stream - a wound but not nearly enough to bleed out. I could see the moose got away that day. This is just one of many wonderful winter tracks I’ve seen.

I've only heard them once, 2008 near Lower Basswood Falls. Their calls made the dark night a little more chilling.

If you go to Stuart try howling to get them going. Surprising how well and often it works.

Deeznuts: "Wow gopher that is so cool! I was just watching a coy wolf documentary and was thinking of how cool it would be to hear some wolves out there. Figure some of the more seasoned veterans would know if they are in that area. Thanks for sharing!"

If you like that pic, here’s a link to the trip video that shows the whole pack. Angleworm 2023 started with a wolf encounter
Tony

GopherAdventure: "

Deeznuts: "Wow gopher that is so cool! I was just watching a coy wolf documentary and was thinking of how cool it would be to hear some wolves out there. Figure some of the more seasoned veterans would know if they are in that area. Thanks for sharing!"

If you like that pic, here’s a link to the trip video that shows the whole pack. Angleworm 2023 started with a wolf encounter
Tony"

I just watched that video a few months ago! I was considering doing angleworm vs Stuart so I came across it when doing my research. Seems like you lead a fun trip!

50 years canoeing in BWCA,Quetico…, only heard howling wolves three times…

Fall is a great time to hear wolves. I think those first few weeks of cold nights really get them going.

Winter is the best time to see them. I’ve seen many while out skiing and dogsledding. They take advantage of established trails on the lakes.

I've heard wolves many times in the BWCA - on Basswood Lake (Pipestone and Jackfish Bays), Fourtown, Shell, Insula and Horseshoe. In 2006, at the top of Pipestone Bay, we heard two packs howling at the same time on opposite sides of the lake while we watched the northern lights from the rocky point of our campsite.

I've also heard them while backpack camping in Itasca State Park (McKay Lake), car camping at Fenske Lake (Echo Trail), and on grouse hunting trips just north of Hibbing near the Taconite Trail.

And I recently heard them while staying at Burntside Lodge in Ely.

My son and I were camping at a site on SAK and heard them 3 nights in a row. This was about 8 years ago.

Sorry OP I can’t comment on your lake. But I had an extraordinary experience on Homer in July.

I was in the lake alone.

Pouring my coffee (read: hot water in hand) I heard a huge tree-felling level crash not 100 yards away towards the portage. Took me a moment to square away my coffee, just long enough for a moose to dive I to the water, swim 29 yards and pull him or herself out. I turned to see the tail end flying into the opposite shore. The nîmoise was vocalizing g wildly and literally barreling through the woods. The crashing sounds were epic. I heard the noise angrily vocalizing and making way for a full 5 minutes. Seemed like the moose was being hunted.

That night, a lone wolf came and serenaded me for about 10 minutes from about 100 yards away from the south shore of Home directly opposite my cap under the full moon. Then the wolf started making its way due south, stopping to sing every hour or so until its sounds was quite faint—how many miles away, I wondered?

And did the moose get away?

Amazing experience.

I was on a site in Boulder Bay on Lac LaCroix the second week of August this year with a friend who was experiencing the BWCA for the first time. It was a rainy day, and we were playing some dice under the CCS tarp when he looked up and said there was a bear in camp. I swung around in my chair mentally preparing myself to grab some pots and pans to walk the bear out of camp and ended up looking a wolf in the eyes. As I was sitting down in my camp chair, I stood up to make myself larger and just went with the bear plan. I started banging the pots together and walked the wolf out of camp. It did not run but turned and loped out of camp while I followed with my friend behind me. I walked and slowly banged away until the wolf disappeared over the rise.
Back at camp we were a little on edge. It was his first time in the park and while I have many trips under my belt, I have never had a bear in camp let alone a wolf. I gave him a hard time about the wolf vs bear issue, and he said he just saw the hind quarters disappear behind the tent. He figured it was a bear as I had been teaching him hard core camp cleanliness all week and we had been taking great pride in our higher than spec bear hangs.

My buddy captured most of the event on video and it was only after the trip he found a picture of the wolf turning to leave camp. We paced off the distance from where we saw the wolf behind the tent to the tarp and figured it was about 70 feet. Given all the trumpeter swans around and the younglings I figured the wolf was hunting the swans that had been making the rock point home. I will always wonder what would have happened if I wouldn’t have stood up so fast and grabbed those pots. Would the wolf have lingered before realizing we weren’t the food it was after? I figure I did the right thing as wolf human encounters should not be happening, but a guy always has to wonder…..

Wow guys those are some great stories! Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed reading all the replies!

Wow! A good sized animal too. Was talking with a friend who had a similar story on Brûle once.

Heard wolves almost literally all night last week on Winchell. Woke up at 2am to them howling. Woke up a couple more times and they were howling. Were still going at 7am! Was windy all day so not sure if they were howling during the day but the next night once the wind died I heard them again while going to bed. Later in the night they were still howling but had moved further away.

Always a treat to hear them!

It's been a few years, but there were 2 packs roaming Nina Moose. The interaction between the 2 packs raise the hair on our necks.

I would call the ranger stations and ask if know where any packs are.

As an aside, this promises to be a good conference re: wolves. Wolf Symposium in Ashland, WI