Wolves

[kenny thomas]

Kenny can correct me if I'm wrong but you might try pawn shops for a Marlin.Not as "classic" as Winchester but the wolf won't know the difference.
Don't get me wrong,I like the Winchester.I have Dad's 1952 model.The Marlin we have shoots where you aim it and that's what counts.
I understand the other calibers but,for a gun that needs to ride in a scabbard, I wouldn't want much money in it. 30/30 will take a deer down at 200 yards.It should be plenty for a wolf.

You are totally correct. I also like a Marlin in 35 Remington caliber. Only slightly higher than a 30-30 but with more knockdown. Lots of bear hunters using one here.

 

[Dave]

I am definitely going with a 30-30. Any place that sells ammo will have 30-30. And I already have 5 or 6 boxes. I have the Winchester model 64 30-30 that my Dad bought new in 1940. He was 14 and used his strawberry picking money to buy it. That gun isn't going to rattle around on the quad. I have the antlers from the buck he shot with that rifle in 1940 and from my first buck shot in 1963. I will hunt the hills with a scope sighted rifle but if I end up shooting a meat buck in the pasture I plan to do it with the old 30-30.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Marlins defiantly rule my gun rack. I have a 336W in 30-30, a 1895sblg 45-70, and a 25M in .22mag. If I need to reach out and touch some thing I use my Rem 700 in 30-06.
My 30-30 lives in the tractor that we hay with.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Marlins defiantly rule my gun rack. I have a 336W in 30-30, a 1895sblg 45-70, and a 25M in .22mag. If I need to reach out and touch some thing I use my Rem 700 in 30-06.
My 30-30 lives in the tractor that we hay with.

Same here! We buy, get bored with, sell and buy new toys a lot. There are a few that have survived the rotations and will stay permanently. My husband's Marlin 45-70 govt and the Marlin 30-30 he bought for my birthday years ago (both in matching stainless and walnut). One lives in the shop (helpful hint- the 45-70 is a "youth" length and fits in the lift lid of a big Milwaukee tool box!!!). The other lives by my kitchen patio doors ;-) . My daughter's first non-22 will be a Marlin....

 

[Dave]

My friend did show me a Marlin. Less money than a Winchester 94 but still a lot more than that Sears knock off. I am thinking that tomorrow I will go in and buy that Sears 30-30. I certainly don't need or want anything new or fancy when it is going to get beat up bouncing around on the quad. Just something that will go bang and hit somewhere close to where I am aiming. This is intended to be a defense gun against sharp tooth critters. No 200 yard shots. Heck not even 100 yard shots. Wolves are sort of protected. They have to be threatening me or livestock to legally shoot one. If I am actually varmint hunting I have a wide selection to choose from. First pick from the gun safe for varmints is a Savage 22-250 with a 4x12 Leopold scope.

 

[SmokinM]

That should be a Ted Williams model 100 Dave. I had one for years til it grew legs one day, I killed a lot of deer including my first with it. It will serve you well. A good gun and basically identical to a Model 94.

If it has initials carved in the stock and filled in with bondo let me know I have been looking for it for 10 years!

I am looking for one of the .357 ones now. Trying to match up my pistols with a good lever gun to simplify ammo and packing stuff to hit the bushes with. Got the .44 covered it is a pretty fun little gun but has plenty of wallop to get serious if you need to.

 

[Dave]

That should be a Ted Williams model 100 Dave. I had one for years til it grew legs one day, I killed a lot of deer including my first with it. It will serve you well. A good gun and basically identical to a Model 94.

If it has initials carved in the stock and filled in with bondo let me know I have been looking for it for 10 years!

I am looking for one of the .357 ones now. Trying to match up my pistols with a good lever gun to simplify ammo and packing stuff to hit the bushes with. Got the .44 covered it is a pretty fun little gun but has plenty of wallop to get serious if you need to.

It said model 52 or 54 I don't remember which. Basically looked like a 94 just a little loose in the fitting. There are lots of cougars here but they don't worry me. This wolf is a different issue. If I were to shoot it the range would probably be inside 50 yards. It doesn't take minute of angle shooting to hit that big of an animal at that range.

 

[kenny thomas]

Dave is this near you? One of my loggers sent it and said Oregon

 

[Dave]

Dave is this near you? One of my loggers sent it and said Oregon

My guess is that is Buoy 10 at the mouth of the Columbia. That use to be pretty close to where I lived. My old hunting and fishing partner lives spitting distance from there. Salmon fished a lot in my younger years. The way things worked out I ate way too many salmon from childhood to about 35. I sort of gave up fishing for them because I was sick of eating them. I live on the other side of the state now, nearly into Idaho. Actually I will be over there in a week and a half. We aren't going salmon fishing but one day there we will go to the beach and dig razor clams. I look forward to eating a bunch of razor clams.

 

[kenny thomas]

Dave, I knew it wasn't close to you but thought it was near where you used to be. Don't imagine there are a lot of big salmon in your area.

 

[Dave]

Dave, I knew it wasn't close to you but thought it was near where you used to be. Don't imagine there are a lot of big salmon in your area.

It was a short walk out my back door to the Chehalis River. Not many of those King salmon come up that river. But there was a pretty good run of Silvers (8-12 pound fish) in October. They were also in the creek that ran through my place. But by the time they got there they were too dark for eating.
There are still some up river King salmon that make it up the Snake River. Back a hundred years ago there was huge runs that made it up here. The dams and over fishing changed that. I figure any salmon that made it past the Indians nets, and over about 10 dams to get here should be allowed to spawn.

 

[skeeter swatter]

This week some neighbors and friends were gathering some cattle out of the hills. They were about 10 miles as the crow flies from my house. A father (69) and son (43) both horse back with dogs. This fairly rough country with some trees but not forest. The son was pushing a herd. They were confronted by a very big wolf. The game dept. estimated that this wolf would weigh 200 pounds. He did have a smart phone and videoed this encounter. It pushed the cows back over the top of him. It challenged him and kept coming. It basically followed him all the way off the mountain. It barked at him. The father didn't see it but was close enough that he hear it bark. Not a howl. He said it sounded like a big mean guard dog. The son did not have a gun. He said he was looking for a tree that he could climb. If it came to it he said the horse would be on its own. All the ranchers and cowboys gathering cows are now packing and there is discussion on what to pack. It seems that they are thinking something like a 30-30. Light and narrow to fit in a saddle scabbard. Open sights because how reliable is a scope which has been banging around on the side of a horse for months. More accurate range than a pistol in the hands of the majority of people. The father in this was buying a shotgun today. He is a self proclaimed poor shot. He figures 00 buckshot makes up for some poor shooting.

My biggest worry on this would've been the dogs. A couple wolves can make short work of em.

 

[Dave]

This week some neighbors and friends were gathering some cattle out of the hills. They were about 10 miles as the crow flies from my house. A father (69) and son (43) both horse back with dogs. This fairly rough country with some trees but not forest. The son was pushing a herd. They were confronted by a very big wolf. The game dept. estimated that this wolf would weigh 200 pounds. He did have a smart phone and videoed this encounter. It pushed the cows back over the top of him. It challenged him and kept coming. It basically followed him all the way off the mountain. It barked at him. The father didn't see it but was close enough that he hear it bark. Not a howl. He said it sounded like a big mean guard dog. The son did not have a gun. He said he was looking for a tree that he could climb. If it came to it he said the horse would be on its own. All the ranchers and cowboys gathering cows are now packing and there is discussion on what to pack. It seems that they are thinking something like a 30-30. Light and narrow to fit in a saddle scabbard. Open sights because how reliable is a scope which has been banging around on the side of a horse for months. More accurate range than a pistol in the hands of the majority of people. The father in this was buying a shotgun today. He is a self proclaimed poor shot. He figures 00 buckshot makes up for some poor shooting.

My biggest worry on this would've been the dogs. A couple wolves can make short work of em.

From what I heard he only had one dog with him (others with Dad). That dog stayed as close to the horse as possible. I thought that maybe he should have pointed the horse south and put it in gear. But a lot of this country a slow walk is about all you want out of a horse.
I heard it suggested that everyone in the area should all saddle up and go up there to gather the cows. Of course they would all go armed. Twenty some riders would pick up all the cows in one sweep and someone just might get that wolf. A hundred years ago that is what they would have done. But then a hundred years ago there would have been a bounty on that wolf

 

[gcreekrch]

Hope they get him. Think I'm over the 150 mark now and still lots around.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

I used to have a great little paint gelding (he worked for me). I swear he wouldn't have crossed open water if his tail was on fire, but I could slide out of the saddle and use him as a bench rest for my 30-30 without him flinching.

I swear he wouldn't have crossed open water if his tail was on fire

 

[Brute 23]

Both are right. Shoot what you can hit with.

A lever action 30-30 would be, is, my choice. There are a lot of calibers in lever guns though that would all worth. 30-30 is probably the easiest to get ammo and a reasonably prices gun.