I live in the U.P. and have seen one wolf while walking my dogs behind my house. My husband saw one cross the road heading onto our property a few weeks ago.
I posted on the Spaniel Corner II and this was what Dauber (very knowledgeable about U.P. wolves) wrote:
As I stated above, anywhere you are in the UP you can encounter a wolf, even downtown Marquette or the Soo. A good place to start is here...
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7...7524--,00.html
If there has been recent dog attacks in an area I tell people to avoid it. These are either home site areas, or conflict areas between packs. Keep an eye open for droppings, wolf droppings are large and have chucks of bone in them. Droppings can be seen driving along logging trails and if the wolf is marking its territory the droppings will be in the middle of the trail. The hog Island road area near Naubinway is a conflict area and most days you will see fresh piles in the road.
Most of the dog killings occur in mid to late August, is usually hounds (they are barkers that helps draw in wolves) This is the time of year that the pups of the year are just starting to run with the pack and the pack is VERY protective at that time especially if they hear howling. The other time that is bad for beagles is late Jan.-Feb. the breeding season for wolves. Again howling and barking is interpreted as a challenge to the wolves territory at a time they are being especially territorial. Bird dogs that are not howling are at much less danger. I would not say no danger...but then dogs are hit by cars, run through by sticks and killed by bear much more often.
If I come across various aged tracks and/or droppings that indicated frequent visits, stay clear. Otherwise wolves check their boundaries more on a 5-10 day rotation. Stay aware and enjoy being out. Sometime in the next half year or so there should be an article I helped with on hunting in wolf country should come out in one of the dog magazines.
