Helplessness of wolf puppies during first two months gives an oportunity to exterminate wolves in their dens.

Belief of some hunters that destroying wolf dens is a dangerous business is groundless. If a human is approaching wolf den, mature wolves run away. Wolf fears man under any circumstances.

To facilitate and accelerate the detection of a wolf den, one should ask local residents, especially herdsmen, woodmen and field tractorists who usually see, in which direction wolves go and in which forest patch or ravines wolves most often return after hunting.

When places where mature wolves are frequent, search their dens should be started. This work is made easier, if one can find out from local residents where wolf's howl is heard during sunset (in August-September). A wolf litter is most likely will be found in such places.

It should be kept in mind that wolf's den can be found in very diverse habitats. For example, one wolf den was found about half of a kilometer from the village, approximately about 100 meters from railroad in a swampy place.

In areas with plenty of ravines, a wolf den should be searched in most remote corners overgrown with young oaks, linden and shrubs, such as honeysuckle, rosa, hazelnut and ferns. Where the den is found, there is always some water, such as a lake, a pond, a swamp or a stream. This feature should be never neglected and paths made by animals in the grass and shrubs to the water source may be a sign of a wolf den.

Wolf females are meking densone year after another in the habitat once they had raised a litter successfully. Often it is the same den or under the same roots of a wind fallen tree.

In case, if the mature female died, the same place may be occupied by a younger female.

When you approach the den as close as fifty steps, it smells heavily decomposing bones, meat and excrements of untidy predators.

To search for wolf dens, one should take a shot gun, an ax and a shovel. Therefore, a buddy would be helpful.

Once a den with young wolf puppies is found, it is better not to kill them, but tie them togetehr with a wire, put in the net and hang on a tree near the den. The hunters should hide in two different sites. One hunter should take a position near the den so the den entrance woul dbe viewed clearly. The other hunter shoul dhide somewhere near returning wolf tracks. If puppies will start squealing, it is very likely that the mother wolf will not resist to come up to check them. Naturally, ambush sites should be selected taking into account wind direction so the smell of the hunters would not flow over the den.

It is important to kill the mature female in order to exterminate entire wolf nest.

Some hunters act as follows. They put wolf puppies in the net and drag them a few steps on wolf's tracks to leave scent. The mother wolf would find the track and carefuly follow it until she get shot by the hiding hunter.

Battue hunting The hunting like the animal`s voice (vaba)