In order to simplify the round up wolf hunting, flags on the string are used.

String with flags are rolled into cuts about 40-50 m each. At one end of the string with flags a loop is made and the other end a stake is attached.

To make a cirklle, the hunter ties up the end with the loop to a bush branch and unrolls the rest scattering flags on bushes about 70-80 cm high above the ground. Then, unrolling the next cut, he ties the end with the loop with the end with the stick of the first one etc.

It is very convenient to roll string with flags on a reel made of bird cherry tree sticks each 60 cm long.

Preparation to winter round ups.

To secure successful wolf hunting, the ranger must arrive in the area where wolves had been seen. With assistance of local hunters, he must to find out where the wolf pack is.

Using well collected data, it is possible to determine how many wolves in the wolf family, where the den is located and paths leading from it.

Naturally, the more complete data available, the easier wolf extermination job will be.

About a week before the first snowfall, wolves should be offered meat bait.

Baiting wolves.

To facilitate the hunting with round up flags on the ground covered with snow, wolves must be baited in a certain place. A sSufficient supply of carion at one place (not far from the den) forces anilas to stay there for several days and this is enough to finish them.

The bait is placed away from highways, better near the forest edge on a hill. Under this condition, wolves better visit the bait site and stay there for a longer time, because they feel more secure seeing far around. Besides, a snow cover on elevated places is thinner and this also helps wolves to feel more secure.

Bait placed well helps wolves not to change their location every day. Besides, wolves well fed with carion sleep better when they reach their favorite habitat. Only the guarding wolve, usually the maturee female, sometimes raises her broad head and moves with her ears listening sounds reaching her from the nearby village, such as barking of dogs, squeeking sleds and human voices on the timber road. All these sounds do not worry the wolves and they remain quiet.

Well fed wolves are considerably less alert. Besisdes, well fed wolves wake up in the morning at a considerably later time.

If the wolves had eaten all the bait carion completely, more carrion should be added. Carrion placed on the same place will be eaten by wolves more eagerly.

In area, where the round up wolf hunitng is being prepared, setting traps is striclty prohibited. If at least one wolf had caught in a trap, all the wolves wil become extremely cautious and this makes their round up hunting more difficult.

In places where wolves are hunted rarely, the bait carrion may be placed at dump sies for dead animals that they visti often anyway.

Checking the bait and correction of wolf tracks.

Checking the bait should be done daily. Taking into account that wolves stay near the bait until 9 a.m. , especially in winter time, the carrion shoul dbe checked not too early. It is better to go for cheking the bait in regular horse pulled sleds that are well familiar to wolves. View of such a slowly moving form of transportation will not wake their suspicion.

The bait may be chcked by walkin on skis. However, in such a case, the bait should be checked form some distance and wihtout having a gun so wolves would not become frightened. If one would see wolves at the bait site, he should depart by passing them at some distance and without attracting their attention, wait somewhere about half an hour and then, come back and start checking wolf tracks.

If wolves visited the bait site, their tracks leading to other places where they spend days, should be checked to determine number of wolves. It is beneficioal to determine their sex and age composition. Usually wolves trot in one line single tracking, but at some palces they disperse. Exactly here, one can determine how many of them in the pack, how many wolves were young born last spring, over a year old and how many males and females. Sometimes this knowldge helps to round up a whole pack.

Footprint of a mature wolf male clearly differs from the foot print of a female. It is more round and massive. Heel of the mature wolf is almost square. It is easy to see in a dead old male wolf. Examination of feet of all killed wolves helps to learn how to read their tracks on the snow.

Differences very clear so one can can unmistacably tell apart footrpints of a mature male from female and year olds from mature wolves. Foot prints of young wolves born last sping are difficult to tell apart from young wolves under two years old.

Once the compostion of the pack is determined, it is important to find out where wolves headed to spend day time.

If all favorit places vistited by wolves are well known, this is the time to hurry up right there.

An experienced and observant ranger usually deos this job easily.

Round up of the pack.

If the area where wolves live has many roads, it is convenient to go to read their tracks in sleds pulled by horse. In other cases this can be done on foot and, if the snow cover is thick, on broad skis. Even riding in sleds, one should have a pair of skis.

For example, moving on the right side of the wolf track, one should watch, wheather wolves run on the road. Tracks of single wolves merging with the pack are easy to overlook. Sometimes they get on the road by a powerful leap from behind a bush or a small spruce tree thus, leaving no track.

Sometimes, it happens that wolves are sighted. In such a case, one should pretend that this happened by accident. If mature wolves will become suspicious that hunters are coming, they will never stay over day near the bait, but will lead the pack far away. Winter day is short, after 4 p.m. it becomes darker. This fact often saves wolves from being killed on the same day.

During encurcling wolves with flags on string, different unpredictable difficultires may happen. Therefore, one should have a good knowledge where the wolves are, how many of them run away on the left or on the right and whether young wolves left the pack somewhere. A major attention should be given to the mature female, the leader of the pack. Where she is there the rest of the pack. Only the old wolf or young males can leave the pack, bu tthis happens rarely.

Sometimes, for example, when wolves remain in the circle despite three tracks lead in and three tracks lead out.

This happens when wolves returned into the same circle where spent a day before.

One hunter had a case when three wolves entered the circle, the mature wolf and two young one year old wolves. When wolves were driven by beater, it appeared that four wolves were in the circle. It happened because a mature female joint the three wolves when the circle of flags on string was set up.

There are many different combinations during the setting the round up string with flags. Therefore, every round up hunter should know all circumstances. The better he knows behavior of wolves and composition of the pack, the better will be set the round up circle and the hunt will be successful.

When wolves are walked around and encircled, this is still not a round up. For a successful round up hunt, the open circle should be given a shape with correct lateral sides without pockets. If the hunting is planned in the closed circle, the line of the flags ashould be also made round and withiut pockets.

To avoid to frighten the wolves prematurely during the encircling them, the round up circle should be made as wide as possible. A normal round up for the hunting with open line of shooters is a circle from 2 to 2.5 km.

If the location where wolves stop for day time is a natural habitat, such as a swamp, forest fire clearing, ravine etc., the circle may be as small as 1.5 km.

Round up hunting with open line of shooters is conducted as follows.

When wolves are encircled, hunters occupy their places designated by the ranger by the random sorting. Distance between adjacent hunters should be not less than 50-60 m. Number of shooters should be from three to ten-twelve.

Shooters are arranged in such a way so the wind would flow on them from wolves or, at least form a side. To place shooters on the road or celaring is not recomended, because wolves are very cautious on open places. It is always beneficial to place line of shooters about fifteeen-twenty steps in front of the road or clearing.

When shooters are put in place, the ranger and his assistant quietly hang the string with flags covering lateral sides of the round up. Then, they join the beaters. Number of beaters shuld be from four to ten, depneding on the width of the round up. The beaters start beating at the signal. It is not recomended to shout loudly. Talking and slightly striking trees with sticks is enough, keeping the line and intervals, the ranger and beaters walk towarsd the line of shooters.

Shooters must strictly obey rules of the round up wolf hunting.

When the round up hunting is done in the closed circle, four shooters take their positions within the circle, about ten-twelve steps ahead of line of flags and one-two beaters enter the circle and disturb the wolves forcing them to move within the encircled area. Shooting sounds tell them about wolves successfully run on shooters.

Sometimes, line of flags made disrupted with intervals about 20-30 m. Here, at 10-15 steps from the open gates the shooting hunter takes his position. Most advantage has the shooter at the entering the circle track. A agood spot for wolf shooting is an overgrown with shrubs connection between two patches of forest.

Ends of flags on string near marginal shooting hunters should be positioned not further than 40 steps from them so each of hunter could see them without turining his head.

At the stand, each hunter should remain motionless and watch for wolves without turning his head.

Sometimes, wolves appear in front of the hunter unexpectedly and quietly like shadows.

Shooting wolves during round up hunting is not considered very easy, because the shooting is done at animals running fast and at various angles. Besides, wolves are very strong being injured and often excape with two or three led pellets wounds.

The shooting should be done, when wolves are as close as possible to secure the kill. Only under this condition other wolves will scatter and get shot by other hunters.

During the second half of winter, when wolves will start mating, they often move from one place to another. At this time, the ranger should be more skillful and fast to round up the wolves, surround them with flags and drive them on the shooters.

Rules for round up wolf hunting (standard).

General rules.

1. Round up wolf hunts are conducted under leadership of a single team leader. His ordersare a must for every member of the team.
2. A leader of the round up team is chosen from among most experiences wolf hunters, who know well technique of round up hunting and can direct the hunting precedure.
3. Duties of he leader of the wolf hunt include the following.
4. He should teach members of the team wolf's biology, methods of its extermination and rules of round up wolf hunting; responsibility and discipline during the round up hunting; to observe order in the line of sharp shooters; solution of all difficult and disputable questions during the round up hunting; and preparation of reports about round up hunting.
5. The team is allowed to start its work after all its memebers had been well familiarized with practical and theoretical principles of the round up wolf hunting.
6. Each memebr of the team should have knowledge of the handling firearms, know rules of taking position in the sharp shooter line, shooting at wolves, participate in the team work and obey orders of the team leader to assure success of the round up hunt.

   Procedure of the roundup hunt.

7. The team leader or his assistent or a ranger decide how sharp shooters will be positioned in the hsooting line.
8. Every hunter should assume a position so he would know allowed angle of shooting in froont of him, have a clear view of every of adjacent sharp shooters and positon of the entire shapr shooters line.
9. Every sharp shooter takes his positon and hides himself quietly. In winter time, he should compact snow under his feet and on the bare dirt he should remove debris to avoid to make an unexpected noise later on during the hunt.
10. Loading the guns is allowed only after each sharp shooter took his position and prepared his camouflage.
11. Gunter at the shooting site must remain absolutely motionless and watch his shooting range without turning his head.
12. Shooting at the wolf withing limits of the shooting range is allowed only when it is not further than 30 m away.
13. Shooting at the wolf walking stright to the adjacent sharp hunter is prohibited. Shooting at any other than wolves game is also not allowed. Wolf injured by one hunter, but finished by the adjacent one is considered as killed by the latter one.
14. Shooting along th eline of hunters is absolutely not permissible. A shot when a bulet flew coser than 6 m from another hunter is considered as shooting along the line. A hunter, who made such a shot, is not allowed to participate in future round up wolf hunts.
15. Shooting at the wolf that run over hunter's line is allowed regardless of the distance, but not closer than 15 m from the hunters line.
16. To finish the injured wolf is allowed only while remaining on your own position and only in case, if the wolf stand on its own feet.
17. As soon as beaters approach as close as 100 m to the hunters line, the shooting inside the circle must be stopped.
18. Leaving the shooting spot is allowed only after command of the team leader.
19. When the round up is over, all hunters should unload their guns.
20. Chasing of the injured wolf is done by the ranger or by hunters appointed by the team leader.
21. Arguments in the firign line about who killed the wolf are not allowed. All conflicts are solved by the team leader in the presence of entire team.
22. Activity and direction of the round up team is done by the team leader.
23. Duties of the ranger include:
    1. To conduct the round up and determine number of wolves within the round up, set up flags and remove them with assitance of appointed for this purpose hunters;
    2. together with the team leader, he appoints hunters for the firing line and their distribution on the line. Places fo hunters on the line are determined by sortition. He is also responsible for enforcing the discipline and determines shooting sector and range for every hunter;
    3. He organizes beaters line and directs them during the round up;
    4. The ranger is responsible for storage of the hunting equipment, setting the bate, its replacement and all works necessary for the successful round up hunting.
24. The ranger is not allowed to take a place in the shooters line.
25. In the absence of the team leader, the ranger assumes command over the team.
26. Functons of the beaters, depending on the number of people, are determined by the team leader.
27. Distribution of beaters in the line and its direction is determined by the ranger.
28. Beaters should follow orders of the ranger during the round up hunt.
29. Every beater should remain at his desginated position in the chain and walking withing beaters line is allowed only to the ranger and team leader.
30. All orders along beaters chain are passed by voice in a sequence along beaters chain.
31. Beaters load their guns only by orders of the ranger.
32. Every participant of round up wolf hunting should carefully read this rules to assure order during the hunt. Lack of knowledge of rules does not make an excuse for their violations.
33. Violators of rules of round up wolf hunting are loosing their right to participate in round up wolf hunts for two years.
34. In a case, when a participant of the round up wolf hunting caused injury or life threat to another person, he becoeme liable according to the law.