[IdahoDoug]

With all the articles recently about the wolves in my area, I have been wondering how difficult one would be to kill. I'm not a hunter and carry in the woods strictly for self defense. My impression is that animals are kinda in two categories for how hard to take down they are. Things like coyote, fox, lynx, bobcat, mountain lions and other animals whose bodies use lighter bones are in one category (lets call them Bs). Creatures like bears, moose and other large ungulates are in the heavier category because they have massive bones, tough hides, layers of fat and/or muscle - let's call them As.

Ballistically, the A group needs a large, heavy fast moving round of a harder material to penetrate enough to do damage, and also to break a bone if it hits one trying to get to the vitals. The B group has bodies more akin to a human, which leaves them vulnerable to a smaller round.

It seems to me that wolves would be at or near the top of the A group, but not heavily built enough to warrant the larger rounds, and this is where I'm looking for opinions.

To frame the opinions, I have a 9mm which I carry hot rounds in that hit as hard as a .45 round and it carries 16 rounds full up. These rounds do well in the statistics for one shot stops from law enforcement. I also have a .44 which carries only 5 rounds full up - it's designed to be light for backpacking. Which would you guys carry if you were worried about a wolf attack while hiking with your family?

My first impression is that the 9 would bring down a wolf, which could be argued to have the ballistic challenge of a small man wearing winter clothing. Even a big wolf would only go 130lbs or so. Since wolves travel in groups of what - 8 or 10? - I would definitely value a bunch of rounds if I literally found myself being confronted by wolves. Sure, the .44 would provide the stopping power but I think the high capacity 9 would be my choice for repeat accurate shots of multiple moving targets. What do you guys think?

Finally, anyone know if the Hollywood movies are accurate that when confronted by a pack it's best to go after the alpha male first? In the movies, this makes the rest of the pack run off with their tails between their legs - heh.

DougM