I think the most important things for dealing with accidental encounters with wolves are:
1) Always check your six (with the 180 degree turn).
2) When wolf makes sneak attack on you they attack your neck. Always wear all the neck armor you have in any situation you think you might run into wolf in.
3) Don't use pets aside dogs, the rest aggro wolves unerringly. Three to four big or regular dogs make for reasonable team of haulers.
When actually going to hunt wolves:
1) Armor up. And definitely at least mail cowl, cloth cowl (preferably two) and fur hood. Aside that, try to get at least circa 10 tear resistance in every other body part, preferably more.
2) Leave unessential items (water, food, tool axes etc.) elsewhere since you'll be more encumbered than during your typical hunt and wolves are more flighty than bears so you'll end up chasing them more.
3) Patience, my strategy at least is to bring their mobility down with damage and then chase them. Unlike with elks and reindeer I won't be ever bringing one down unless I got it cripple or limp from damage first before chasing it breathless.
4) Always check your six. Even when your are chasing a fleeing wolf down and you think you might be well away from rest of the pack, check your rear from time to time.
5) Consider leaving your dogs elsewhere (tied to a tree on nearby marked tile for example) when going to hunt. They are all but useless at protecting your ass and when they get aggroed they'll just run themselves breathless in the leash. A breathless dog is just giving a fresh wolf opportunity for easy kill.
6) You normally should avoid conifer forests and spruce mires when hunting, but with wolves you'll want to simply stay away as the low visibility can lead to nasty surprises.
7) Don't process the carcass on site of the kill. Either pick it up and carry it elsewhere or go fetch your dogs (a big dog is useful here) and pack it on them. Not a bad idea to ignore the big wolves since they are more of a hassle to carry. Or go kill them last once you have taken down rest of the pack.
Wolf hunting is bit different than regular hunting so it's nice change of pace and I don't think it's any more dangerous than bear hunting if you are careful. I never specifically trap wolves, so for me it's either active hunting or one walking into my lynx/wolverine traps. Too bad the otherwise decently valuable hides have habit of getting bit worn in the process, especially since I don't feel like pulling punches (or axe blows) with them.
EDIT: I lost a few dogs clearing the villages when they got injured and ran away. I have also lost dogs hunting, but mostly they seem to find their way home eventually.
I once nearly lost a dog simply because it decided to go to sleep in middle of a chase. Luckily once I noticed this I was able to backtrack the tracks of the animal I was chasing (since my other dogs and PC didn't leave any) and find the sleeping dog. Had to abort the hunt though.
Topic: Is it viable to use a pack of dogs for taking down Njerpez and robbers? (Read 26381 times)