Hunting Wolves on the Frozen River at Medved-Taiga (Siberia)

The frozen river on the side of the Medved-Taiga map, the Siberian reserve, with its icebergs, is one of our favourite places to hunt wolves. In places it widens out and looks like a bay, but it is a river. The ice is flat and open, so you see a pack long before it sees you. The catch is distance. These two screenshots from our own save show both halves of it: a pack standing on the ice after dark, and a wolf drinking at 230 to 320 m.

The binocular panel: Gray wolf, Drinking, Calm, level 6 - Hard, 230 to 320 m. Our dog idles at our side After dark through the binoculars: a pack standing on the open ice, one wolf outlined

Screenshots from our own save. Tap any image to enlarge.

What the Screenshots Show

• The drinking wolf. The binocular panel reads Gray wolf, Drinking, Calm, 6 - HARD with a distance band of 230 to 320 m. Calm means it has not noticed us. Level 6 is Hard; the gray wolf’s maximum is level 10 (Fabled), so this was not a top-level animal.
• The pack after dark. At least three wolves stand on the open ice, one of them outlined. The prompts at the bottom left are the binocular controls: R places a waypoint, the mouse wheel zooms and a third prompt resets the zoom.
• The dog. The night screenshot shows our dog heeling; in the drinking-wolf screenshot it is idling beside us while we glass. Our wolf hunting guide explains why the dog matters: it warns you when a threat is close.

When Wolves Are on the River

Here is our need-zone data for gray wolves on Medved-Taiga:

The panel’s Drinking state in the drinking-wolf screenshot is what you are waiting for in the evening. Be in place before 17:00. After 20:00 the pack is feeding and moving, which is the other good window, and the one our night screenshot comes from.

How We Work the Frozen River

• Glass first, from the edge. Binoculars tell you the species, what it is doing, whether it is calm, its level and a distance band, all without alerting it. Do this before you take a step out.
• Drop a waypoint on the pack. Press R in the binoculars so you can find the spot again if they move.
• Read the level before you shoot. Wolves go up to level 10 and a diamond needs a high level. Our database puts the gray wolf’s gold line at 36 and diamond at 39; our own two lodge wolves came in at 37.6 and 38, 1.4 and 1.0 short of diamond. See them in our trophy lodge walkthrough. A level 6 wolf is a fine wolf, but it is not the one to hold out for if you want diamond.
• Do not take a 300 m shot because it is there. A 230 to 320 m band is a long way for a clean kill. Wait for them to come closer, or call them in from the ice: our wolf hunting guide covers the predator call, the rifle and the .357 we keep for self-defence if the pack comes for us.
• Nothing hides on the ice, and neither do you. The same open ground that shows you the wolves shows them you. Stay low, keep the dog calm, keep still while they are drinking and use the icebergs where they give you cover.

Screenshots from our own save. Need-zone times, levels and trophy lines come from our database and can change with patches. Written October 2026. See the gray wolf guide and our Medved-Taiga map.