Sam Houston Area Council B.S.A. Pack 505
Chartered to St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church
Houston, Texas

Here's a summary of how the Wolf program works:

• If the Cub Scout has not previously earned the Bobcat Badge, it must be earned first.
• To earn the Wolf rank a Cub Scout must complete 58 tasks out of a possible 74 tasks that are offered in the book.
• Note that these activities are primarily done at home and signed off by the parent after the boy has completed each task. The book is then shown to the Den Leader who records the progress and also signs the boy's book.
• AFTER a Wolf Cub Scout earns his Wolf Badge he may begin earning Arrow Points in the Electives section of his book.
• He may work on his Arrow Point Trail at any time, however he cannot receive Arrow Points until AFTER he has earned the Wolf Badge.
• GOLD ARROW POINT: For the FIRST 10 arrow points completed in the Electives section of his book, the Wolf Cub earns his GOLD ARROW POINT.
• SILVER ARROW POINTS: For EACH 10 arrow points completed (AFTER HE EARNS THE GOLD ARROW POINT) the Wolf Cub earns a SILVER ARROW POINT.
• He may earn any number of SILVER ARROW POINTS, but he may only earn ONE GOLD ARROW POINT for the first 10 elective points that he completes.

The boys should be able to complete the Bobcat requirements by the time of their first pack meeting, certainly no later than their second pack meeting, especially if they start working on them right away!

The boys should also be able to complete one achievement per week during the school year, which would put them on a track to receive their Wolf badges at the January pack meeting. Since this is a bit aggressive for those who did not work on anything during the preceding summer (and who therefore only start working on Bobcat in September), try to ensure that everyone finishes up his Wolf requirements by the time of the March pack meeting. Recall that there are no rank advancements at February's Blue and Gold Banquet.

The following Wolf achievements can successfully be worked on during Den meetings: Feats of Skill, Your Flag, Tools for Fixing and Building, Start a Collection (this is always a fun "show and tell" meeting), and Cooking and Eating. The remaining achievements are more successfully worked on at home.

The online Pack 505 Library contains links to the Bobcat requirements and a set of Wolf helps, as well as an extensive set of Leader Resource links. The Wolf Helps page, in turn, contains links to the Wolf achievement and elective requirements, as well as a growing set of links organized by activity badge. By all means, if you come across any links you find helpful, please contact the webmaster to have them added to the list!

Finally, even though the boys cannot receive arrow points until they have earned their Wolf badge, they can still work on them during the summer and fall. By the time of the first den meeting of the new school year they may already have completed some of these requirements: Spare Time Fun, Books, Foot Power, Outdoor Adventure (note req't f: "Take part in two summertime pack events with your den" and req't g: "Point out poisonous plants" ... Boy Scout Troop 505's web site has photos of poison oak growing in West U!), Fishing, and Sports.