Stinkin' Wolves
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 3:15 am
Just a note to let you guys know that we had three dogs killed by wolves less than two miles outside of Libby on Saturday the 2nd. We cold trailed a tom all morning thinking the track was fresher than it was. It went towards the wilderness and when it came back we followed it on sleds for over a mile. At this point we had caught the dogs and thought it was pretty hot by the way they were rolling. It was three o'clock and we were staring into a big nasty drainage with restricted access on the other side. Five wolves had come out the day before and had moved south so we took a chance that we soon would regret. They rolled down into the bottom and we waited to hear the tree. They started to climb up,up over the top of the next ridge. At this point we split up. Todd, Scott, Ryker and Clyde sledded to the house and hopped in my truck and rushed through town to try to get to the dogs. John and I went back to load our sleds and meet the other guys at the gated road. I shuttled guys in and they started snowshoeing in to the dogs. They were spread out in a triangle pattern about 400 to 500 yards apart. The snow was deep and steep climbing made it a tough go. When Todd called me right at dark I was worried because the dogs were not moving and we never heard them bark since we left the other side at three o'clock.
Todd said he had found Sadie and she was killed by wolves. He started trying to make his way to Clyde's redbone, Dan when his light went dim. Then wolves lit up the night. It souded like fifty of them and they were close. At this point it was clear that we were too late. The next day, the five of us plus two good friends Gerry and his son, George showshoed in and recovered the bodies. Sadie was the first we found. She was stiff and bitten but not torn up. The we found Dan and he was in similar condition. We wrapped them up and strapped them on packframes. Roy had made it to the creek bottom before they over took him, he was opened up and some of his insides were were eaten. They must have yarded the hide off of him and ate it. I could not even help take his collars off. I am thankful to my friends who wrapped him up and packed him out. I will be posting some pictures tomorrow. I have real mixed feelings about showing our dead dogs so that may take some time. I plan on giving each dog a tribute with a photos detailing a few of the adventures we had with them. This was not how I planned on getting out of hounds, but I must admit the fear this might happed became so great in me that I refused to raise any pups the last five years. Between the wolf threat and losing my hunting partner, I do not have the desire to do this like I used to. I still have a couple of old dogs and if I get a fresh track in a safer place I may finish out the season with a couple more toms, but gone are the days of raising and training pups, catching fourty or fifty lions a year. Gone are the days when a man could put his dog on a two day old track and hear him grub for miles, and not worry himself sick where he might end up.Dan was 7 and Roy was 10 1/2, but Sadie was young and just reaching her prime. She had reached the point where she could lead a pack, catching bobcats with ease. She belonged to a fourteen year old boy that beamed when his dad would send pictures of the latest bobcat that fell from a tree. You guys will get to know more about these dogs in the future. Maybe not the best there ever was, but they sure showed us a great time.
Todd said he had found Sadie and she was killed by wolves. He started trying to make his way to Clyde's redbone, Dan when his light went dim. Then wolves lit up the night. It souded like fifty of them and they were close. At this point it was clear that we were too late. The next day, the five of us plus two good friends Gerry and his son, George showshoed in and recovered the bodies. Sadie was the first we found. She was stiff and bitten but not torn up. The we found Dan and he was in similar condition. We wrapped them up and strapped them on packframes. Roy had made it to the creek bottom before they over took him, he was opened up and some of his insides were were eaten. They must have yarded the hide off of him and ate it. I could not even help take his collars off. I am thankful to my friends who wrapped him up and packed him out. I will be posting some pictures tomorrow. I have real mixed feelings about showing our dead dogs so that may take some time. I plan on giving each dog a tribute with a photos detailing a few of the adventures we had with them. This was not how I planned on getting out of hounds, but I must admit the fear this might happed became so great in me that I refused to raise any pups the last five years. Between the wolf threat and losing my hunting partner, I do not have the desire to do this like I used to. I still have a couple of old dogs and if I get a fresh track in a safer place I may finish out the season with a couple more toms, but gone are the days of raising and training pups, catching fourty or fifty lions a year. Gone are the days when a man could put his dog on a two day old track and hear him grub for miles, and not worry himself sick where he might end up.Dan was 7 and Roy was 10 1/2, but Sadie was young and just reaching her prime. She had reached the point where she could lead a pack, catching bobcats with ease. She belonged to a fourteen year old boy that beamed when his dad would send pictures of the latest bobcat that fell from a tree. You guys will get to know more about these dogs in the future. Maybe not the best there ever was, but they sure showed us a great time.