An Oregonian from Canada about wolves

I have lived in the state of Oregon for the past 10 years. I spent the first 40 years of my life living in Saskatchewan (where I was born and raised). I have been an avid hunter and fisherman all my life, and have had some experience with wolves that I feel I should share.

During the last 15 years of my residency in Canada, I mostly hunted the northern provincial forests of Saskatchewan for moose, elk, and deer. Wolves are a natural part of this region, although I don’t believe you will find many of the residents of Northern Saskatchewan that think they are much of an asset. Most of the farmers and ranchers that reside near the northern forest are more than willing to tell stories of livestock and pets that have been killed by the packs of wolves that stray out into the farm land. They must be extremely cautious of where their children are at all times. They will also tell of the deer, elk and moose wolf kills they come across on their property and the surrounding crown lands. I have not met one of these farmers or ranchers that will not tell you to shoot any wolf on site.

I know from personal experience what a pack of wolves will do to the resident game population; they move them out! When a wolf pack hits an area on it’s territorial rounds, the rest of the animals disappear. Within a day of hearing the “beautiful sound of the wolf”, one will be hard pressed to find a deer or moose track anywhere in the area. They do not return until some time after the wolves have left. Not all get away, though. After the wolf pack had gone, it was not uncommon to find 2 or 3 “kill sites” in the area where I was hunting. Most of these were deer, but moose were not safe, either.

I know there are few “documented” cases of wolves attacking people, but there are many undocumented stories. I am confident they will attack human beings, and have pretty good reason to believe it.

On a moose hunt in Northern Saskatchewan, I was returning to camp late one morning when I came upon a wolf on the trail that appeared to be “mousing”. I shot the wolf and dragged him off the trail to be picked up later, and continued towards camp. I had not walked very far when I heard the rest of the pack howling mournfully. I thought it strange, but continued on my way.

The old logging trail I was on paralleled a frozen beaver pond for several yards. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a wolf cross a beaver dam, and he was headed in my direction. Then I saw another. By the time the third one was crossing the dam, I had my rifle shouldered, and shot him. I then shot the fourth one as he crested the dam. After this, there were wolves scattering in all directions, and heading into the timber. I am not sure how many there were in that pack, but I know it was in excess of 10. Now I was spooked, to say the least! I gathered my wits, and continued my trek toward camp.

After walking another ½ mile after I had shot the last two wolves, I looked ahead of me, and saw another wolf standing in the middle of the trail! I took the rifle off my shoulder, but never got a shot at him…he disappeared into the heavy timber. When I got to the spot on the trail where I had seen him, there were several wolf tracks in the snow. It appeared the entire pack had circled around to the front of me, in spite of all the shooting that I had been doing in their direction! I was still about a mile from camp, and it may have been the longest mile I have ever walked. My rifle was not put back on my shoulder, and the safety was not engaged, either. Although I never saw them again, we heard the mournful howls for most of that afternoon.

After some research, and many questions, on what had happened, I believe I really upset the pack. The first wolf I shot (a large male in the 120-130 lb. range) was likely the alpha male. The rest of the pack was probably not far away, and finding their male leader dead, decided to see what had killed him. I am not saying they were out for vengeance, but who knows? I know the whole incident was more than a little unnerving!

So, with this little knowledge I have gained over the years, I really do not want to see wolves in Oregon. The elk and deer populations are dwindling now and their herds will do nothing more than continue their demise with the introduction of these canines into the wild. The will show up in Oregon, but I truly believe they need to be closely monitored and managed. Otherwise, this will become a “fishing only” message board.

 

In the civilized globalist future, humans do not "hunt" for their food --they receive their ration cards according to individual need and buy the food on electronic credits provided by corporate employers who also run their beloved society.

 

What food are they going to get with the ration cards? Embossing plastic does not harvest the meat; someone, or something is going to have to kill, skin, hang and butcher. Well, there's soy, but embossing plastic doesn't harvest that, either. (I get your point, really.)

 

In the brilliant and wonderful future, all food is farmed in large factories, processed expediently, and genetically modified to inhibit the diseases typically associated with close proximity farming. Naturally, we must curb the climbing fatality rate of our people by restricting them to their biologically pristine domiciles, which are conveniently 12'x8' --the perfect size to promote harmony and well being. Couples may have access to each other during state authorized visits, but they must be walked through the friendly decontamination process prior to re-engaging their own germ-free domiciles. Of course, if they did not produce enough with their labor, authorized visits will be cancelled.