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The hunter being interviewed made sure he added “I feared for my life” to the story.
Hmmm...
I wonder how wolf burgers would taste.
The Spokane WA paper reported wolf attacks many years ago. I remember one story of two little boys, I think 8-10 years old were attacked, killed, and eaten by a wolf pack, sometime in the 1930s.
When I’m in remote Oregon woods, I pack a 9 with 16+1 and w 2 extra magazines. Not a long or big gun. Lots of rounds, though. Wolves, bear, coyote, cougar, drug grow operations, etc.
Likely the first few humans that wolves take will just be reported missing.
They reproduce quickly, and travel widely. 20 miles a day is not extreme for them. In ten years, the 12 that were reintroduced into Yellowstone had grown to around 1,500, and spread to the surrounding States - hundreds of miles in every direction.
From Wikipedia (Wolf Attacks on Humans):
“Habituation
Wolf attacks are more likely to happen when preceded by a long period of habituation, during which wolves gradually lose their fear of humans. This was apparent in cases involving habituated North American wolves in Algonquin Provincial Park, Vargas Island Provincial Park and Ice Bay, as well as 19th century cases involving escaped captive wolves in Sweden and Estonia.
Seasonality
Predatory attacks can occur at any time of the year, with a peak in the June–August period, when the chances of people entering forested areas (for livestock grazing or berry and mushroom picking) increase, though cases of non-rabid wolf attacks in winter have been recorded in Belarus, the Kirovsk and Irkutsk districts, in Karelia, and in Ukraine. Wolves with pups experience greater food stresses during this period.
Victim age and gender
A worldwide 2002 study by the Norwegian Institute of Nature Research showed that 90% of victims of predatory attacks were children under the age of 18, especially under the age of 10. In the rare cases where adults were killed, the victims were almost always women. This is consistent with wolf hunting strategies, wherein the weakest and most vulnerable categories of prey are targeted. Aside from their physical inferiority, children were historically more vulnerable to wolves as they were more likely to enter forests unattended to pick berries and mushrooms, as well as tend and watch over cattle and sheep on pastures. While these practices have largely died out in Europe, they are still the case in India, where numerous attacks have been recorded in recent decades. Further reason for the vulnerability of children is the fact that some may mistake wolves for dogs and thus approach them.”
and:
“In France, historical records compiled by rural historian Jean-Marc Moriceau indicate that during the period 1362–1918, nearly 7,600 people were killed by wolves, of whom 4,600 were killed by non-rabid wolves.” - almost one a month from non-rabid wolves - and that is just what was documented and had the records survive.
“Between April 1989 to March 1995, wolves killed 92 people in southern Bihar” (State in India). ...”Experts in India use the term “child lifting” to describe predatory attacks in which the animal silently enters a hut while everyone is sleeping, picks up a child, often with a silencing bite to the mouth and nose, and carries a child off by the head. Such attacks typically occur in local clusters, and generally do not stop until the wolves involved are eliminated.”
“The first fatal attack (in North America) in the 21st century occurred on November 8, 2005, when a young man was killed by wolves that had been habituated to people in Points North Landing, Saskatchewan, Canada while on March 8, 2010, a young woman was killed while jogging near Chignik, Alaska.”
First time in my life I have seen a wolf in the wild
While I could care less if he shot a wolf his story did sound a little fishy. I was born in Oregon and hunted the Blue Mountains/Umatilla National forest for both Elk and Mule Deer. Never seen a wold but did have a couple of run in’s with bears, never had to fire a shot. First was him hunting out in the open. You hunt the opening from the edge of the tree’s not out in it. The parks or open area’s are where they will travel to and feed early mornings and evenings. You always sit back in the cover and watch the parks. The fact that he only fired one round sound fishy since most who claim to fear for their life would have unloaded on the whole bunch. My uncle killed 3 out of 5 one morning in the Big Sinks when he came across a pack. After his so called threat of attack by one of 3 wolves coming towards him he only fired one round and then waited to get back into the timber to cycle another round? Doesn’t sound like a man in fear of his life. With that said the whole story may be true, people responds strangely when threatened. Personally I would have tried to shoot all 3 of them and kept my mouth shut. I’m the same way with coyotes, here in West Texas we shoot every damn one we see. I average 50 to 80 a year on the big ranch and stopped counting feral hog’s years ago, another creature that doesn’t need to exist.
Time to make Oregon a Wolf sanctuary. Reparations are definitely in order. Medford would make a great wolf park.
If you would like more information about what's happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me.