DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,505
- 6,518
Shades of NatGeo Wild! I managed to get out for my final evening of whitetail hunting this fall. The temperature had hovered around 4 C all day. As I reached the hunting area, temperatures were somewhat lower, but still above zero. I saw a few mule deer feeding, and continued on into the area I had hunted so diligently earlier in the week. I only have about two hours before darkness descended. I made it into the copse of trees I had made my home on a previous hunt before tagging a mule deer, and settled in. I noted that the wind was picking up, blowing from the north. I began to see a few snow flakes. I hoped that the deer would opt to feed in light of an approaching blizzard. However, after an hour and a half, no deer had moved into the area. Just as I was about to move away and into another position, I noted a cow moose coming out of the trees south of my position. She stood watching and testing the wind for several minutes before she began pacing back and forth in front of the treeline. Suddenly, she bolted to the northeast, running diagonally in front of me. I concluded that somehow she had winded me despite my precautions. However, she didn't run from me; her path actually brought her from 250 yards away to a point that she crossed about 80 yards in front of me. I silently watched as I was still hoping I would see some deer move out of those same trees. The cow continued moving until I could just see her directly to the east of my position. She stopped, looking behind the trees where I was situated, before wheeling and running full tilt to the east. It was at that point that I saw a large, black dog bounding around the cow. Not a sound was made as both cow and "dog" ran out of my line of sight. Suddenly, it hit me, I was watching a wolf attack. I hustled out of the trees, trying to get a fix on the wolf. He herded the cow into the trees to the north of my position and neither was seen again. Ol' Mike was asleep at the switch. I've watched the videos on National Geographic Wild and on the Discovery Channel, but I had never watched this up close. These critters were only about forty yards from my hide. Had I not been so slow, I could have broken up the attack. I suspect the wolf moved her into an ambush. I know there is a pack of wolves in this area, as I've often cut their tracks. Others have told me they had seen them, including a large black wolf. I kicked myself all the way home; bounty on wolves in that area is now $650 and the hides will fetch a premium as well. Still, it was neat to witness this, if only in a fleeting sense. Oh, I was skunked on whitetail, as well.
