Got Turkeys?

[longrangehunter]

Got Turkeys here yesterday....... only to watch them run off from the Wolf that liked them too!

Funny how out of the left corner of my eye I saw this almost all white Wolf come running in after I wondered why the Turkeys are running away like that. Oh, he was nice and Big, looked like a real keeper? Pretty coat, now if only I could have put him down, but sadly not so fast....... the season ended two days ago!

Funny how those things happen. Again.

 

[longrangehunter]

Just not on Private Land! Ha..... But the guy behind the gun couldn't get it done at 50 yards! I ran outside in my bare feet with the M4, saw him standing broadside on the other side of the ditch line berm looking East towards which direction the Turkeys may have gone. Well long story short his back line had the berm covering half of him so I aimed for his head! I rushed the shot and off he went running back from the direction in which he came from. I managed to get two more shots off, the second running shot looked like it might have hit him, but I never found any blood.

Zuri and I went out there after a 1/2 hour just in case I had connected with him and let him stiffen up a bit, but never found anything. I could smell him where he ran off into the woods after running down the trail I have as a fire break, but it is so dense looking for him involves searching in thick dense forest where visibility in no more the 25 yards or less.

I'm going to give it another go in a bit after I get some food in me. Damn, that is so rare to see these guys and once again nothing to show for it....... I hadn't even had a cup of coffee in me before this all went down.

 

[DrMike]

Yeah, those wolves sure don't give you a second chance. Hey, maybe the turkeys will come back to give you a show, though they can make themselves pretty scarce after being scattered.

 

[longrangehunter]

Zuri and I just got back in and no luck finding anything. She did get hot on the trail for a bit but that quickly turned into going know where.

Ya, that's really too bad, it's not often to have a Wolf in your sights that close and end up with a big fat Zero! A 12 ga. with 000 buck shot would have worked better? I had no time to grab a rifle or the shotgun from the gun safe, so the M4 was the only option. Honestly, I hate that gun! Every time I grab it to go after a Coyote I end up with nothing, the trigger sucks and the return spring is so violent moving the action back to battery it's no wonder I hate it......... but for some reason when I do test it off hand on the 8" steel I somehow manage to hit what I'm aiming at!

That's the second time I've seen him in two weeks Mike. The last time was at 1735 yards away, so I can't say that was going to go anywhere. This morning I should have had a wolf down but it just wasn't meant to be!

 

[longrangehunter]

Well Zuri and I spent a few hours looking around for the wolf and no luck finding him yesterday. Hard to say whether or not I connected with him? I use a 77 gr. OTM Berger in the M4 and have zero experience with that bullet on game animals, the gun is more for personal protection since I live out in BFE. I even test fired it on a piece of 8" steel about an hour after my mistaken adventure and I had no problem hitting it 35 yards away. Although after looking back from the direction in which I saw the animal and tried hitting it, it was more like 85 yards away. Still rather close to miss but stranger things have been known to happen.

Yesterday was my Fathers birthday, he would have been 98 had he still been alive. Made me wonder about it's appearance, the wolf that is, and whether of not it had some meaning, or just dumb luck and not thinking through the proper thought process in my window of opportunity? A window that as time passes tends to either get worse or possibly get better and your actions will determine the outcome?

The day my Father had passed away, which was pre-planed since he was terminally ill with a rare blood disorder holds a special meaning to me, not in his death but the one I'm about to share. His Doctor had said within a week he would just fall asleep and pass without much harm. Any way later that afternoon I decided I go out deer hunting on the property my Father and I were developing. I was pretty upset and while up in a tree with my Bow and Arrow I had a personal chat with God..... I asked him "if you are whom you say you are bring me a Deer as grand and as great as my Father" with tears in my eyes.

Only a few minutes had passed and I look up to see this huge 10 pt. deer with the widest rack of any deer I had ever seen walking into my direction! I thought to myself know way could this be a fluke and had to ask myself this question? "Do I shoot this animal that had been brought to me by God"? Mind you this deer was looking right at me and I thought well, is this a gift or a sign of respect, and the choice I had to make?

I did put an arrow down range but a branch cause the arrow to dive down and just remove an piece of hair off his front leg! I hunted that animal many times after that, and only saw him one other time with a limp a few days after my mistake.

The next year I had a buck come back in around the time of my Fathers death. This guy came in looking through all the trees and branches right at me, and made it very clear to stand behind a thick entanglement of Grape Vine that stretched up into the trees around there. I knew it was that same Buck and he knew I couldn't fling an arrow at him this time....... I watch him slip away and never saw that deer again but in my heart I knew what it meant to me.

The day my Father passed away I had been sitting on my Fathers bedside only to watch the last breath leave his body forever. He was just not my Father but a friend whom I respected more then anyone I've ever met. He taught me so much about life and right from wrong and my relationship with God. I was fortunate enough to know as a young kid my Father would not be around forever and to learn everything I could from him while he was alive on Earth. I'm glad I had the foresight to have spent that time with him only because our time together was very short in terms of having a dad around.

The life of the dead can only live in the memory of the living. We actually die twice, once when our soul leaves our body and lastly when know one else remembers us and our name is never spoken again or talked about. I often wondered whom would show up at my funeral after I die? But honestly does it really matter, sure it does. My Father always used to say "heaven and hell are here on Earth"? But when I do leave this place we all call Earth the one person I'll hope to see is my Father, as well as my Lord Jesus Christ whom makes all things possible, here and in the after life.

I have been very lucky to have the life I have and have been given, one I thank God for having everyday. Life has a way of humbling us. For me this mistake is a lesson learned and one in which will take a long time to get over and ponder why did this happen and not have the outcome I had hoped for, and has an easy answer.... I didn't think it through enough to produce a 100% success. Instead I acted in haste which provided me with this ill mistake and outcome. Sometimes we all want what we can't have, and our mistakes only prove that. For the lack of judgement or there of is my mistake. One in which I will reflect upon only so that I may better achieve what I set out to do or accomplish later in life. Or if I have another chance at taking a Wolf again, only time will tell.

That was a gift to have been given even though I had been hunting for game animals in hopes of seeing a Wolf come for its food. How else would you hunt such an animal that is so hard to find, and yet I had one fall into my lab at a time when they can only be taken on private land. A gift from an unlikely source but one in which I believe in. Is it by luck or fate, or neither, and just being in the right place at the right time? That split second, after all, that's about the time frame to have seen it run by. Or else I more then likely would have never seen it, unless it came walking back in the direction in which it had come from?

With that said I'll only ask you to ask yourself, what do you believe in? And I'm not looking for your answer to spell out on here, and I hope you don't! But that you keep it to yourself and ask yourself that question as often as you feel necessary when the time arises.

Take care you guys and enjoy your day with your family, friends and loved ones this Easter. I hope whatever you believe in brings the answers to the questions you have? Whether or not they were heaven sent on the wings of angles........ they are yours to keep.

 

[longrangehunter]

The error of what I thought I was seeing and what I perceived, is the error of my mistake.

I walked out to from where I was basically standing and looked into the direction of where I thought I was looking at the wolf, and walked into that direction. It became clear to me the error of what I thought I was seeing and what was actually the case.

Bushes have a way of making things appear one way and then when you think about the second in your mind and the sight picture at the shot what do you remember? I remember looking through something but was so dead eyed on putting a bullet in that wolf I didn't comprehend it until just now.

 

[longrangehunter]

Here's a better look at the brush and what is the only explanation for what could have gone so horribly wrong in my mistake at the time.

I was hoping the trail camera had picked up the wolf chasing off the Turkeys and it running back in the direction it had come from, but the camera only picked up me bolting out the door across the patio pavers and out of view and then running back after the wolf towards the front of the house. The entire elapsed time from the door opening, me running into position and back was 1 minute. Not a lot of time. It's too bad the trail camera didn't pick it up as the scene played out as that would have been worth more then anything as of now since I have only a brief moment of time in my head of what took place.

I suppose at least now I have an answer to what went wrong, but doesn't sit well with me thinking I could have had a beautiful wolf pelt hanging right now!

Update:No the real reason for missing that wolf was that God was looking out for me. Only to save myself from the outcome of what ended up happening the following week....... that my friends is the power of what works around us that we don't see, or are we aware of? Only after your one free get out of jail card that something takes place do you see the true meaning of it!

Now if I only had caught my mistake or hadn't been so persistent or I really love this one! The F&G officer I contacted reminded me...... Are you sure you have a 2015 Wolf hunting license? That might have helped a bunch!

 

[longrangehunter]

Walked outside with Zuri so she could go to the bathroom. I looked out down the road to see this Wolf looking back at me and not in a big hurry to leave......... bad for her, but good in a way, one less female Wolf.

She's old, worn teeth and not that big, but a Wolf no less. Not really hunting, shot it out the window, went for the safe shot, behind the shoulder......

Last night I had about a dozen Elk out in my field at 5:30-6:30 PM along with a few Whitetail Deer and a Turkey........ when I walked out there with Zuri to look at the Wolf, and deer was standing in the field. There was a good chance another Wolf was on the other side hoping to push them her way but hard to say........ I should have looked around but I didn't bring my gun with me and it was beginning to pour rain.

Update: the rain has turned to heavy wet snow.

 

[DrMike]

Great shot, Kevin. Always gratifying to tag such a wary quarry. Congratulations.

 

[longrangehunter]

Thanks Mike. Yesterday was a tough day for me spending it alone. Went to church, watched the Bible on the History channel all day and thought about what the meaning of life is? I'm not proud about killing something but glad to get it, (them) off my property, but glad to have thought it through more this time..... I had it all planed out in my head this time....... funny thing is Mike, it was like it was planned from a script in my head and came true!

Odd as that may seem, not really, not in my mind believe it or not.

 

[DrMike]

I have great respect for wolves. They are a worthy quarry for the ethical hunter. It is always a thrill to see them in the wild; to drop one is exceptional.

 

[longrangehunter]

Nothing special about it.

 

[Guy Miner]

Well congratulations!

I would dearly love to take a wolf with my rifle! Someday...

Guy

 

[DrMike]

We need a good shot of Zuri with the wolf! Sounds as if she has done her part in keeping the wolf at bay.

 

[longrangehunter]

So after the picture taking I got around to picking up the animal and putting in the truck to take to the IDFG. I couldn't get over the color of what looked just like a Coyote, small frame, small ears and short tail, but the head of a Wolf and the feet to match. Oh, this animal also had no toes on the right rear leg which had healed over very well so it seems to have been trapped in a leg hold trap at one time and chewed and/or sliced off the toes to live through that episode. She was very old, but I wont know the age or the DNA of the animal for at least 6 months but this is a Coyote/Wolf Hybrid animal or some Hybrid Dog mix that maybe someone had let go? My opinion is the Coyote/Wolf mix.

As far as Zuri goes she is protective in the back country and around here, but I don't think she would have faired very well had she bolted after this Wolf/Coyote Hybrid that was 25-35 yards away at the time. But maybe, Zuri weights almost 80 lbs. this animal weighted 87 lbs. but kills and eats animals on a daily basis and I know a female Wolf wouldn't like some black bitch Lab in her face, hence why I killed it in the first place.

Well that's it for now and since this is not the big White Wolf I had seen four days ago I'm sure I have not seen the last of them around here.

 

[Vince]

Congrats on putting that wolf where it belongs.

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