Saturday Morning Wolf Excitement

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The Ekins are a family of four with a 5 year old son, and 3 year old daughter living close to Hamilton Montana. They have 3 hunting dogs that stay in the backyard, and the kids love going from the front to the back with the dogs. Now the children may not be allowed that kind of freedom.

Saturday morning at 5 am the family was awoken when all three of the hunting dogs started barking. "The sound just exploded from our backyard," Sarah said. "It sounded like they thought their lives were going to come to an end." Jason and Sarah went to see what was going on. One of the dogs was now yelping like he had been hurt. They saw something that looked like a large black dog by the trees. Jason thought it was a wolf and asked Sarah to get his gun, as the wolf retreated.

As Jason went out on the second floor deck with his rifle, the wolf returned, unfazed by Jason's presence. The wolf appeared to be going after the injured dog that was hiding in his dog house. When the wolf gave Jason a clear shot, he took it. The wolf died 34 yards away from the family's home, according to The Missoulian.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Warden Lou Royce said the shooting was justified. "Under state and federal law, he's covered," Royce said. "He was defending his dog's life." Neighbors have called to thank Jason for taking care of the wolf, there have been reports of lost pets in the neighborhood. It is a bit unusual for wolves to be this close to city limits.


ndemiter's picture

maybe this is a clear case of

maybe this is a clear case of "too little, too late" maybe the federal government should have given management to the states earlier before this sort of thing happened.

i've said this from the beginning of the wolf debates, but you cannot force someone to accept something they don't want. and people in wyoming and montana don't want wolves. they have a reason for it, just like the hippies have a reason for wanting them to come back to their native regions.

our civilization dominates the world landscape. we don't have the territory available to allow wolves to exist in the lower 48. the "wilderness" we have left is a joke. in my opinion, if you're less than a 3 hour walk to civilization, it's just rural, not wilderness. most of the "wilderness" lies close to paved road or close to city outskirts where these wolves are frequenting.

i read this article when i heard that the wolves were delisted. initially the big ruckass was about the wolves in the rockies, but the northern great lakes regions are suffering more than the rockies, and have been for some time i understand.

i frequently read complaints from minnesotans about the lack of wolf managment, and i wondered how long it would take for them to get on board with a management strategy.

i'm super glad this came this year, but my favorite area to mule-deer hunt in wyoming was the copper mountains of wyoming, which were hit hard by 3 adult wolves last year. i saw very little game there. maybe only 10% of what i used to see in the same amount iof time. i understand that there have also been hard winters and draught to contend with, but that's what's forcing the wolves to expand their territory. this is why i've decided to hunt utah instead. i'd rather take the time and apply for a good unit than choose between general units in wyoming wich offer few deer or low trophy quality.

hunter25's picture

This article makes it clear

This article makes it clear that the wolf delisting is coming at a very good time as cases like this one are becoming all to common. It's good to see that this case was ruled as completely justified with no problems for the homeowner. His quick thinking and having a firearm available to protect his home and family definately saved the day. Hopefully with the delisting and reduction of the wolf packs soon they will once again begin to have a greater fear of man and situations like this one will become less common. Wish I could get up there and draw a tag myself as killing a wolf is a goal of mine but the cost of a Canadian hunt gets expensive really fast. It would be nice to be able to shoot them like coyotes when you happen upon them by chance while hunting something else or our calling them in.