So I stumbled across this video on Facebook yesterday evening, (been doing a lot of stumbling!) and took a moment to watch and listen to the guy.
> Video Here <
"so here is the story. we are pissed to say the least. we find a nice cat track this AM. Turned out our jump dog (our pride and joy=sadie) I put sam on a lead and a buddy brings his young dog in as well. Sadie goes in a 1/4 mile and starts really hammerin down the track. so we get about a mile from the truck and things start heating up so i let sam go to sadie and my buddy cuts his loose. sam gets in with sadie they make a circle and screaming, i figured its jumped but my buddys dog didnt really go witch is weird for him. all of sudden treed. i told nick something is wrong sam don't bark like that. all of sudden sadie takes off and moving. so we run twards sam cant hear him, nicks dog comes to us screaming like ive never heard out of dog. Then the wolf right on his ass he gets to twenty yards and turned and belined. So now i go to sam and he is completey dead. Sadie is 230 yds and still barking and moving so i run to her leashed her up(still chasing the cat) then realize there is wolf tracks all a round her. she is one very lucky dog i don't know how she got out alive and no scratches. we did see a glimpse of one more in the brush. I brought sam out dead and i was gonna take into the DNR office and through him on the desk and tell then to deal with it...."
The basics, as explained in his little note, is that he went out hunting with his dogs for bobcats. They were trailing a cat track when his dogs were allegedly jumped by "timber" wolves and the younger dog was killed. He then videos the dead dog, with the other dog still calling and tracking in the background, and bitches about how his dog was killed, and how all wolves need to be killed. How he and his buddies should just be able to enjoy a bit of sport without having to worry about their dogs getting killed.
I just sat there and blinked for a moment. So . . . let me get this straight?
You went out hunting, to kill, a predator. And then your dog gets killed by another predator, and suddenly it's a big ordeal?
Look, I don't have a problem with hunting. I support responsible hunting. I don't have a problem hunting with dogs either. It is indeed a great sport, and very exciting. But it's also a risky sport. Shit happens. You are sending your dogs out into the "wild" and putting them against dangerous predators.
Is it really so surprising that once in a while, an incident like this happens?
Many people know that I have extensive experience handling exotic mammals, including wolves. I like wolves. They are absolutely fascinating creatures. But there is also a huge amount of misinformation out there about them. So much "research" was done on captive bred packs, which tainted the findings and has led to romanticizing the wolf.
These wolves no doubt saw a threat to their territory, and did what wolves, and many other wild predators, do. They dispatched the threat.
Is it unfortunate that the dog died? Absolutely. But the response by the hunters just blows my mind. The solution is not "kill all wolves." The solution is to take responsibility for your actions. You sent your dog out to hunt a dangerous predator in the territory inhabited by other dangerous predators. The risk of injury or death to your dog is something you have to accept. You cannot turn around and blame a wild predator.
Don't like the risks? Don't hunt in this fashion. Don't waste your breath blasting the DNR because you chose to go out and take the risks.
Personal responsibility people. Get some.
Special thanks to Theresa B. for accidentally pointing this article out to me.
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