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OK, so the roll played by AATV's in this is minimal, but I thought some of you would find it interesting:
The story as I wrote it:
So, Dec 21 a friend an I took our families out sliding and ended up having a little more excitement than we had anticipated.
There we were having a good time......Rod was towing 3 of the kids (2 four yr olds and a 3 yr old) on a tobogan behind the quad, at the bottom of the hill. I was in the Argo with my 3 month old at the other end of the hill. Rods wife was warming up in the truck with there 2 yr old and my wife was at the top of the hill with our dog...........we had no idea that all hell was about to break loose.........
Two wolves appear out of nowere............and they are heading toward the "bait" dragging behind the quad.... at first I had no idea what was up, but I heard my wife start yelling. I look up at her and see the dog break out of her arms and start running like mad, diagonally down the hill toward the truck (the direction Rod was heading with the kids). Rod sees the wolves coming, just as he is getting close to the truck, he speeds up a little, but can't go too hard for fear that one of the kids might fall off. As he gets to the truck the wolves are about 20 feet from the kids, on the tobogan. Rod bolts back toward the kids, just as my dog "Shadow" intercepts the lead wolf. Teeth flash and the battle is started............
Rods wife leaps from the truck and starts throwing kids inside, as Rod grabs a shovel from the back of the truck, smashing the shovel blade off as he goes to help the dog. Second wolf has joined the fight, and although Shadow is a very heafty 120lbs+ Rotty Cross, he is not faring all too well. The wolves break off as Rod gets close, but they are not afraid, they circle around and stay about 50 feet out of reach.
I can tell that you are probably wondering what I'm doing right about now.........Well, I knew I was too far away to be of much use, so at the first sign of the wolves, I wheeled the Argo around and headed toward our little camp. As I arived at the camp, I looked back and caught a glimps of the onset of the fight.........First thought through my mind-"GOOD DOG, If you make it, you get steak dinners for the rest of the month"........I grab my Ruger 10/22 and head back into the fray. By the time I get within range, Rod is making use of his wepons of choice, his Quad, and the shovel handle..... Before I could shoot, he had driven the wolves into the bush. I take a quick look around, make sure everyone is OK, and head in after them.......NO Luck, so I go back. Some decisions must have been made while I was gone, becouse everyone was packed up and headed back to camp......No more sliding today. So, the families are safe in camp, and Rod and I take the ATV's to the shop, to put them away (about 400 yrds from camp). As we walked back, we both see movement by the camp. I never thought much about it for a second, then I thought, "there is NO WAY that my wife would let Shadow out alone right now, what was that". Turns out that Wolf #1 was already back.........Rod and I fall into SNEAKY MODE to get closer........Yup, that is a wolf............My gun comes up, CRACK CRACK, the wolf drops............It's starting to get a little dark by now, and as we get closer to the wolf I say to Rod......."I really hope that's not my dog I just shot". Rod looks at me, Eyes wide, "If you just shot your dog, I'm going to be really mad at you".
It wasn't my dog, it was a really nice Silver/Black wolf. Everyone came out to have a look at it, lots of oooohs and aaaaaaww's.
We drag it down to the shop for the night, planning to skin it out in the morning.
The next morning, we had a little problem...............The Wolf Was GONE!!!!
OK, time to put our "Mantracker" skills to the test.........we found some "drag marks" and followed. Turns out that the second wolf was not above a little "Canibalism"........We only found part of the first wolf, but, the second wolf was still in the area, and I just happened to have brought my rifle. Long story short, I got the second one too.
Both wolves were very skinny, although the second one did fill out quite a bit over night.
Shadow got a piece of this one
All that’s left of the first one
The second one
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi , I just took this from the Vancouver Sun ;-)
Good God, they butchered my story, but you get the idea of what happened.
Family fun turns into a wolf scare for tobogganers
Dog suffers bruises after chasing away wolves that came too close
Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, December 24, 2007
FORT NELSON I A tobogganing trip near Fort Nelson went from fun to fright for two families after they were chased by wolves.
The families were on an outing 100 kilometres east of Fort Nelson Friday when two wolves started to chase a sleighful of three children, said 36-year-old Kyle Keays, who was among the group.
The children -- one aged four, and two others, both three -- were being towed along the base of a hill by an all-terrain vehicle when the wolves appeared.
Keays said his wife first noticed the wolves and shouted at him to watch out. The ATV's driver, Rod Barrie, turned around and pulled the sled back toward his truck.
"I looked back and I just saw the wolves coming out of the ditch," said Keays, who works in the area as a gas plant operator.
The wolves were within six metres of the children when the youngsters were hustled into the truck. At that moment, Keays' Rottweiler-cross, Shadow, intercepted the lead wolf and got into a scuffle.
"When Shadow saw the wolves, he immediately broke free and bee-lined down the hill to attack the lead wolf," Keays said.
As Barrie swung a shovel at the wolves, they backed off, but didn't run, said Keays, who grabbed his rifle from his nearby camp.
"They definitely weren't afraid," he said. "They backed off 50 feet and started circling side to side."
Shortly after returning to Keays' camp, the families noticed one of the wolves nearby and Keays immediately shot it.
When Keays awoke Saturday morning, the carcass was gone. He said he tracked it about 300 metres away, where it was being eaten by the other wolf, which he also shot.
"They were starving," he said. "Both of these wolves I shot were quite skinny."
Despite the potential dangers, Keays said the children were unaware of what was happening and none was injured in the confrontation. Shadow was "bumped and bruised," he said, but otherwise unharmed.
The confrontation hasn't stopped Keays from going out tobogganing again.
"We were just out," he said. "The wolves are gone."
Ministry of Environment spokeswoman Kate Thompson said Sunday conservation officers had been told about the shootings and would investigate further today. Hunters are required to report wolf kills to conservation officials, she said.
The story as I wrote it:
So, Dec 21 a friend an I took our families out sliding and ended up having a little more excitement than we had anticipated.
There we were having a good time......Rod was towing 3 of the kids (2 four yr olds and a 3 yr old) on a tobogan behind the quad, at the bottom of the hill. I was in the Argo with my 3 month old at the other end of the hill. Rods wife was warming up in the truck with there 2 yr old and my wife was at the top of the hill with our dog...........we had no idea that all hell was about to break loose.........
Two wolves appear out of nowere............and they are heading toward the "bait" dragging behind the quad.... at first I had no idea what was up, but I heard my wife start yelling. I look up at her and see the dog break out of her arms and start running like mad, diagonally down the hill toward the truck (the direction Rod was heading with the kids). Rod sees the wolves coming, just as he is getting close to the truck, he speeds up a little, but can't go too hard for fear that one of the kids might fall off. As he gets to the truck the wolves are about 20 feet from the kids, on the tobogan. Rod bolts back toward the kids, just as my dog "Shadow" intercepts the lead wolf. Teeth flash and the battle is started............
Rods wife leaps from the truck and starts throwing kids inside, as Rod grabs a shovel from the back of the truck, smashing the shovel blade off as he goes to help the dog. Second wolf has joined the fight, and although Shadow is a very heafty 120lbs+ Rotty Cross, he is not faring all too well. The wolves break off as Rod gets close, but they are not afraid, they circle around and stay about 50 feet out of reach.
I can tell that you are probably wondering what I'm doing right about now.........Well, I knew I was too far away to be of much use, so at the first sign of the wolves, I wheeled the Argo around and headed toward our little camp. As I arived at the camp, I looked back and caught a glimps of the onset of the fight.........First thought through my mind-"GOOD DOG, If you make it, you get steak dinners for the rest of the month"........I grab my Ruger 10/22 and head back into the fray. By the time I get within range, Rod is making use of his wepons of choice, his Quad, and the shovel handle..... Before I could shoot, he had driven the wolves into the bush. I take a quick look around, make sure everyone is OK, and head in after them.......NO Luck, so I go back. Some decisions must have been made while I was gone, becouse everyone was packed up and headed back to camp......No more sliding today. So, the families are safe in camp, and Rod and I take the ATV's to the shop, to put them away (about 400 yrds from camp). As we walked back, we both see movement by the camp. I never thought much about it for a second, then I thought, "there is NO WAY that my wife would let Shadow out alone right now, what was that". Turns out that Wolf #1 was already back.........Rod and I fall into SNEAKY MODE to get closer........Yup, that is a wolf............My gun comes up, CRACK CRACK, the wolf drops............It's starting to get a little dark by now, and as we get closer to the wolf I say to Rod......."I really hope that's not my dog I just shot". Rod looks at me, Eyes wide, "If you just shot your dog, I'm going to be really mad at you".
It wasn't my dog, it was a really nice Silver/Black wolf. Everyone came out to have a look at it, lots of oooohs and aaaaaaww's.
We drag it down to the shop for the night, planning to skin it out in the morning.
The next morning, we had a little problem...............The Wolf Was GONE!!!!
OK, time to put our "Mantracker" skills to the test.........we found some "drag marks" and followed. Turns out that the second wolf was not above a little "Canibalism"........We only found part of the first wolf, but, the second wolf was still in the area, and I just happened to have brought my rifle. Long story short, I got the second one too.
Both wolves were very skinny, although the second one did fill out quite a bit over night.
Shadow got a piece of this one
All that’s left of the first one
The second one
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi , I just took this from the Vancouver Sun ;-)
Good God, they butchered my story, but you get the idea of what happened.
Family fun turns into a wolf scare for tobogganers
Dog suffers bruises after chasing away wolves that came too close
Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, December 24, 2007
FORT NELSON I A tobogganing trip near Fort Nelson went from fun to fright for two families after they were chased by wolves.
The families were on an outing 100 kilometres east of Fort Nelson Friday when two wolves started to chase a sleighful of three children, said 36-year-old Kyle Keays, who was among the group.
The children -- one aged four, and two others, both three -- were being towed along the base of a hill by an all-terrain vehicle when the wolves appeared.
Keays said his wife first noticed the wolves and shouted at him to watch out. The ATV's driver, Rod Barrie, turned around and pulled the sled back toward his truck.
"I looked back and I just saw the wolves coming out of the ditch," said Keays, who works in the area as a gas plant operator.
The wolves were within six metres of the children when the youngsters were hustled into the truck. At that moment, Keays' Rottweiler-cross, Shadow, intercepted the lead wolf and got into a scuffle.
"When Shadow saw the wolves, he immediately broke free and bee-lined down the hill to attack the lead wolf," Keays said.
As Barrie swung a shovel at the wolves, they backed off, but didn't run, said Keays, who grabbed his rifle from his nearby camp.
"They definitely weren't afraid," he said. "They backed off 50 feet and started circling side to side."
Shortly after returning to Keays' camp, the families noticed one of the wolves nearby and Keays immediately shot it.
When Keays awoke Saturday morning, the carcass was gone. He said he tracked it about 300 metres away, where it was being eaten by the other wolf, which he also shot.
"They were starving," he said. "Both of these wolves I shot were quite skinny."
Despite the potential dangers, Keays said the children were unaware of what was happening and none was injured in the confrontation. Shadow was "bumped and bruised," he said, but otherwise unharmed.
The confrontation hasn't stopped Keays from going out tobogganing again.
"We were just out," he said. "The wolves are gone."
Ministry of Environment spokeswoman Kate Thompson said Sunday conservation officers had been told about the shootings and would investigate further today. Hunters are required to report wolf kills to conservation officials, she said.
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