1971, I had just arrived in Alaska that spring. During the summer I had met a fellow Tennesseeian named Chris, he had offered to take me hunting with him come fall. September arrived and we went up the Steese Highway to mile 82, also known as 12 mile summit. Chris had a new ATV at the time called a Tracker, it had tracks under the back half of a fiberglass tub. Wheels on the front, and a Kohler two stroke engine. There was a chain final drive that turned the tracks.
We rode in about 15 to 18 miles and shot a nice Caribou. On the way out we experienced problems with the rig. It started throwing tracks. We were unable to keep the tracks in place. We finally walked out leaving the Tracker and load of meat. The weather was cold so we were not afraid of the meat spoiling. We drove to Fairbanks, and called the manufactor. They said that the problem had came up during their testing, They had developed an adaptor to cure the problem. They Air Freighted the adaptor to us and we had it the next day.
As we were preparing to leave, Chris's wife Audrey decided to go with us. After we got to 12 mile summit we discovered there had been a hard freeze and the ground was frozen. Chris decided to drive his truck as far as possiable to save time and walking. We drove all the way to the Tracker. After installing the adaptors, I drove the Tracker while Chris followed me with the truck. Chris got stuck about three miles from the road, but we were able to get him out pretty easy. I headed for the highway. As I turned to load the rig onto the trailer I heard a pop and realised a drive chain had broken. I got out and looked around for Chris and Audrey. They were about two miles down the slope, stuck again. I started walking down their way. After walking about a mile I saw a pack of wolves coming up out of a draw. The wolves were on a course that would intersect mine. At this point I realised that I had left my pistol in Chris's truck when he had gotten stuck earlier. I started walking faster toward the truck. The wolves kept coming. I soon got concerned because I realised they would reach me before I reached the truck. From watching them I got the impression I was the hunted. I looked around for a stick or anything to protect myself with. There was nothing, the vegitation was only about knee high. Being a young person (just 19) and not knowing any better I started to run toward the truck. The pack of wolves also started to run. Talk about a scared young man, I realised that I was not going to make it. I was about 150 yards from the truck, with the wolves about 30 yards behind me, when I heard what sounded like a bee passing my head. Then I heard a second one, followed by a yelp from behind. I turned and saw the pack running away. One wolf was flopping around, It was trying to get up but kept falling. I turned toward the truck and there stood Audrey in the bed of the truck, with her 30-06 lying across the cab. I realised the bees were her bullets as she shot two of the wolves behind me. I felt I was mighty lucky Audrey had came along that day, also that she was a good shot. Talk about an a-- chewing, that woman gave me one any sailor would have been proud of. Mainly for not lying down so she could shoot the rest before they got out of range.
I've seen many wolves since, but never has any acted as agressive as this pack did. I've never ran either.
