Three years ago this March, I was sitting here at the computer at l0:45 in the morning. I glanced out the window, and there, 250 yard away on my alfalfa field is a wolf eating a deer. I ran and grabbed my .308 thinking if the deer was salvageable, I'd drive the wolf away. The deer was dead and it made no sense to me to chase the wolf away only to run and kill another deer. This wolf looked as large as the deer, laying next to it and ripping away at it. I thought it must be a yearling fawn. After about 40 minutes, the wolf left, crossed the road and headed for the forest east of me. I suited up and went down there. The doe was a 150 pound adult. She'd hit a drift and bogged down long enough for him to get her. In the same time frame, a large dairy farm in sight south of me had 8 calves killed right outside the barn. One was tethered to one of those fiberglass calf igloos. The wolves dragged the calf and the igloo halfway down the driveway. Fortunately, this all took place during a brief period when Michigan wolves were reduced to threatened status, and MDNR shot 11 of them, including all the young since they were fixed on cattle as prey. Just after that, the PETA people got it all temporairily reversed, but DNR had a window to get the job done. Now, 3 years later, the problem is coming back. Local farmers are again loosing livestock.
I was locally criticized for not shooting the wolf. Sure, 200 feet from the road, 2 feet of snow to tell the tale, out in an open field, middle of the day, traffic going by. I can't afford 5 or 6 thousand bucks in fines, legal fees and restitution. Forget about loosing my hunting privileges, which would be like a death sentence to me. They said, "put a FMJ through his guts and let him run off". With my luck, I'd have hit him between the eyes! A lot of them say "S.S.S.....shoot, shovel, and shut up."
I have horses, cattle, dogs, cats and chickens. I told DNR I feel I have the right to defend my family and property. If wolves attack my livestock, I will shoot them, call the DNR and tell them to come get their wolf, take me away and lock me up, but we're going to the Supreme Court with this one.
