Mike In Virgina: Got news for you, Wolves can and do kill humans. Once they kill them they eat them. I live in Fairbanks Alaska, we have wolves all around us.
A few years ago there was a man that liked to cross country ski to Nenana, down the Tanana river. he would ski down river one day and return the next. He was an older man and lived alone. One Monday morning he did not show up for work. His fellow workers reported him missing. the State Troopers sent out a chopper looking for him. About 1/3d of the way down river to Nenana, they saw blood on the snow. Due to the river not being safe for the chopper to land and brush along the banks they called for ground teams to investigate. Upon arrival the ground crews found blood on the snow and ice of the river. They followed the blood trail, and started finding things like his ski poles and skis. His back pack, clothing items. Then they started finding human parts. All they found was bits of hair, large chunks of skin, and bones. Enough to determine he had been attacked and eaten by wolves.
The following year a report of a teacher missing in Chignik, Alaska came in. Then the report that parts of her had been found along a jogging trail. Troopers and Fish and Game biologist were sent to Chignik to investigate. I know the biologist that was sent. From the tracks, he determined that the teacher was out jogging alone. Wolves attacked her and knocked her down. She fought them and was able to get up and run. The wolves knocked her down a second time. This time there was a lot of blood and signs of quite a struggle. She was able to fight her way up and run again. The wolves gave chase. The third time, she was not able to fight them off. There was a struggle and she was eventually killed. She was eaten, and parts of her were dragged away. The biologist set up a stand and killed several wolves that returned to the location. Necropsies were performed and it was determined the wolves that were killed had actually eaten her.
For several weeks the people of Chignik were harrassed by wolves. The wolves came into town and chased people as they were getting into their vehicles. The people in Chignik are fishermen, not hunters. But finally the people took it on themselves to rid themselves of the problem. They shot the wolves.
In both cases the environmental groups here in Fairbanks claimed, "No one saw them attack, kill, and eat those people so it can not be documented.
The year of the first attack on the skier, I had taken an old high school buddy and his wife up to the Arctic Circle on the Haul Rd. (Dalton Highway, or Ice Road to you folks). All that is there is a sign and an outhouse. The day after we were there a lady driving to Deadhorse stopped at the outhouse. As she left her car she was attacked by a wolf. She was able to fight it off and run to the outhouse. On the way the wolf tried to hamstring her. Bitting and slashing her rump. The woman was trapped in the outhouse. The wolf laid down outside the door. Every time the woman peeked outside the wolf would charge the door. Finally after two hours a truck pulled in. The man driving the truck tried to hit the wolf with his truck, chasing it off. He noticed it was a lactating female. After he pulled up and went to the outhouse the woman came out. She was shakey and suffering exhaustion due to loss of blood, and being trapped for so long. The couple drove her to Coldfoot so she could be flown to Fairbanks for medical attention.
The following day a group of bicyclist were riding south on the highway. As they approched the Arctic Circle rest stop, a wolf attacked one of the men riding a bike. The guy tried to kick the wolf, then was trying to outrun it on the bike. A trucker driving south saw what was happening and swerved his Semi hitting and killing the wolf. On examination this wolf was a young male, not the same wolf that had attacked the woman the day before.
These are four documented cases of wolf attacks where people were injured, or killed. Three years ago I was riding my snow machine in the Tanana Flats with some friends. We were out hunting shed antlers. We came around a corner in the trail and a big Gray Wolf was standing in the trail, 100 yards away. This wolf did not run, it stood it's ground growling at us. We stopped and I went to the back of my snow machine and opened a Kolpin case and pulled out a .223. I knelt down and put a bullet in his chest. A 55gr Speer spire point. The wolf turned and ran. My second shot hit him just behind the right shoulder. This caused the wolf to go into high gear. We followed that wolf for three miles before it dropped. That caused me to determine a .223 is just not enough gun for wolves. I now carry a 25-06 during the winter.
There is numerous accounts of people being attacked and killed by wolves here in Alaska. Two years ago we had a pack move into the North Pole area. The first word of them being in the neighborhood was when they killed and ate a Golden Retriever, about a mile from my house. the next night they were reported attacking and killing another dog in the same area. Then things got quite for a few days. My wife woke me up because our Beagles were going off over something outside. I looked out the bedroom window and saw four wolves in my neighbors back yard. The neighbor had an Austrailian sheppard/husky mix in a dog house in his yard. There was a wolf on top of the dog house, one on each side, and one pulling the chain in front of the dog house. That wolf was trying to pull the dog out of the house so the other three could get hold of it. I ran into the den a grabbed a Remington pump rifle. I shot the one on top of the dog house with a 30-06. Then I was able to hit another one, before they started running. While I was doing this my wife called the neighbor and told him to go to his front doot with a rifle. As they came around his house and started out his drive way he got another one, but saw two more running up the street. The following night they got into a dog yard and killed a bunch of chained sled dogs. A few night later someone was able to shoot two more. Then there were reports of a single wolf running around. At one point this single wolf grabbed a little dog and started running away with it. The owner a not too bright young man, gave chase. the dog was fighting and causing the wolf to keep stopping. The young man was able to catch up and beat the wolf with a stick. The wolf dropped the dog and ran off. Then a report came in the wolf was moving down the Tanana river towards Fairbanks. Then someone reported shooting a single wolf in the Rosie Creek area downstream of Fairbanks. We have had no Wolf reports near out homes since.
Last September two men were out hunting Moose. They stopped their 4-wheelers and walked to an area to glass. As they turned to walk back to their wheelers a pack of wolves came down the hill. The men thought this is so cool. Suddenly the men realized the wolves were cutting them off from their wheelers. Their rifles were on the machines. When the wolves started spreading out and surrounding the men they realized they were in trouble, this is no longer cool. One of the men had his pistol on his belt, he pulled it and fired several shots into the air (dumb move). At that point the wolves ran off, luckily.
Every year we hear stories about wolf encounters. We shoot a bunch of them each year, and at $400.00 a pelt for a good taxidermy quality pelt it can be lucrative. We also have teams that shoot them from airplanes. Trapper and Hunters hardly make a dent in the wolf population. It's the aerial gunners that cut down on the numbers. Wolves are smart, they know how to hide and when to move to new areas. A White Wolf brought $1,200.00 last year, a Blue wolf brought $1,400.00
My friend Coke Wallace is the only person that I know who can call wolves in close enough to shoot. When I try calling they go the other way. I like to find Caribou herds, and follow the herds. Wolves are always following the Caribou. This calls for long shots, when there are no trees around to hide behind you have to take the shot you get.
