preditors

These are the stories that intrigue me.

Got this one form a friend of mine up north..

Hope you enjoy it..




With elk season ending this weekend Gary and I figured on last try
> during the week. The third musketeer, Don, was to join us, but he had
> the misfortune to get a good deal on tires and rims at Wal-Mart and
> what should have been a 10 minute job ended up taking all morning, so
> on his insistence we left without him.
>
> The wet snow had turned the dirt road to loon shit, so we left the
> truck and doubled up on Gary's quad where the track entered the bush.
>
> Driving up the line past the hunt camp I saw large dog prints in the
> snow and wondered if Joe had brought his dog, Lucy, out. As we got
> closer to a little high grass meadow at the next fence line large
> numbers of ravens and magpies took off. "There's something dead on the
> left," I say to Gary while straining to see over his shoulder, "Can you see
> anything?"
>
> I couldn't see anything showing from where the ravens were leaving, but
> looking over Gary's shoulder I saw two black Angus calves huddled
> together near the fence. We drove into the meadow and stopped. The
> area had been well trampled and bits of blood spotted the snow. We
> found the gutted calf. It didn't look as if the wolves had really
> managed to eat that much of it, just parts of the left hind quarter.
> The birds had been having a fine time.
>
> We inspected the site and then Gary took the quad down the trail 150
> yds or so to the gate in the fence so he could get on the south side.
> I walked up to the fence, set down my rifle and fanny pack and then rolled
> under. I had just started to think that it was strange we hadn't heard any
> wolves howling on our previous trips out when a wolf howled, to be answered
> by two or three further west. They sounded rather close.
>
> I had put on my fanny pack and was starting to feed my 7mm when, some
> 200 yds away, a large grey wolf walked across the cut-line we'd just
> come up. I brought the rifle up to cover the spot in case there were
> any friends following. Nothing more. All I got was a picture of his track.
>
> Gary saw me with my rifle up, so waited down the trail until I
> signaled him. He drove up and we discussed what had happened. He hadn't
> been able to hear the wolves howling while riding on that damn machine. As
> we chatted I notice something moving beyond the two calves. It was behind
> the brush that grew along the fence line, but I could seen well enough to
> tell it wasn't moving like any cattle. I pointed and whispered to Gary,
> "Black! Not beef!!" He looked and nodded.
>
> A second later a medium sized black bear with a glistening winter coat
> ran across the east-west cut-line less than 75 yds from us. Neither
> Gary nor I were interested in bear, but our absent friend, Don, had so
> wanted a good black bear hide. I hope that Wal-Mart deal was a
> wonderful one.
>
> With the appearance of the wolves we lost a bit of our optimism with
> regards to getting an elk. We decided to do a quick scout to see if
> we could locate any sign in the fresh snow. I headed down the
> north-south line past a water hole with the idea that I would also
> check out some of the east-west trails for sign. Gary would make a
> wide circle to the west until he hit the cutline I was walking and
> head north to meet up with me.
>
> I covered a reasonable distance south and did a good check of the area
> to the east, but not an elk track to be seen. They'd gathered up their
> calves and left the wolves with nothing but beef to eat.
>
> After some two hours of scouting and sneaking I heard Gary's quad coming up
> the line so I turned and headed back to the east-west trail I'd
> just checked out. It was a reasonably open area suitable for a
> campfire.
>
> Gary arrived and after a brief discussion we agreed our elk hunt was
> dead. Lunch was long overdue, so we gathered dead alder branches for
> the fire. I pulled out a bit of "Firestick" to start things. It was
> tougher than expected to get the small branches burning. The bark had
> absorbed a lot of moisture in the wet snow. I whittled some branches
> down to dry wood while Gary got his chainsaw and cut some of the
> larger pieces into splittable lengths so we could expose the dry
> interior. It took a while and some use of the old Aussie drover hat
> to produce a breeze, but eventually we got enough heat and flames.
> Some old conifers would have been a good help, but none in the
> immediate area.
>
> Gary has lived in this country for a long time and spent a lot of it
> with the old time trappers and their tales of difficult trips and near
> starvation. In tribute to these men Gary makes sure he is always well
> stocked and a trail meal with Gary is always a pleasure. Gary's first
> project was to melt some snow and get it boiling. While this pot was
> working he pulled out the fry pan and got the bannock mixed and ready
> to cook.
>
> As the tea water came to a boil the bannock was adjusted to cook from the
> top.
>
> The elk chili went on after the second cup of tea. Man, that was the best
> chili I'd ever eaten. The elk meat was in small, tender chunks.
> The chili was piquant, but not overly spiced so the flavour of the elk
> meat wasn't overpowered. Mopped up with a chunk of bannock that was
> also surprisingly good. Gary was true to his plan; we'd either get an
> elk or have a darn fine time trying.
>
> On our way out I tippy-toed up to the wolf kill, but there was nothing
> but ravens and magpies in the area. I worked my way down the cut-line
> until I found the spot where the wolf had crossed and took a picture
> of the track. We reported the kill and the situation to a neighbour
> who would pass it on to the rancher who owned the cattle.
>
> Knowing we'd found their kill the wolves would probably not return.
>
> Kyle
>
>