HUNTING – Minnesota hunter Justin Bailey was hunting ruffed grouse on Tuesday when a wolf chased his hunting dog out of the woods.
“He was coming at me 100 miles per hour, and right behind him was a wolf, biting at his heels,” Bailey, 33, told outdoor writer Sam Cook of the Duluth News Tribune. “They probably passed 5 or 6 feet from us.”
After sending his dog into the woods to look for a grouse, Bailey was standing at the edge of the road with his son, 3, and nephew, 5.
The wolf chased the dog, Henry, a 1-year-old German wire-haired pointer, back to Bailey’s pickup in the road, nipping at the dog’s legs. The dog had the remarkable instinct to jump in the vehicle’s open window. leaving the wolf to do a quick lap around the truck.
Two more wolves came out of the woods at the edge of the road. Three more came out about 100 yards down the road.
“I was yelling at the one that went around the truck,” Bailey said. “He wasn’t very timid, that’s for sure. He was 15 feet away and turned around and watched me put the kids in the truck.”
During the encounter, Bailey fired one round from his 20-gauge shotgun into the air in an effort to scare off the wolves. “They didn’t even flinch,” he said.
“The boys thought it was the coolest experience in the north woods,” Bailey said. “But it makes me not want to bring my dog in the woods anymore.”
The dog, which wasn’t injured, refused to leave the truck, he said. “I couldn’t get him out of the truck the rest of the day.”