Wolves kill Clark County hunting dogs
By Jake Miller
For the Wausau Daily Herald
Rick Nelson has hunted bears for 20 years and never lost a dog. That all changed July 4, when wolves mauled Maggie, his 9-year-old Walker coonhound.
She was one of two hunting dogs killed in Clark County earlier this month. But factors beyond a healthy wolf population are to blame, according to a Department of Natural Resources ecologist.
Maggie was killed by wolves of the Brushy Ridge Pack in southwest Clark County, according to DNR reports.
Four days later, wolves in the Eau Claire River Pack killed a 5-year-old Bluetick coonhound in western Clark County.
Both dogs were being trained to hunt bears. Hunters are allowed to train dogs to pursue bear from July 1 to Aug. 31.
Nelson, of Loyal, said Maggie, who he said he had invested $5,000 to $10,000 in, and raised from a pup, was killed when she tracked a bear’s path, while other dogs continued in another direction.
He found her dead on a trail where his 2- and 4-year-old sons had been playing 20 minutes earlier.
The attacks are the first in the central forest area since the mid-1990s, said DNR mammalian ecologist Adrian Wydeven.
Including the Clark County attacks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services has confirmed four dogs killed and five injured by wolves throughout the state since the hound training period began.
Several factors could have led to the attacks, which came from wolf packs that have never killed dogs, Wydeven said. For one, many of the 150 packs throughout Wisconsin appear to be healthy this year, and have had pups.
Also, training dogs to bear hunt in Clark County used to be uncommon, he said. But with an increasing bear population and high gas prices, hunters might be staying closer to home, increasing the chance of an attack. Nelson, though, said he has trained dogs in Clark County for years.
The two dogs most likely ran through the wolves’ summer territories, which they use after abandoning their winter dens, Wydeven said. The wolves were probably protecting their pups.
Tim Krause, 32, of Spencer was training along side Nelson when Maggie was killed. He said hunters aren’t blind to risks involved in hunting bears, but he doesn’t believe hunters should have to contend with wolves.
Krause isn’t an advocate for wiping out the wolf population, but wants more information made available to hunters.
“We’re not blaming anybody. We’re not saying total extinction, just better control, more awareness,” he said. “If (the DNR) know(s) a pack is there, put up signs. That’s what we’re after.”
Nelson, though, took a more severe stance. He said the only solution is to kill the wolves, which are federally protected.
“Any packs that do damage and kill dogs should be destroyed,” he said. “The good ones that don’t cause trouble, leave them alone.”
The DNR offers caution area maps where wolves have been located on its Web site.
About 100 of the state’s estimated 626 to 662 wolves live in the central forest block, which runs from Eau Claire to Black River Falls.
Krause and Nelson said the wolves should concern people who don’t hunt. Both said people should know about what they call the “wolf problem” before taking pets into the woods.
Of the attacks only one, a 9-year-old dachshund, was not a hunting dog.
Wydeven said an attack on a leashed dog walking with its owner is highly improbable. Wolves historically avoid humans, and attacks are rare, he said.
But that’s not enough security for Nelson.
“They shouldn’t be here,” he said. “They shouldn’t be amongst the public where we hunt.”
Wolves in Wisconsin kill about 6,000 deer each year. Meanwhile, 40,000 are hit by cars and hunters shoot an average of 450,000, according to the DNR.
Nelson, contrary to the DNR, said he believes the wolves are taking a toll on the deer population. Where he used to spot 50 deer, he now is lucky to see five, he said.
“Wisconsin is a big hunting state,” he said. “People are going to stop coming here to hunt if there are wolves killing everything.”