Wolf Attack! "Without our Horses and Guns We Would Be Dead"
Raymond drew his pistol and fired one shot in the air while Mark ran for his rifle. Then it became a standoff. Mark and Raymond left the elk quarters at the site and walked their panicked horses the 90-minute hike back to the road.
They returned on Monday with a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) warden. The warden confirmed one wolf killed, multiple wolf tracks and that the elk meat was eaten by wolves and a grizzly bear.
Mark said had it not been for Raymond wearing his pistol, the wolves would have killed both of them. Though self defense is legal, the problem is the federal government still classifies wolves as an endangered species. So the hunters may have to justify in a federal court their actions to save their own lives. The FWP has turned the information over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Mark and Raymond reported that the game has almost disappeared in the last two years because of the increasing wolf population. They also emphasized that without their hunting experience, they would not have been able to defend themselves against the wolves. Mark maintained: "Raymond's pistol saved our lives. It was very ugly."
I asked Mark and Raymond for their advice to the general public going hiking in the forests. They stressed that they would not go into the forest unarmed. They indicated that the general public would have a difficult time deciding when they could claim self defense to justify killing a wolf. Wolves are quick and deadly. Shoot too soon and you pay the federal penalty. Shoot too late and someone else will tell your story.
Edwin X. Berry, Ph.D., who resides in Montana near Glacier National Park, is an atmospheric physicist and a Certified Consulting Meteorologist (#180) of the American Meteorological Society. He is a member of the American Physical Society and the American Geophysical Union and has published over 42 professional scientific papers. Dr. Berry manages, edits, and writes for, ClimatePhysics.com, a premier scientific website exposing the fallacies and propaganda of Anthropogenic (man-made) Global Warming, or AGW. Dr. Berry also manages, edits, and writes for, WolfClash.com, where this article originally appeared on November 5, 2010. It is being published by TheNewAmerican.com by special arrangement with Dr. Berry.