Heritage of Flight Cruise-In
Homecomings of the past
Team Xtreme in Kettering
Wild canines can give hunters a frightening experience
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Larry Mueller's story about "Hell Hounds" (wolves) in the February issue of Outdoor Life brings back memories of my experience with wild dogs.
Though mine is mild compared to what Mueller describes, one encounter scared me like nothing ever had before, or since.
Extras
Denny Mathis, a Dayton hunter, and I had gone to a heavily forested region of southern Ohio in search of an isolated area with heavy, second-growth woods. We drove up and down hills on winding gravel roads neither of us had ever seen before. Eventually we pulled off a remote lane and stopped 30 yards from an old, abandoned house.
In the hollow behind the house was the cover we wanted. The woodland was dense. Surely ruffed grouse would be there.
Mathis opened the front door of the vehicle on the passenger side, and I opened the door on the opposite side. We walked to the back of the car, raised the trunk lid and reached for our guns.
That was as close as we got to the woods. Suddenly, we heard loud barking and growling coming from the house. Then wild dogs started leaping through the broken-out windows and the missing front door.
A dozen or so wild dogs ran toward us. The snarling animals looked more interested in eating someone than being petted.
Mathis and I dashed back to the front of the car. We jumped inside, slammed the doors and burned gravel speeding away.
I have often wondered what would have happened had the dogs beat us to the safety of the vehicle, but I never went back to find out.
This is my only frightening experience with wild dogs, but there have been other dog problems. Most involve semi-wild dogs and cats that ventured away from rural houses.
These dogs and cats don't go in the woods to talk with other animals. They want to chase them, and catch them if they can.
One morning, while hunting wild turkey in southern Ohio with Walt Ingram of Washington Court House, we were in the woods at daylight and had turkeys all around us. Gobblers were here, there, everywhere. What a day!
Ingram, a champion turkey caller, had gobblers coming our way from three directions. Our guns were up and ready. And then, the barking started. Several semi-wild dogs rushed into the area after the turkeys. The birds scattered, and none came in our direction.
Similar incidents have occurred other times while hunting turkey, deer, rabbits and ruffed grouse.
Yet my run-ins with dogs gone wild, or semi-wild, are nothing compared to Mueller's gray wolf story. Dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes and jackals all are in the same family.
I was among those who thought it was a grand idea to re-establish the gray wolf population in Montana and other western states. Maybe you thought the same thing.
If so, you might find Mueller's "Hell Hounds" story enlightening. Another option is going online and calling up www.outdoorlife.com/feb07.
A picture in the photo gallery shows a wolf eating a live deer. The picture was too graphic to publish in the printed magazine.
Contact Jim Robey at Dayton Daily News,
45 S. Ludlow St., Dayton, OH 45402.
