Hunting camps across America vary tremendously. Our hunting camp is set up so that each hunter brings and/or prepares an evening meal for each night of the week long adventure. We don’t go hungry. The other meals are prepared at camp with food that we chip in the expense for that becomes “camp” food. Many pies and other “homemade” desserts are brought. Again, we don’t go hungry.

Nearly 40 years ago, we kept perishable foods in coolers filled with ice. Lighting was with Coleman lanterns and later supplemented with gas lights. Today, a Honda generator supplies enough electricity to keep a refrigerator going and lights and electricity for the camp. One might wonder other than lights, what else would a hunting camp need electricity for? Well, this is 2011. Cellphones have to be charges, portable radios need to be charged, electricity is needed to run all of the laptop computers hunters bring and it powers the old radio we found on the dump so we can stay abreast of the news.

The first night at camp this year, the meal was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and biscuits, followed with your choice of chocolate, apple or custard pie and home made spice cake. In the first photo below, the old wood-fired cook stove, not only cooks and warms our food, it has a water tank so we can have hot water, make coffee and hot water for tea, and keep us warm in camp as some nights can get pretty chilly.

Check out those hot biscuits and two pans of meatloaf in the oven.

Milt Inman Photo

The oven is big enough and hot enough, with some good “biscuit wood”, to bake up two large pans of meatloaf.

Milt Inman Photo

Once seated for the meal, it’s “boarding house reach” and every man for himself, however, we do stop long enough to pass the biscuits. Take note of the beverages of choice: Coffee, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi and Root Beer…..seriously!

Milt Inman Photo

In the near 40 years I have been making my pilgrimage to Maine hunting camp, this is the first year that I recall we had to shovel our way to get in. (Photo taken October 30, 2011) It must be that pesky global warming.

With the help of a dump body on the back of the Mule, snow was shoveled from piles into the dump and trucked down the woods road and dumped over the bank.

Shhhhhhh! By the time I had arrived late on Sunday afternoon, the younger bulls had all the shoveling done. I was very proud of them. Wood was all stacked in the shed, the camp was warm and supper was cooking in the wood stove. (Eat your heart out!)

Milt Inman photo

Shortly after Rene Anderson encountered a gray wolf while hunting elk in Idaho, I posted the information I had been given along with a picture on this web site. You can find that story with several updates at this link.

Word began spreading rapidly, mostly across the Internet, through Facebook, blogs and emails, and as still seems to be the skepticism among Internet readers, there also existed doubts to the authenticity of the story because it wasn’t presented by some official looking media outlet.

The updates I included in the original story provide readers with links to a newspaper account as well as the same video which is below done by KXLY News.

*Update* October 12, 2011 – When I first published this article, I was not at liberty to reveal personal information about who the hunter was, etc. People need to understand that there is a certain amount of responsibility that goes with this job. I have in the past erred in including a name and location of some people that I shouldn’t have done.
Since the posting of this story, even though what some would describe as “the mainstream media” did not cover this event, at least one local newspaper did – The Clearwater Tribune in Orofino, Idaho. For the skeptics who are unwilling to believe that someone other than the “mainstream press” is capable of publishing truthful information, please follow this link and you’ll find a pdf copy of the Clearwater Tribune story and picture.
In addition, I have been criticized by some in my choice of words to describe the event. From my perspective, I did the best I could to place myself in the very same position as Ms. Anderson, i.e. archery equipment in tow. When a wolf is coming straight at me and I have barely enough time to remove my sidearm before shooting it at 8-10 feet, I don’t think it is inaccurate to describe that as an attack. Would it have been different if it were a mountain lion or a grizzly?
Some have been critical of my use of the words “full on” to describe the attack by the wolf. To clarify, to me “full on” is what I would use to describe a known vicious predator coming straight at me. The wolf didn’t wander back and forth assessing the situation. The varmint didn’t try to sneak in from behind. No, it came in a direct line, straight at her. That is why I described it as the wolf “attacked her full on”.
I hope this explanation helps to clear up some of the confusion that exists in a story that has gone semi-viral.

*Update* October 13, 2011 – Below is a video of Rene Anderson’s encounter with a wolf while hunting. This video comes from KXLY News.

According to the information I was given, the woman in the photo below was hunting elk with bow and arrows. The wolf appeared and attacked her full on. She dropped her bow, drew her sidearm and shot the wolf in the head 10 feet from her. A couple more rounds were required to finish killing the wolf.

Accompanying this photo and caption was an account of visiting hunters from out of state. Here’s what the email said:

“One of my Idaho Outfitter friends hunted a group of out-of-state elk archery hunters from the Great Lakes region last week and they called in a pack of 17 wolves by cow calling. None of the hunters had a sidearm or wolf tag and it was a very traumatic experience as the wolves surrounded the hunters! All hunters went home early very disturbed claiming these wolves are very different from the Great Lakes wolves as they claimed these Idaho wolves actually “Hunt” you and were not afraid!”

The account came with a plea to archery elk hunters to carry a sidearm for protection, where legal.

*Editor’s Note* This story and photographs were sent to me and I was asked to publish them.

(This happened Monday September 19th, about 10:30am on Deadhorse Mountain which is about ten miles northeast of Headquarters, Idaho. I had ran a bear in the area the day before… I figure the wolves must have heard the dogs running then and moved into the area. So when I turned them loose the next day the wolves were close enough to intercept and kill them. Shane Richards)

Shane Richards

I’m mad. And not just a little mad either. Three of the best bear hounds I’ve ever been lucky enough to own, were killed by federally funded terrorists. Wolves did this while I was bear hunting scarcely ten miles from my house. My dogs were ran down and stretched from end to end. Torn apart with slashing teeth, their skin ripped off in chunks and ate, along with their guts, bones and every other piece they could rip apart before I was able to get to the scene of this ugly crime and run them away. I could smell the dogs before I found them. I could smell the blood and the guts and the death. Ruby had been killed first, there wasn’t much left of her. A bare spine was all that held together her front and her hind end. They’d chewed many of her ribs off, down to the backbone. As for Candy, they’d only just begun on her, tearing into her side and chest cavity, guts and organs pulled out onto the ground. They hadn’t had a chance to eat much of her before I arrived. She was gruesomely contorted, silently conveying the horrible way she died by the teeth of those wolves. I found Josey 700 yards away. The wolves had tore him up really bad but he was still alive. Although he was rushed to the vet, he died of his wounds. So there it is. All of this took place in no more than fifteen or twenty minutes from the time the wolves came in on my dogs while they were trailing a bear. I couldn’t have gotten there any quicker.

As I sat beside my two dead hounds on the hillside I looked out over the beauty of the mountains and the bright blue, cloudless sky. I could hear birds singing and the rustling of the wind as it rolled through the pines. It was a beautiful day but the wolves had put a bloody stain on the land and made these mountains ugly to me. In the Clearwater country of Idaho, where I grew up hunting and running hounds, there is now an uneasiness. All the land can feel it and I can feel it too. This whole scene sickened me and galvanized my deep, deep disdain for the wolf.

Some people seem to think that houndsmen treat their hounds more like a tool than a dog. I assure you that this is not the case. These dogs, that the wolves ate, were part of my family. From the time they were born, they spent a lot of time in the house, sometimes sleeping on the couch or maybe on the dogbed beside my recliner in the living room. I couldn’t move without them making sure they could come along with me. They were glad to see me arrive home from work, and they didn’t like it when I left them home. These hounds were just the same as anyone else’s pet, like your pet, a true part of the family. These dogs didn’t deserve to die in such a gruesome way, being torn apart and eaten while they were still alive. No dog does.

What really makes me angry is those who would say that it’s a risk that all houndsman take when they unclip the dogs; that by turning our hounds loose, we are putting them in harms way and by doing so we somehow value our dogs less than other dog owners. Houndsman, and the the hounds we hunt with, share the same fundamental yearning in our soul to pursue the wild places. You can’t force a hound to chase after a bear or cougar, it’s been bred into them for thousands of years. We all realize that there are many inherent dangers when it comes to bear or cougar hunting, however, prior to 1995, having our hounds killed by wolves was not one of those dangers. It was then that this exotic species was introduced to Idaho. The wolves are killing these dogs only because they are occupying the same space. And, frankly these wolves shouldn’t be in these mountains in the first place. My dogs are dead, and the fault doesn’t lie with the hound or the houndsmen. It lies squarely with the wolves who killed and ate my dogs, and with those who supported, and continue to support, the introduction of this exotic species into an area where it had never roamed before. Never roamed, because the timber wolf that inhabited this area many years ago was a much smaller sub-species than the Canadian grey that we are now plagued with.

The below photo was sent to me by Jim Richards of Blue Horse Outfitters in south central Wyoming.

The turkey was taken by Ray Pullins in southern Ohio on 4/25/11. Reports are he took a similar half white jake last year.

Click on Image to Enlarge

Last spring, Jim Richards of Blue Horse Outfitters, sent me a photograph and short caption of the bear he took that he affectionately called, “Old Three Toes”. Below is the short story and the photograph followed by a recent photo of the bear upon delivery back to Jim after it had been done in a full mount.

Tom,
This is old three toes. He is kind of notorious here in the little snake river where he has done his share of killing sheep and I’m sure quite a few fawns and calf elk. I personally have been after this guy for several years. For the most part he has always been nocturnal but I think his age may have caused his demise Friday the 14th of May at 6:00p.m. he was crossing a small creek and heading east into some dark timber when he finally gave me the first ever chance for a shot. If you look close at his left front you will see he has only three toes. Weighed 425 pds and green scored 21″. His teeth were worn down quite a lot and one K 9 broken off and several scars from fights with rivals. Fish and Game estimates 12-15 years old.

Jim Richards photo

Jim Richards photo – This photo you can Click to Enlarge

Tom Remington

MISSOULA, Mont. – Elk hunters from Montana and New York have won chance-of-a-lifetime elk hunting experiences through special drawings offered nationally by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and its sponsors.

Winners were drawn during the RMEF annual convention, which concluded March 6 in Reno, Nev.

Prizes and winners include:

Win a Hunt with Cameron Hanes (2012 hunt) – Sponsored by Danner, RMEF, Cabela’s and Colby Gines Wilderness Adventures. Winner: Sidney Richardson, Colstrip, Mont. Richardson will bowhunt with Hanes, host of RMEF television shows and columnist for Bugle magazine. Hunt includes horseback travel into a remote camp in Wyoming plus five days of elk hunting. Hunt will be filmed for the new “RMEF Team Elk” to air on Outdoor Channel.

Remington Progressive Drawing (2011 hunt) – Sponsored by Remington, RMEF and David Todd of West Elk Wilderness Outfitters. Winner: Misty Lavigne, North Bangor, N.Y. Lavigne and one partner will spend a week hunting the heart of Colorado’s West Elk Wilderness. The hunt includes horseback travel into a remote base camp at an elevation of 10,200 feet. The area, rugged and beautiful, has produced many 300-class bulls in the past few years, including one scoring 342 B&C.

Archery Progressive Drawing (2011 hunt) – Sponsored by RMEF and J. B. Klyapp of Dome Mountain Outfitters. Winner: Corky Logan, Anaconda, Mont. This premium archery elk hunt for Logan and one partner includes two elk permits and five full days of two-on-one guided hunting. Dome Mountain Ranch features over 5,000 private acres in an area that has historically been the highest harvest area in the state of Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park.

The winner of the hunt with Cameron Hanes entered the drawing by signing up at Cabela’s stores or at www.cabelas.com. In the progressive drawings, each winner was entered for the hunt by winning previous drawings for a Remington rifle or BowTech bow at RMEF banquets or other fundraising events.

Watch for more special drawings from RMEF in 2011.

Funds generated by these programs support RMEF initiatives to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat.

A man from Virginia who loved to bird hunt with his favorite dog Billy, got an invitation from an old friend to come to Montana and hunt pheasant. He decided he would make the long journey driving his pickup truck as he felt flying isn’t something he cared much for Billy to have to experience. After all, he just didn’t know how Billy would behave if he had some dude in the airport giving him a pat down.

Burt, dug out some old maps he had and began to plan the route he would take. Once that was decided, he ciphered that a drive of three days, staying two nights in motels would suffice. Now, to find a motel good enough for Burt and yet one that allows hunting dogs like Billy.

Burt began calling motels looking for a place to stay his first night out. After five calls, he reached a small motel on the outskirts of a small town in Illinois.

He spoke with the manager, “My name is Burt and I’m traveling to Montana to do some bird hunting. I’m looking for a room where me and my dog Billy can spend the night.”

“Is that a fact?” quizzed the manager.

“Yes, it is,” replied Burt. “Billy’s a good dog. He’s well trained, never barks unless I give him permission, I groom him often, he has never had any fleas and he doesn’t shed.”

“That’s good,” answered the manager. “Let me think. I’ve own this motel for going on 37 years. In that length of time I’ve never had a dog destroy my rooms, come in late at night drunk and disorderly, waking up my other guests, skip out early in the morning without paying, bring in questionable guests or burn the place down. Now tell, me. If Billy can vouch for you, I guess it would be fine for you to spend the night here.”

Tom Remington