Well I certainly haven’t had any adventures like the ones mentioned above (probably because I am to cheap to buy a treestand).
But one event that does stick out in my mind occured a couple years back on my Grandfathers farm. It was either late October or early November (I remember there was 6-8 inches of snow on the ground) and I was looking for Whitetails with my longbow. It was a morning hunt and I was sneaking along a thin line of brush that seperated two of Grandads fields.
I was maybe 3/4 of the way down the strip when I saw movement ahead of me at about 100 yards. My first thought was Deer, but it didn’t take long for me to recognise that it was actually a large gray colored Wolf.
Now this wasn’t the first time I had run across Wolves on this property. I usually see between 20 to 40 a year, ecspecially during the early winter hunting season. So seeing this one wasn’t unusual.
I continued to walk towards the Wolf figuring it would just run away like all the others I had ever encountered. Wolves around here are kinda looked at like Coyotes, loud, beutiful, and afraid of man.
But as I walked closer, the Wolf never budged. By the time I stopped again I was maybe 50 yards away. All it did was stare. And then it did something that I had never seen before. It started to walk towards me.
I figured by this time that enough was enough and started yelling at it and waving my bow around. I knew I would scare all the Deer in, but this Wolf was making me uncomfortable. It stopped coming towards me but didn’t run away.
It was now only about 35 yards away. It was close enough that I could see the wind ruffle its fur. I thought about sending an arrow towards it (Wolf are legal game at that time of year), but it was still a bit out of my range.
So instead of pushing the matter further I began to crabwalk back the way I came. It had just occured to me that the Wolf in front of me might be a distraction, so I wanted to see my back trail as well.
I made it back to my Grandads house (about a 1/2 mile) and the Wolf never followed. When I lost sight of it, it was still standing in the same place.
That afternoon I grabbed the .30-30 for my Deer hunt. I even followed the Wolfs tracks across the field and into the woods. I didn’t see it again that day.
Now I don’t know what its intentions were. Perhaps just curiousity. But then again maybe not. At any rate I don’t look at Wolves like I used to anymore. And thats the nearest thing to a close call that I have ever had.
