What part of the U.P?Twelve years ago I bought a camp in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Like most people with a new place, I spent a lot of time up there year round for the first few years. So one weekend in February 9 years ago I decided to go on a hike. It was late morning the sun was out and there was a good 18 inches of snow on the ground. I grabbed my old Remington speedmaster .22 LR in case I found a porcupine or something. I love that beat up old gun and bought it for my trapline when I was 16. Anyways my camp consists of a long maple ridge with a swamp to the east and west of it that consists of white cedar, tamarack and balsam fir. I broke a trail to the back of the property in the heart of the east swamp. As I walked down the back property line I came to a 3 acre clearing which was deep swamp with a patchwork of tall grass but no trees. The cedars and tamaracks lined the outer ring of the opening. As I walked the edge of the clearing a crow took flight from the forest floor on the other side of it to my left, so I decided to go investigate. Figuring a deer carcass may be over there, I made my way closer. When I made it to the site, sure enough there was a patch of deer fur along with what looked like a wolf track that was a day or 2 old. I decided to take up the track to see if I could find the carcass or what remained of it as it was heading back to the property line anyway within the aforementioned clearing. I made it 60 feet further when I found part of a deer leg. “Huh, a yearling” I said to myself as I looked up. I took one more step when a figure stood up in the grass not 30 feet in front of me. Then 2 more. Wolves! My heart went into overdrive. They merely stood up headed off to my left and we’re joined by 3 more. I watched them trot off into the thicket but the last 2 stopped just inside the tree line 50 feet away and looked at me for a moment before they followed. I remember thinking at the time that if they really wanted to kill me as I walked into their kill sight they had plenty of opportunity. I also felt helpless realizing that if they did my little speedmaster wouldn’t have been enough to stop them. Wolves are big critters, especially when there’s 2 alphas in the pack. I’m proud to say I didn’t stain my shorts but I did have a couple shots of whiskey when I made it back to camp.
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk