But once
have I with my own rifle killed a wolf, and this was while travelling
with a pack train in the mountains. We had been making considerable
noise, and I never understood how an animal so wary permitted our near
approach. He did, nevertheless, and just as we came to a little stream
which we were to ford I saw him get on a dead log some thirty yards
distant and walk slowly off with his eyes turned toward us. The first
shot smashed his shoulders and brought him down.
The wolf is one of the animals which can only be hunted successfully
with dogs. Most dogs however do not take at all kindly to the pursuit.
A wolf is a terrible fighter. He will decimate a pack of hounds by rabid
snaps with his giant jaws while suffering little damage himself; nor are
the ordinary big dogs, supposed to be fighting dogs, able to tackle him
without special training. I have known one wolf to kill a bulldog which
had rushed at it with a single snap, while another which had entered the
yard of a Montana ranch house slew in quick succession both of the large
mastiffs by which it was assailed.
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