Yesterday while flying around.....

[Sitkaspruce]

This is the scene we came across.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/1pack.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/2pack.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/4moose.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/7alpha.jpg

There were 10 wolves and they had this poor ******* on his/her last legs. Just waiting for it to be dinner time. We circled twice and the wolves never even got to their feet, on the third time we came lower and most moved into the cut block, except the one who continued to stare us down, we figured he was the alpha male. We all wished we had a gun, but this is mother nature at her best and the moose was to far gone for us to help. I also have video of this and as soon as I learn how to post it I will.

I posted a couple more photos below.

[Sitkaspruce]

Some more photos

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/6trio.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/3pack.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/5moose.jpg

[rollingrock]

Cool pix! WOW!

[moosinaround]

cool pics. mother nature buffet table I suppose?

[Murder]

ALWAYS carry a gun!!! I think everyone should have a trunk gun just for such an occasion. I would have shot at least my alotted 3. Then again, I hate wolves.

[butcher]

Well shooting wolves from a helicopter would POSSIBLY be frowned upon by authorities. Too bad you weren't on foot with a rifle in hand though.

Awesome photos.

[pmj]

Thanks for the post. It is easy to forget what is happening up there while down here in rainy Vancouver. I only see the north in the fall. Thanks again.

[Untouchable]

Those are some incredible pictures. Man I wish I could shoot a wolf, all I gotta do is find one...:|

[bigwhiteys]

Great Photos!

What a scene to come across.

Carl

[Murder]

Oh, didn't realize you were actually flying.

[Jagermeister]

Thanks for posting the pics, it gives us a chance to view some reality. It's kind of maddening to see that poor moose standing there waiting for its finality while the tormentors laze about licking their chops. It would've been nice to smoke that defiant one, if you can't drive it off with a chopper, you can imagine the reception you would receive if you met him on the ground. Time to put some fear into that "puppy'.

[ohno]

Great pics of a scene probably played out thousands of times a year all over this province. Mother Nature at her best.

"Fish gotta swim, sharks gotta eat" - Finding Nemo

[Elkhound]

This is a very cool post. Would love to see the vid. Thanks Sitkaspruce

[MB_Boy]

Sitka........awesome shots.

I remember flying population surveys with my Dad years ago and seeing a very similar scene.

[ianwuzhere]

ya i dont think that i can emphasize how kewl them pix are. thanx for showing them to us and high fives for bringing the camera along on that ride...
cheers

[WOLVERINE-RIDER]

everyone automatically thinks...wow I coulda poked a couple wolves, I hate them things, but nobody even mentioned putting one in the moose? Why not put it out of it's misery. It's obviously going no where. Give it the descentcy of a quick death instead of suffering. I'm not a bigamest but there's no reason for it to suffer if it doesn't have to. They are obviously gunna eat it anyway.Just my two cents.

[Mr. Dean]

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Opposite could be said for the Moose.

[StoneChaser]

I'd be hiking (sledding) in there a few hours ahead of daylight on Sat AM with a buddy or two.

Whack a few off the kill and maybe howl a few out... never miss a chance at a fresh kill like that!

Great pics!

StoneChaser

[ARC]

Awesome pics,

The guys I worked with up in Fort St. John came across a similar situation while flying north of Fort Nelson last year. However in that case 5-6 wolves had a moose calf down.

Thanks for posting.

[MB_Boy]

everyone automatically thinks...wow I coulda poked a couple wolves, I hate them things, but nobody even mentioned putting one in the moose? Why not put it out of it's misery. It's obviously going no where. Give it the descentcy of a quick death instead of suffering. I'm not a bigamest but there's no reason for it to suffer if it doesn't have to. They are obviously gunna eat it anyway.Just my two cents.

WR.......I think the sentiment is that we have a surplus of wolves throughout the province right now and "wacking" a few wouldn't hurt. That is nature at work......"she" is a wonderful phenomena, but tapping out a few of her dogs might not be such a bad idea.......especially if her dogs are "off the leash". That moose at the point of that picture is basically "Eukanuba"....or "Purina".....wolf kills are not a pretty thing.....amazing to watch but not exactly what one would call a "quick clean kill".

Poking a moose (in general) is not as tough as poking the big bad wolf.......

[Krico]

I'd love a crack at one of the black ones, not because they're killing a moose, but because I've always wanted a black wolf. Can't help but feel a little sorry for the thing just standing there bleeding and waiting to be finished off.
Awesome photos by the way!

[Amphibious]

I saw a lot of wolves around PG while flying (heli) last fall, best way to spot em!

great pics!

[The Hermit]

REALLY great pics. thanks for sharing and looking forward to the video!! Mother nature is a cruel bitch eh! <breaks into Elton John's Disney "The Circle of Life"... :-)

[todbartell]

pretty wild 8-)

[Sitkaspruce]

Stonechaser

It was hour three of a 4.5 hour flight. I would love to have got in there, however we would have to drive three hours and then sled in 2 more. Way to long and expensive for a couple of wolves. It just so happens that they are only about 15 min from the camp that I guide moose and bear hunters from, but the roads are not polwed out right now.

Working on the video right now

Cheers

[hunter1947]

Great footage ,i would of loved to smoke them wolfes ,they kill everything. hunter 1947.

[GoatGuy]

Sitka,


Very cool pictures!!! Neat experience.


Who were you flying with?

[Sitkaspruce]

Here is a link to the video. I appologize as it is not that good, lots of shaking and out of focus crap, but you can see what we saw for the most part. The hesitation is when I took a picture.

GG; We were flying with Interior. We were out looking at the age class 3-4 pine to see how much of it has been hit by MPB. Most of our flying was in old burns and such. It was a great day.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/?action=view&current=WolvesMovie.flv

[johnes50]

Makes you realize it's a pretty tough out there in the real world. No 911, and nobody going to come to your rescue. Shows that taking an animal with a clean shot is pretty humane. John

[rollingrock]

No word can describe my feeling while watching your vidoe! Great video, Sitka!

[MB_Boy]

Sitka.........awesome work....great video.

[bsa30-06]

Excellent pictures and video,I feel bad for the moose but thats mother nature even the wolves have to eat.Some great lookin wolves in that pack.

[Will]

That's something few ever get to see......Thanks 8)

[lip_ripper00]

great pictures and video. Like others have said,it s ahard world out their. One question, I can tell from the video the animal is hurt did it make any attempt to move when you flew over or was it just too far gone?

[CanAm500]

Natures work at its best...

[Rainwater]

I watched some coyotes kill a bighorn ewe one day and they reminded me of myself. Just trying to meek out an existance and sometimes misunderstood. Great shots and video.

[Krico]

Great footage ,i would of loved to smoke them wolfes ,they kill everything. hunter 1947.

Yes, them and the Conservation Officers. Soon there will be nothing left:lol:

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Awesome pics and experience SitkaSpruce!!8)
That only happens to a handful of people.

I had the pleasure/pain of watching a solo black wolf stalk a band of Stone's ewes and lambs but unfortunately never found out the outcome as they disappeared around behind a mountain during the chase........:-(

Now go get some sleds and head back there!!!8)

SSS

[steel_ram]

Geeze, you mean Farley Mowat didn't quite have it right?

[Alpine85]

Thanks for sharing the pics.. Should send those to some flower snifer people... "but I thought wolves ate grass and plants, the moose MUST of been sick":smile:

[Kevin21]

Great pics, Im sure it was something to see

[NEEHAMA]

cool pics, all this talk about too many wolves and not enough moose is funny. once the wolves chew down the moose population they starve and die off then the moose popultation explodes again. The cycle repeates it self over and over. we may only see one or two cycles in our life time but it's been going on long before we picked up our rifles.

[Phil]

Very cool pics and video. Thanks for sharing.

[hunter1947]

cool pics, all this talk about too many wolves and not enough moose is funny. once the wolves chew down the moose population they starve and die off then the moose popultation explodes again. The cycle repeates it self over and over. we may only see one or two cycles in our life time but it's been going on long before we picked up our rifles. Very true words ,just take a look at vancover island in the last 15 years what the wolfs did hear ,it is on the recovery list for deer now and the deer population is coming back. hunter 1947

[tufferthandug]

Great pictures! Seeing wolves in their prime is a cool thing to see!

[BCLongshot]

I know it's nature but we should still wack the dogs, we have 2 many.

[Seeadler]

Wow, great photos.

[SUAFOYT]

REALLY great pics. thanks for sharing and looking forward to the video!! Mother nature is a cruel bitch eh! <breaks into Elton John's Disney "The Circle of Life"... :-)

Too true. While this is nature's way, I have a real problem squaring how some say hunter's are the cruel ones with the big guns. I've had trouble making the point we use firearms that are designed to kill so that the animal doesn't suffer. Great pics.

[QnsCowboy]

Thanks for the great pics and video...That is awesome...Man I love living up here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Craig

[BlacktailStalker]

Wow very cool!

[hunter1947]

Thanks for the great pics and video...That is awesome...Man I love living up here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Craig You have it made ,i wish my wife would move up that way with me ,but she won't. hunter 1947.

[Islandeer]

Really interesting footage. There truely is no glamour in making a living as prey or predator. Wolves put the wild in wilderness.

[300 wsm]

that is bloody awesome i have only ever seen one pack of wolves near sundre alberta their were 16 of them

[Walksalot]

The true reality of nature, thanks for sharing ther pictures. While I feel for the moose the wolves are just doing what they are supposed to do. Most predators simply eat their prey's life away.

[gameslayer]

Un-real video and pics Sitkaspruce, thanks for taking the effort to share it. I envey your life style, You get s hell of a lot of scouting in before most of us even buy our hunting liscence. Mother nature is somthing to respect.

[hunter1947]

Did you ever go back to wear you seen the wolfs and moose and see what was left there. ???? hunter 1947.

[smokey]

those are some wicked pictures,you one likely guy to see that in person

[Shop Lord]

Bang.....bang.bang.bang...bang.bang.bang

[Scobo]

Looks like the poor girl had been standing there for hours. it is odd they hadn't moved in for the kill though. they couldn't have been hurting for food because i guarantee if they were hungry the moose wouldn't have been standing in that picture.

[Sharkey]

Just amazing photos and footage. It's brutal to see, but as it's been said - it's mother nature at it's best. Not pretty - but it would be a great thing to show to to anyone who opposes wolf control.
~D

[BCJunior]

unbelivable eh.

[Avalanche123]

Most impressive....! Gotta feel for that moose. Tough way to go.

[Calamity Jane]

Very neat - grew up near Jasper where I often saw wolves in the winter, always respected them as one of mother natures' least understood critters. Not as many around these days - population must've crashed, good to see they are flourishing somewhere, although I guess all that snow last year that wreaked havoc on the game up there kept their bellies full...

Thanks for sharing

[Jetboat]

Awesome pic's!! Just for fun, let's narrate this scene as the Disney/Mowatt crowd would have you believe...:wink:

(in my best Mrs. Doubtfire impression)

"...See children? My goodness, look at how the furry, fun loving wolves and the majestic moose can sleep side by side as friends in the forest. None of that horrible hunting & killing stuff here, gracious no! That's just poppycock and balderdash, spread by those terrible hunters! These friends are just tired from all the frolicking they were doing together :D We don't want to disturb them any longer, so let us leave them alone in their wilderness home, where they can continue to play in peace & harmony..."

[TIKA 300]

Awesome pic's!! Just for fun, let's narrate this scene as the Disney/Mowatt crowd would have you believe...:wink:

(in my best Mrs. Doubtfire impression)

"...See children? My goodness, look at how the furry, fun loving wolves and the majestic moose can sleep side by side as friends in the forest. None of that horrible hunting & killing stuff here, gracious no! That's just poppycock and balderdash, spread by those terrible hunters! These friends are just tired from all the frolicking they were doing together :D We don't want to disturb them any longer, so let us leave them alone in their wilderness home, where they can continue to play in peace & harmony..."
LOL !!!!! AINT THAT THE TRUTH !!!!! TK :grin: :biggrin:

[David Heitsman]

I'm with the poster who said to dispatch the moose.
A few years back I ran into an aged buffalo on the Sikanni that we could count his ribs and he was so blind that I walked up to within 20' of him taking his picture. I wanted to put him down and out of his misery but he was out in the open and that would have only drawn unwanted attention
from anyone in the air. I doubt he made it much longer.

[Allen50]

cool video and good pic, thanks.

[180grainer]

that's funny, I'm sure I saw those pics last year....

[wolverine]

Poor bugger. Thanks for the pics.

[Sitkaspruce]

that's funny, I'm sure I saw those pics last year....


180grainer

If you saw those pictures last year, they were not the same ones. It's funny how things can get twisted. The G/O I work for was sent the pictures and video from a Biologist in PG who says he took them while flying. I can the bio on it and he back peddled and I ask him to retract the statement about him taking them. He did. I have the video and about 15 pictures of this seen and three other witnesses. Not getting my panties in a knot, just do not understand your statement.

I could not and would not have shot the moose, it is mother nature in the real and I was not going to screw that up. Also carring a gun in a heli can get you into some interesting situations, most of which I did not want to deal with.