Surrounded by Wolves, Duck Hunter Kills One With a 12-Gauge

Chase Melton told local outlet WJFW that he and his friends had set up their blind and decoys at a spot near St. Germain and were waiting for the ducks to arrive. But as daylight started to break, a 14-year-old hunting with Melton saw what he at first thought was a deer. When Melton looked closer, he realized the silhouetted animal was more ominous.

“I tried making some noise, I was clapping, stomping, breaking some sticks, whatever. This wolf turned at me and we locked eyes, and it started to come at us not like a walk but like a jog almost, and it was at about 40-50 yards,” Melton said. “So, I started to panic a little bit. They started panicking because they’re younger kids, and they’re like, oh my god, we’ve got wolves around us.”

Then, a 13-year-old who was also hunting with Melton noticed that there was another wolf behind the group.

“We had a wolf at about five yards. I probably could have touched it with my hand; that was extremely scary. So now we’re really panicking. We’re like, alright we’re surrounded. We have a wolf charging us right now,” Melton recalled.

The boys’ sense of being surrounded was confirmed by another hunter, who WJFW says was hunting about 300 yards away. That witness reported seeing five wolves around the blind with another four in the area. He also said the wolves were barking, growling, and howling.

A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) also confirmed in an email to MeatEater that the teens encountered a "group of wolves."

Melton kept his cool until one of the wolves came towards them and didn’t stop.

“This wolf got within 15 yards, and I’m like he’s still coming, he’s still coming. He got within 8-10 yards, and it’s not what I wanted to do, but to protect us and to protect them, we felt harmed, so I pulled the trigger,” said Melton.

Melton says he used his 12-gauge shotgun to shoot the wolf in the face at close range with a waterfowl load. The wolf fell to the ground, which is when Melton noticed strange behavior from one of its pack mates.

“This wolf that was five yards behind us went off into the woods, came down, and then grabbed this wolf that I shot by the neck and started dragging it off. I’ve never witnessed something like that,” he said.

The Wisconsin DNR confirmed to MeatEater that Melton contacted them immediately after the incident and that there is an ongoing investigation.

“They reported that incident to DNR right away. A DNR conservation warden and biologist were able to follow up that morning to investigate and confirmed that it was a wolf, and at this time the investigation remains open so unfortunately, I’m unable to share any more details at this time,” said the DNR spokesperson.

The DNR estimates that there are nearly 1,000 wolves in Wisconsin, the majority of which are located in the northern third of the state. St. Germain, where this incident took place, is in located north-central Wisconsin.

Wolves are still listed as federally endangered in Wisconsin, and it is illegal to kill them to defend livestock or pets. But they can be killed to protect human life, which is what Melton says he did.

Wolves rarely attack humans, and the DNR has claimed that no human has ever been killed or injured by a wolf in Wisconsin in recorded history.

“Just like any wild animal, wolves tend to avoid humans. Verified cases of healthy wolves attacking humans are extremely rare, and there have been no documented cases in Wisconsin,” the agency says. “Most incidents of wolf aggression toward people have involved wolves that have become habituated to people or involved domestic dogs.”

Hound hunters in northern Wisconsin must be especially careful to reduce the chances of their dogs being attacked. So far this year, 20 hunting dogs have been killed by wolves, and another seven have been injured. To avoid conflict with wolves, the DNR recommends that hunters stay informed on recent depredations and check out this page for more information.