BWCA I saw a Wolf...finally Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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08/21/2018 10:05AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
It has been a dream of mine to encounter this majestic animal in the wild. After almost 40 trips to BWCA during open water and winter seasons, my dream was fulfilled.

My daughter and I were camping on Bootleg Lake on August 10th. Weather was fantastic and the fish were hungry. While fishing for small and largemouth bass along the eastern shore of this isolated lake, we heard a significant commotion in the forest just 30 yards from us. Being quite in-tune to sounds of the woods, we "froze" and listened and waited. A deer yearling ran directly into the lake and began to swim away. The deer decided to embark on a 1/2 mile crossing of the open water. Obviously, "something" was up.

Several minutes later (it is difficult to measure time in such a moment), a large wolf appeared in exactly the same spot on the shoreline. It looked at the deer in the distance, sniffed the air several times, then... it looked directly at us. We experienced an indescribable stare down for several seconds. Our eyes met. We could see him in his magnificence just 20 yards from our boat. It was big grey with an even darker mane and dark front of his face. Eventually, the wolf turned back into the woods, only to reappear in a clearing 100 feet from shore where he eyed us again! Then it was gone!


Photo of the deer swimming away.

My daughter was so mesmerized by the wolf she did not capture the image. It was so special to us words can't describe.

Just sharing this experience with all of you wilderness enthusiasts.
 
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08/21/2018 11:23AM  
Wow, how exciting! What an experience. So the wolf didn't go into the water after the deer?
 
08/21/2018 11:36AM  
No sir, it did not. I can imagine the water seemed like to much of an obstacle for him. The deer was probably already 1/4 of a mile off of the opposite shoreline.
 
ChazzTheGnome
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08/21/2018 11:45AM  
wow, that sounds like a great experience.
 
08/21/2018 01:01PM  
LIS South route is indeed special! Probably one of the most “wild” areas of the BWCA. Great that you guys could experience such a special event!
 
Basspro69
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08/21/2018 01:50PM  
Very cool !
 
canoepaddle
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08/21/2018 04:15PM  
Congrats. A memory you and your daughter will always share. I posted this a few years ago, my wolf memory.

 
08/21/2018 04:19PM  
Nice story. And well told.
 
JATFOMike
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08/21/2018 05:12PM  
What an awesome experience to be able to share with your daughter!

Mike
 
andym
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08/21/2018 05:39PM  
Fantastic. I treasure the one sighting I've had and I was nowhere near as close as you and didn't get that sort of interaction. Very cool story and I enjoyed reading it.
 
08/21/2018 05:59PM  
Super cool! We were camped on Bootleg several years back and woke in the morning to wolves howling off to our left... and then more answering from off to our right. Can only imagine how much more amazing to actually see a wolf!
 
SourisMan
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08/21/2018 06:09PM  
Interesting! I only saw one wolf in many trips, and it was doing exactly what your wolf was. We saw a whitetail buck swimming across Larch Lake, and a big gray wolf bounding along the shoreline trying to keep pace. The buck veered, and swam close to the point our campsite was on. As it swam by, the wolf sped past the back of our site, about 30 yards away from us. I don't think it ever saw us. Quite a thrill!
 
08/21/2018 08:33PM  
It is cool to see a first animal in the wild, brings back memories of my first moose and bear sightings up north. Those memories last a lifetime that you always will cherish
 
Duckman
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08/21/2018 08:55PM  
Always been fascinated by wolves. Have read white fang and call of the wild every year for thirty years. Just dreamt of seeing one in the Bdub for most of my life.

So... First wolf I ever saw was running out from behind a dumpster at an outfitter on our way out! Not nearly how I planned it.
 
molshove
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08/21/2018 11:12PM  
Amazing. Would love to actually see one, can still remember the first time I heard them howling at night. Woke up after a storm cleared on the southeast side of bald eagle to their howling. Chilled me to the bones.
 
jhb8426
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08/22/2018 12:02AM  
Saw one about 4-5 years ago running down the road about 4 miles from Sawbill.
 
smoke11
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08/22/2018 06:24AM  
Very cool!
 
08/22/2018 06:34AM  
Awesome! I hear them on most trips but never gotten a glimpse. My best encounter came just before dawn when I was solo on McNiece Lake in Quetico. I lay in the tent when I hear a lone wolf let out a very mournful sounding call. It seemed very close to me like within 100 yards. He called very slow and deliberate twice and that was it. A lone wolf I guess, like me at the time. I'll never forget it.

I'm sure you and your daughter will be telling this story the rest of your life.




 
inspector13
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08/22/2018 07:24AM  

Can you imagine what its like when a pack comes into your yard?

 
08/22/2018 09:21AM  
Those wolves are pretty smart creatures.
It seems this one calculated its odds of catching the deer from that distance.
A great experience for you and her.
 
QueticoMike
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08/22/2018 10:23AM  
Nice! I saw a wolf on my last trip to Quetico in the first 30 minutes before we even reached the first portage. The guy I was with had never seen one before. It took him awhile before he saw what I was trying to point out to him. It finally came down close to shore and he was able to make it out. We were a distance away but it was definitely a wolf. I think I have seen wolves like 8 times now. I've had a couple of close encounters with them, being just feet away, once one swimming across a lake and being in a canoe next to it. Another time sitting in a solo canoe along the shore and the wolf didn't see me until I grabbed for my paddle when it was 15 feet away. Good stories to have under my belt. I see wolves more often than moose these days.....sad.

Here are a couple of old pics of the wolf in the lake before sunrise......


 
Othello
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08/22/2018 11:30AM  
Fantastic experience, and thanks for sharing the story. I would love to see one someday, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be awake all night if I did.
 
08/22/2018 07:34PM  
Really cool!
 
08/22/2018 07:59PM  
Only ever saw them on the road heading to/from Armstrong ON. The latest was in June and it felt like stare down which the wolf won.
 
Zwater
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08/22/2018 08:34PM  
Seeing a wolf is a great experience, don't get me wrong. I have seen 11 while many years of deer hunting and 1 moose. Coincidene? There does need to be a controlled hunt for them again. Ask any cattle farmer "up north" what they think about them.
 
08/22/2018 09:00PM  
Congratulations It is an awesome site. I had a very fleeting look at a Wolf. Would have been a much longer look but a jackass in my party decided to proclaim to everyone one throughout the land that he sees a wolf. Never tripped with that guy again
 
Zwater
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08/22/2018 10:07PM  
So you never tripped with him again because he said he seen a wolf?
 
jhb8426
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08/22/2018 11:01PM  
Zwater: "So you never tripped with him again because he said he seen a wolf?
"


Maybe the guy was a Loud Talker...
 
andym
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08/23/2018 05:29AM  
I’m guessing the point is that while they were looking at the wolf, the guy loudly proclaimed that he saw it and thus ended the wolf encounter. That’s high on the list of cardinal camping sins in my book.
 
08/23/2018 07:08AM  
andym: "I’m guessing the point is that while they were looking at the wolf, the guy loudly proclaimed that he saw it and thus ended the wolf encounter. That’s high on the list of cardinal camping sins in my book. "

You got it
 
riverrunner
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08/23/2018 10:57AM  
I am glad you finely saw a wolf.

They are any thing but rare any more in Northern MN or Wis.

I have saw up to 24 in one year I have them on the game cam's all the time.

Had them walk by the house.
 
Zwater
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08/23/2018 01:03PM  
jhb8426: "
Zwater: "So you never tripped with him again because he said he seen a wolf?
"



Maybe the guy was a Loud Talker... "


Haha! Maybe:)
 
Zwater
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08/23/2018 04:04PM  
Blatz: "
andym: "I’m guessing the point is that while they were looking at the wolf, the guy loudly proclaimed that he saw it and thus ended the wolf encounter. That’s high on the list of cardinal camping sins in my book. "

You got it"


So a friend you were with said "wolf" too loud so you ended tripping with him? Wow!
 
08/23/2018 08:45PM  
Zwater: "
Blatz: "
andym: "I’m guessing the point is that while they were looking at the wolf, the guy loudly proclaimed that he saw it and thus ended the wolf encounter. That’s high on the list of cardinal camping sins in my book. "

You got it"



So a friend you were with said "wolf" too loud so you ended tripping with him? Wow!"

Who said anything about a friend.I think the term I used was Jackass.
 
Zwater
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08/23/2018 08:51PM  
Who would ever trip with someone you consider a "jackass?" That is on you then.
 
Moosepatrol
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08/23/2018 09:14PM  
Who cried wolf?
 
08/23/2018 09:46PM  
So amazing.

when I once asked the International Wolf crew what to do if I saw a wolf in the wild they paused and said.... "snap a photo....!"
 
browndog16
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08/23/2018 11:03PM  
I was on Jasper in late July and, at about 7pm we heard a pack of them at least 10 of them howling. My buddy and I were thrilled to here them. It sounded like they were on kingfisher. And for the next 5 days they howled at around 7. Our final night they didn't how until midnight. That made us think for a second but just realized they were saying goodbye. It was a great experience.
 
08/24/2018 06:52AM  
Zwater: "Who would ever trip with someone you consider a "jackass?" That is on you then."

Sometimes the "actual" person is reveled durning wilderness trips.
 
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