Wisconsin Wolves Kill Six Hunting Dogs in 48-Hour Period

Grey wolves killed six bear searching canines and injured two others throughout a brutal 48-hour interval in Wisconsin’s Langlade County final weekend, in response to the state Department of Natural Resources.

The assaults unfolded throughout three separate incidents on September 26 and 27, marking one of many deadliest weekends for searching canines lately. USDA Wildlife Companies confirmed wolves have been accountable after investigating puncture wounds, tracks, and hair proof at every scene.

The primary assaults occurred Friday morning close to the Ackley Wildlife Space when a gaggle of bear hunters launched seven canines to pursue two black bears. The hounds, largely Plott hounds with one Leopard curr, cut up up through the chase and ran right into a wolf pack.

Hunters monitoring their canines’ GPS collars observed the alerts had stopped transferring. Once they reached the primary location, they discovered three canines useless and two injured. At a second website roughly 900 yards away, they found two extra canines killed.

“Doubtless these occasions occurred concurrently,” DNR assistant wolf specialist Danielle Deming instructed native media. She believes the identical pack was accountable for each Friday assaults based mostly on the shut proximity.

The next day, wolves struck once more about 15 miles north close to Elcho. A hunter launched a 7-year-old Plott hound to path a bear, however the canine’s GPS collar stopped transferring inside minutes. The hunter reached the placement in roughly 5 minutes however discovered the canine already useless.

In keeping with Deming, most wolf assaults on searching canines happen when hounds inadvertently run by rendezvous websites, areas the place wolf packs hold their pups after they’ve outgrown their dens. These concentrations of wolves are typical in late summer time and early fall, and packs will aggressively defend these places.

“The canine homeowners had observed their canines’ GPS collars had stopped transferring on the receiver, so that they adopted the canines’ trails into the woods,” Deming defined.

The timing aligns with DNR knowledge displaying most depredations occur throughout hound coaching season in July and August, and once more throughout fall searching season.

Wisconsin’s estimated 1,226 wolves killed 21 searching canines and injured 16 others to this point in 2025. That’s roughly in step with latest years: 24 killed and 10 injured in 2024, and 28 killed and seven injured in 2023.

The DNR maintains an interactive map displaying the place depredations have occurred and designates “wolf warning areas” to warn hunters about packs which have beforehand attacked canines.

“As soon as a pack has attacked a canine in a searching or coaching scenario, there’s a excessive chance that one other assault will happen once more throughout the identical 12 months or inside the following 12 months,” the DNR states.

As a result of wolves stay federally protected in Wisconsin, each depredation requires a USDA Wildlife Companies investigation. Confirmed circumstances make homeowners eligible for state compensation.

Hunters operating hounds in wolf nation ought to examine the DNR’s depredation map earlier than turning canines free.

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award-winning outside journalist who resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly outside column for the Slidell Impartial Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Outside Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery. To contact Keith e mail: keithlusherjr@gmail.com