Thursday, August 28, 2008

largest timber wolf ever killed & photgraphed

November 18, 1935, It was the third day of deer season in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Earl Eastman was hunting with Fred Masse and a couple of Earl's buddies from Flint MI. They had been hunting around the Rhody Creek Trail (between Seney and Grand Marais Mich.). Earl had left his lunch in his car and was walking back to get it when he had stopped to rest in some heavy hemlocks, while wondering why he had not seen any deer so far, considering that it was a great day for hunting with 10-12 inches of snow on the ground, when all of a sudden he heard what sounded like horses running throuh the woods and here comes three deer, a doe and two fawns, comming down the hill right at him! One of the fawns fell and the doe seemed to be helping it get to its feet when from over the hill came one of the damnedest roars he had ever heard. It was a scary sound, Earl had thought to himself: a lion has escaped from a circus and is after those deer! Earl could not believe his eyes as he looked up and saw this huge timber wolf come bounding down the hill. His first shot missed him and he leaped in the air at the sound of the gunshot, twisting just as i fired again. Earl's second shot took him clean through the shoulders and he fell to the ground, roaring. Then he swears he heard another wolf roaring from over the hill. He then slowly edged up to the beast he had just shot, he was howling, frothing at the mouth and glaring at me with bright yellow eyes like an owl. He shot him again just grazing his skull, and finally killed him with his fourth shot. On dragging the great wolf to his car he had to stop every 8-10 feet as he figured the wolf weighed well over 200 pounds and the going was tuff. shortly Fred Masse cought up with Earl, assuming he was going to help with a deer. (imagine his surprise) any way Fred helped Earl drag the wolf to the car, and propped the wolf in the hood of the car, and used a stick to prop open the wolf's mouth,by this time is was now dark, and just down the trail 2 men and their wives were stuck in the snow, the men Earl, and Fred helped to push them out, then one of the men asked the hunters if they had, had any luck? Fred responded: "Want to see our luck?" and led them back to the car, Fred shined his flashlight at the wolf's head, and one of the women screamed bloody murder and fainted dead away! When the men got back to Grand Marais, Charlie Goodman gutted the wolf and threw the guts into a pig pen in the back of Fred Masse's house. the damn pigs almost stomped each other to death trying to get away from the smell of wolf. The next morning Ol'man Trombly (he deliverd ice and milk with a one-horse wagon) was coming down the road toward town when his horse got wind of a strong odor of wolf. The horse wheeled and bolted away in the opposite direction, scattering milk every which way, and nearly scaring to death poor Ol' Trombly. Nick Carter was the game warden at the time and he estimated the wolf to be about six years old, and one of the biggest he'd ever seen. One of the offers Earl had for the wolf was $200.00 and three, 10 point bucks. This was a very temping offer at the time, but Earl said no. Later he took the wolf back to Flint where a man from Pittsburgh offered $250.00 plus mount the wolf, and let Earl have it on display in his barber shop in Flint for two years. It was then taken to the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, and put on display in a wildlife scene. The wolf was officially measured at 7 feet 11 inches long, stood 39 inches at the shoulders and 12-3/4 inches across the skull. It weighed 182 pounds after it had been gutted. This story is found in; The Great Lakes Pilot - a collectors edition, silver anniversary issue. This paper is printed and issued out of Grand Marais Mich. I am fortunate enough that my daughter dates the owners, writers, and publishers son,who not only helped me attain this lost issue but who also deliveres this paper all across the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin. On an interesting note; apon contacting the Carnegie Institue about the wolf mount it was discovered that they lost it! They cannot find any records of it and have no idea where it is or where it went? There is a photo of above wolf in the paper listed above. I hope you read and enjoy the full artical.