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We had a pack of wolves kill a deer in town in the early morning hours of Jan. 29.
It was a windy night and the power was out in part of town. City utility workers were out looking for what caused the outage and saw half a dozen wolves running through town. “The wind was howling and the wolves were howling.”
The next morning Jon Ojala saw something lying in the snow and thought maybe someone had fallen in the alley. What he found was a dead deer and wolf tracks the size of his hand. In town.
If this concerns you there is a “Wolf Predation Meeting” coming up you may want to attend. Hunters for Hunters will be meeting at the Babbitt Municipal Center gym on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.
The organization’s “About H4H” webpage says the group advocates for: “Taking back your rights, and forging a better direction that benefits our hunting traditions.”
The new hunting group has held numerous meetings in northern Minnesota open to anyone who wanted to provide comments or just listen to the conversation.
“We are a coalition of hunters, landowners, and farmers dedicated to protecting the hunt. We’ve united to push for proper wildlife management policies and to raise awareness of the issues facing our community. Our goal is simple: Keep the hunt alive for future generations.”
While the state’s lack of management of wolves is a hot topic, there is a related problem that needs to be addressed. Feeding deer in town should be banned. Babbitt is working on an ordinance on this and Ely should follow suit.
We would also advocate for a deer archery season in town. Ten years ago seeing a deer in town was a novelty, now it’s commonplace. That needs to end. Wild animals like deer and wolves belong in the woods. Even if one is killing the other.
