I have ordered some of the 28 gauge slugs. I use a 28 when grouse hunting in Northern Minnesota. Several years ago while hunting we had a very large wolf saunter across an opening toward our 70 pound Gordon Setter. It was easily large enough to carry off our dog(!) I shouted at it and waved my hands (always worked on bears in the Virginia mountains) to no avail and then shot at it at about 40 yards with my cylinder bore (7 1/2s). It just looked at me. I managed to get closer to our dog, between it and the wolf, and it finally strolled off. My wife and I both bought handguns after that incident, but there are so many problems with trying to carry a handgun, a couple of 28 gauge slugs would be a better alternative.

Now that might be the best idea yet I have heard justifying a 28 gauge slug.

I don't know the ballistics of a 28 gauge slug as compared to a handgun, but would think the muzzle velocity foot pounds would be higher and deliver a more potent shot than a hand gun, and probably be more accurate out to 20 yards.

My dad long time ago in Minnesota had the same thing happen to him with a wolf chasing his setter down to within 5 yards of him. Dog never even saw the wolf until my dad yelled at it. At first he thought is was a sheep or goat with that big long face running across a clear cut until it got closer. Luckily his setter was close but he had gun up ready to shoot but was able to call it off. Like your incident that wolf looked surprised that my dad was there and did not run off but just stopped and sort of walked off. I guess they are still protected. Get a couple of round over their head or get peppered a few times they may get wary of man. Most dangerous bears are the park bears that are protected and not afraid of man. I guess that goes with wolfs as well.

Several years later he also got separated from a dog up there we believe a wolf might of gotten him but can't be sure since dog disappeared. It had a chip in the ear and everything and he let every vet and animal control person in norther Minnesota know about it but never a heard a word back.

Todd,

Minnesota established a wolf season a few years back, but the animal rights folks got to a federal judge and stopped it. I think there are more than a few deer hunters in the North Woods that will shoot wolves if given the chance, at least that's the sense I get when I talk with them. It's a bit intimidating to pull up to a covert and just as we are about to release the dogs, we hear two packs howling back and forth, both within several hundred yards. I did go with a 16 gauge for a while because I could find buck shot, but it's hard to leave the 28 in the truck.

I sure am sorry to learn about your Dad's dog. It's a scary prospect to have a lost dog in the North Woods with the number of wolves around. I understand that hunters who run hounds after game, especially in Wisconsin, are losing dogs to wolves with regularity. I do use a beeper on our dogs in hopes of running off any nearby wolves.

This coming season I'll be packing slugs.

Even better for wolves would be a buckshot load. Not sure such a load is commercially available, but I would think there are handloading recipes to be found.

-Victor

Garry it was rough on my dad to lose his dog, especially really not knowing what happened to him. He was there for his usual week of hunting and lost that dog the second day and spent rest of the week agonizing trying to find him and going to nearby towns and vets. He always used bells. He thinks someone might of picked him and was not thinking of a wolf until months later. He was a big Llewellyn and he was a bit rangey for grouse woods but he could find em and never would wander off too far. He was walking down this old rail road bed that terminated into a swamp lake like a dead end. Dog went down into some cover of old clear cut and he could hear his bell working and then it stopped and he went to where he last heard him thinking on point about 75 yards away and dog was not there and never saw or heard him again.

Dog was also very distinguishable for a setter. Seems he got some sort of infection on tip of his tail and it would never heal up. It confound the vet. Part of his tail about an inch or two at time would just die and part of tail had to be amputated three times. Dog had antibiotics pumping through him, clean bandages and ointments etc. Anyway dog had lost two thirds of his tail before it healed up. So if anyone sees an old Llewellyn setter in Minnesota with only 1/3 a tail that would be about 15 now let me know.

Gosh, Todd, your story makes me cringe. What a horrible thing to lose a dog like that. On two separate occasions while hunting in Northern Minnesota, we came upon lost dogs. Both times we loaded them into our truck and, praise be, both times the first truck we found belonged to the owners. I've lost one dog in my nearly 40 years of following them, and it was an awful experience. Fortunately I found my dog well after dark, but it was one of the worst experiences I've every had. I probably hold 'em too close, but they are our family. Thanks for responding to my post. I hope you never have another lost dog in your family, and I hope your father's dog is alive and well, living in retirement with a family that cares well for a short-tailed setter.

Victor, If you come across any recipes, let me know. Thanks!

Hope so to but if he was taken care of possibly a Vet would have picked up on the chip in the ear. Maybe they did and someone would lie and say he bought him after taking him way off some where, but that is probably not the case.

All our bird dogs were trained to hunt close in cover so that is what was so strange. That is only dog in our family that has ever been lost like that. We too have picked up only one or two dogs that got lost on hunts ourselves and would wait by the truck at a close obvious point and sure enough some one would come by and ask if seen a dog. That is what he thought would happen. Yep that trip plus grouse numbers down and some other minor things put an awful taste in his mouth. He loves it up there but he is not been back hunting up there since.