“Now you know why we made war on the dogs killing deer, I shot at the least 12 dogs in the foothills as a young man.”

-Ishmael

Commenting on Man Bites Dog

James:

You might find my run-ins with wild dogs here in eastern Iowa interesting. They mostly occurred on my family's farm that lies along the Maquoketa River. There was a large wild dog pack that persisted over many years in that area. I think they started out as feral but am pretty sure that they turned completely wild as I saw pups that were born in the wild.

1. I was treed by the wild dog pack many times when I was a kid (8-16 yrs) while I was out mushroom hunting in the spring and checking fence at other times. Always an exciting occurrence!

2. I've witnessed the dog pack pin a cow and here calf down and kill the calf. I yelled and threw sticks but it didn't stop them (I did not have a firearm on me). I was a kid and really wasn't able to stop it. Thankful they did not turn on me!

3. Bow hunting for wild dogs is best! There is no sound that scares the pack away like a gun. I called the pack in before while in a tree stand with a bow. I shot five of them from there as they barked at me in the tree. Shot them straight down. Like shooting fish in a barrel. They were so aggressive the whole pack circled the tree, tried running up the tree and bayed like they had treed me. As I shot them the other dogs acted confused and kept running around the tree. The silent bow/arrow did not scare them away like a firearm. Highly recommended experience!

4. I was group deer hunting with four other people in early December and we were walking down the lane with our shotguns (slugs for deer loaded). The pack ran straight at us to attack us! It was like a canine suicide run! We leveled them! Only thing I figure is that they were really hungry.

5. A neighboring farmer that I occasionally worked for had a fenced lean-to with about 40-50 sheep penned up in it. I went with him to feed the sheep one day and the dogs had attacked them. All sheep were dead. It was really a sight to see. The sheep were all in a big pile with some chewed up carcasses on the periphery. Most of the sheep had died from suffocation in the pile! They just piled up on top of each other when the dogs attacked. Heck of a sight. I think a group of humans would do the same thing in the right circumstances. We set a bunch of traps for the dogs around the sheep pile but they never came back. They did it out of pure sport or malice.

After all this that pack is gone now. Haven't seen a wild dog pack in a long time. There are two labs that are skulking around our farm now. They are not friendly and run away when we approach. Probably feral. My young son always carries his new .22 rifle now hoping for an adventure! I'm sure my stories are in his mind. I wished him luck in killing those dogs. Ah, the circle of life continues despite clownworld! I just told him not to tell any of his teachers or friends once he bags his quarry—it will be for us only. He'd probably get kicked out of elementary school!

Best regards.

-The Woodsman

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