A central Wisconsin hunter believes the number of wolves in the central forest region is greatly underestimated.
Jason Tibbett was out training bear-hunting dogs just east of Fairchild Sunday. The dogs were performing magnificently, having bayed a bear in less than 10 minutes. That's when his friend's dog, Nelly, a 3-and-a-half year old female walker-red tick hound, was killed.
Tibbett says the dog came running past him with three wolves chasing after it. The owner tried to distract the wolves, but they attacked the dog.
Hunting is a way of life for Tibbett's family. He even takes his two young boys out to the woods with him. Now, with three hunting dogs killed by wolves in the last couple weeks in Clark County, Tibbett has some concerns that the wolf population is being underestimated.
The DNR has a website that shows areas where dog depredations have occurred. They urge those training bear dogs to exercise great caution if those areas.