Brittany Boddington Takes Down a European Wolf in Macedonia

by Brittany Boddington • September 20, 2011 • 57 comments

For those of you that have been reading my earlier posts about our wolf hunt in Macedonia with The Hunting Consortium, you know the driven wolf hunt that we tried the other day didn’t work.

So, we went back to the original and unexciting plan of sitting in a blind at night.

I’m not opposed to sitting in blinds, it’s just a bit difficult to stay awake in a silent blind all night in the dark, but I did my best.

 

We drove about forty minutes to get to the wolf blind and stopped for the most amazing burgers you have ever seen, they were massive but great! The blind was an insane looking burned out old van that they had converted to a comfortable hunting structure. The windows were covered with metal panels that opened, and the seats were turned sideways so you could shoot out of the window comfortably. We settled in and tried to get comfortable with all the night vision equipment.

It wasn’t even an hour before the first wolf arrived, but this was my first time using night vision so I struggled to see the it through the scope. By the time the fourth wolf showed up I had it figured out, and when he stopped behind the bait I shot him in the front shoulder.

It was a bit low, but the shot broke the shoulder. Without even thinking I hit him with a follow-up shotgun shell and he dropped. We waited for the spotlight to arrive and went looking for him.

The big guy had moved from the spot where we last saw him, and it was impossible to see where he had gone in the tall grass. We decided to come back the next morning, and after a long night of waiting and wondering we found him near where he was last spotted.

He is a nice mature male wolf with ahuge body and head! There is risk for rabies in this area, so we can’t touch him without gloved hands, but his fur is beautiful and I couldn’t be happier! This wraps up my hunt with The Hunting Consortium here in Macedonia, so tonight we are going out to celebrate! Tomorrow I head to Turkey to hunt with Shikar Safaris for another two weeks so keep checking in there is a whole lot more hunting to come! (There might even be some fishing!)

In Riflescopes, The Urban Huntress, Uncategorized • Tagged , ,
  • TIM HUNKE

    If rabis is bad, why does the guy in the photo not have on gloves.

    • RVT2013

      Rabies are transmitted by blood or saliva contact. so you either have to eat the wolf, lick its mouth or cut yourself and rub his blood on you not necesarraly in that order, but you get my drift. as long as he washed his hands with iodine after words and followed up with some germ killers, he should be fine. however, it is very misleading.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jack.creed Jack Creed

      Also if you've had a rabies vaccine for working with other animals as alot of places working with animals require you're pretty much good to go. I'd assume if rabies is an issue in the area enough to note then whoever fingers are in the pic likely has been vaccinated. I had to get rabies shots just to volunteer at an animal shelter so that is my take on it anyroad.

    • kls

      Hunting is sick, wolves are beautiful animals that have the ability to improve whole environments, they are not killers, they hunt for need not want or fun, it is you who is the killer and should be ashamed.

  • TIM HUNKE

    Good Story.

  • Frank

    He meant Rabbi that's why!

  • Bill Adock

    Not quite sure why this was considered such a great "hunting" story. No hunting was required as far as I am concerned. Sitting in a van and waiting? Seriously…

  • http://AOL BILL ALLMON

    WONDER IF HE HAD A FAMILY NOW STARVING BECAUSE OF YOUR URGE TO KILL—I HUNT BUT NOT FOR FUN

    • Bob

      I completely agree with you. How are you going to pluck a life, that is not in excessive population size, out of existence and sit there and smile as if you have accomplished something to brag about. Maybe we should sit and wait for her ginger head to poke out of her comfort zone and BANG!!!

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002232425839 Sierra McGrath

      I strongly agree

  • Robb Foster

    Interesting comments. A rebellion in the ranks? About time!

  • Kevin Behnke

    Wander how this one taste? I hunt cuz its fun but i use what i hunt. I dont hunt for trophy. this is why we have endagered and extinct creatures! what a true shame!!!!!

    • Sam

      You obviously do ñøt understand hunting. Or spelling. Hunting is regulated to prevent that, and îf you do hunt, your shaming the sport.

  • will

    Even preditors need to be controled. Look at the wolves in the U.S., gettin out of control and killing everything in there area!

    • Kevin Behnke

      look at the blood thirsty retards gettin out of control and killing everything too! should we be out there killing the people and land developers? i do agree with predator control, this was not preditor control. was this in a suburban neighbor hood or on someones farm?

    • Doug

      are you SERIOUS!!! Where is that wolf population cause I would love to know. Hunting wolves have negitive impact period. There are no benifits from it. What some billionaire ranger lost a cow or lamb. If you can afford to be in the cattle buisness you dont need to be in the cattle business cause it cost a fortune to start. So argue as you may bottom line is if you feel the need to kill a wolf go kill your buddy's German Shepard Dog.!!!!!! It would be equally worthy of bragging

      • SD

        Doug you really have no idea what yo are talking about. Most ranchers aren't billionaires. For most ranchers loosing a cow is like the average person loosing one of his paychecks in a month. Get yor facts straight.

      • http://www.facebook.com/jack.creed Jack Creed

        If you don't think their is any reason to hunt wolves you haven't really studied managerial of reintroduced predators or even just threatened predators. I am a wolf lover but realistically their are several reasons for it. Most the packs in Europe are either reintroduced or scattered so far apart they have a snowballs chance in hell of breeding outside their close blood relatives. To cut down on the harmful effects of inbreeding the same agencies that prevent poaching and make room in already crowded habitats to introduce unrelated wolves in efforts to in hopes of preventing inbreeding to the point they are literally losing population just from birth defects and still births. They are also known to dart and artificially inseminate females then let them go back to the pack when population isn't an issue. Ontop of that they usually issue literally a handful of permits per year to hunt various animals that are either overpopulated for the area that can sustain them or at the brink of over populating the area when they have plans to introduce new bloodlines to the area. If the wolves in america keep doing as well as some of the packs are they'll be issuing permits to hunt them within 10 or 20 years too. The fact of the matter is most the good habitat is already destroyed and leveling a city to make a bigger habitat is pretty much an international war crime against your own citizens. We fucked up the natural order and its unfortunate but it falls to the agencies who issue hunting licences to study the effects of that and try to strike a balance where the animals can survive in the world that exists without long term extinction do simply to many generations of inbreeding making it impossible for them to reproduce at the rate they die from it's harmful effects. On top of that the goal of any introduction is to allow the animals to re-establish themselves not take over and harm people and or other wildlife. Too many wolves in too small an area equals to few reindeer or other prey animals equals having to try balancing another species that is threatened. On top of that if the population gets too high it wont matter how much or how often they introduce new bloodlines into the area to negate forced inbreeding do to isolation because their will simply be to many breeding wolves for their efforts to do more then make a tiny dent in the problem. Seriously tho don't just spout shit off without a basic knowledge of how scientists actually manage reintroduced and endangered species because the issue boils down pretty simple with large predators when they over breed limited habitat and prey, because before any of us were born most their habitat had already been divided or destroyed by people, their is alot of animals that are born once they are established and only a handful of places they could even consider relocating animals too. If we we're talking about rodents, voles, birds or anything that requires less habitat and less of a healthy unaltered eco system to survive semi naturally their would be tons of places for relocation. But realistically that isn't the case and their just aren't enough places for how high the population can go unchecked. My other point is economy, these agencies like ours are mostly funded by hunting licences and tags and they generally have to pick their poison so to speak. If they issue to many tags and permits their work is for nothing and fails, if they issue too few they don't have the funding and lose jobs aka can't prevent poaching and preserve habitat. Sorry so ranty

        • http://www.facebook.com/jack.creed Jack Creed

          Ohh and another reason would be rabies, agencies that manage wild populations of endangered or or threatened animals often cull sick animals from the group that might endanger the health of the entire population. I doubt that is the case here obviously but as you said the impact is "negative period" i figured i'd throw it out there.

          • http://www.facebook.com/jack.creed Jack Creed

            Also since someone will undoubtedly say "prey animals will survive on instinct" even tho those populations haven't had to deal with wolves for generations before reintroduction let me point out the sickening practice of canned hunts. Animals raised in an area without constant predation simply do not learn to escape predatory attack as well and too many wolves in an area before the prey has a chance to get used to being hunted again over generations can be very damaging and potentially cause localized extinction of prey species making the area uninhabitable by wolves until repopulated naturally or by the same agencies which would then have to issue more permits to hunt wolves so that the reintroduced prey species could then have a chance to recover. Plus the girl is totally hot if she killed the easter bunny i would justify it :D

    • Bob

      Where are they getting out of control again? The greater Northwest… Oh thats right, they used to roam free over almost the entire country. Human population control not getting out of control? Or how about urban sprawl? Wait, which preditor needs to be controled?

  • Keenan Turner

    One 'big-assed wolf" – one "nice looking red-head"!

  • Brian

    Is this all that Petersen's Hunting magazine is about? Every issue… the Boddingtons. Getting tired of reading about the Boddingtons traveling around the world – hunting things no one cares about on a budget most common hunters don't have.

    • Sally

      Thought I was the only one who noticed. Don't mind it once in a while, but after a while it appears their only hobby is killing. Don't respect that at all.

    • Bob

      CONSERVATION is a virtue that can be measured , to some, on a monitary scale. God forbid you actually car about thses species or the environments they live. Hey, I have a great idea… Lets hope on a plane to fly some where, get in a truck to drive some where remote with the help of a guide and shoot something just for the hell of it!!! Thank you God for this land and all living creatures living on it that you have given me dominion over. What a load of CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Sally

    Night vision goggles over a baited area…about as far from what I call hunting as can be. My five year old could have done as well.

  • Stephen

    Brian and Sally are dead on!! I wont be renewing my sub to the magazine. Night vision….what a world class "hunter" your Boddington family hunt is pathetic!

  • Grant Corley

    I guess I have a stupid question. What is so bad about a human shooting a Wolf that will attack Man &/or Man's animals, Pets or animals used for food & nobody thinks anything about it, until the wolf kills a child or adult & then they get all excited about the tragedy. Selective thinning of a population of predators has never hurt anything. I enjoyed the story & am glad for her. I enjoy reading about the Boddington's hunts as they are making hunts that I will never get to do myself, but I do enjoy reading & looking @ pictures of their hunt. Keep up the good work, both, Peterson's Hunting & the Boddingtons. I suppose that hunting Deer from a blind on a cold morning is unsportsman like. I do not agree. It still takes a degree of skill to hit & Cleanly Kill the animal w/ a well placed shot day or night, hot or cold, & @ various ranges.

  • Shane Boushie

    I never thought I would hear so many cry babies on this sight. Ok, so you don't think it is hunting. Try substituting predator control and maybe you will feel better. And then you have the jealous ones that are attacking the Boddingtons for being able to do what we wish we could do. You sound like Obama and his class warfare campaign he has launched. Grow up and try being men and women.

    • Kevin Behnke

      maybe you should do a little more research before you speak because half of what politics are being delt with are from the end of dumbass W error

  • http://www.best-baby-playards.com/ barn

    It's a big wolf, good job!!

  • Lex

    Ain`t a big wolf. Redhead is sitting at least 5 ft. behind the wolf. Head of the animal as big as a man´s hand, so size of a small dog.

    • applepickers

      What pic are you looking at?

  • C.T.

    Wolf meat is delicious and low in cholesterol. Way to go! I wish I could go glad some people can. I would get tired of reading about hunting squirrels with a pellet gun. Got to agree with Shane grow up! I love Spotted Owl cooked on the grill with bbq sauce.

  • Layne Peterson

    being in wyoming and seeing the elk and moose herds desimated by the wolves and grizz-lies the bunny huggers and holyer than thou can stay home. we have lost too much wildlife!! what about baiting how many of u r using bait 4 your bear hunts??

  • JEFFERY

    What can I say ! Nothing hotter than a SEXY woman witha gun !!!

  • RVT2013

    Its interesting how they do not give a weight or size of the wolf. For any other matter explaining what they plan to do with it. If they were true hunters, they would not cower in vehicles and sheds… hunt like a man hunts.. even a women like myself knows that sweety. Hunt for food, and over population, not for a trophy that will collect dust and be thrown away when you pass on… Let the legacy of the wise wolf live.

  • R. Bryan

    Great story! I enjoy reading articles from the Boddingtons and all of the staff from Peterson's Magazines. I can't help to suspect that some these posters are either naive or have never gotten outside of their apartment complex. If you live anywhere close to a wooded area you have no problem with predator control; because I'm sure you'll know all the problems predators will cause.

  • Stephen

    Not objecting to hunting wolves people….. Did you read the part about "We settled in and tried to get comfortable with all the night vision equipment"

    These people are not ethical hunters. They are no better than night poachers, shooting out of a truck window.

    Shame on the magazine to glorify this garbage.

    • applepickers

      Why don't you go and track a wolf down?

    • Rem

      Wasn't out of a truck window Stephen! And diff. countries have diff. laws just as here in the states each has diff. hunting laws. Just cause you don't like a law in another place doesn't mean it is wrong. You use to not be able to gun hunt deer out of a tree stand in MI, does that mean it is wrong now that you can? I think most of the comments on this page are just from a bunch of antis trying to stir stuff up. HATERS GONNA HATE!!

  • Greg

    Did she shoot the tracker this time like Africa she's cute but maybe keep her bullets like Barney Fife

  • hunter

    Awesome story Brittany!!!

  • Lance Headrick

    Hater and whiners. This site is free…if you don't like it don't look. If you subscribe and don't like it, don't pay. Kevin Behnke do you really believe Obama is that much better? Great, carry your politico somewhere else…I though we were here about hunting. (I do not agree with night vision and hunting from a burned out van and I am jealous about going all over the world to hunt) Maybe we should tell them what we want to see and hear about as opposed to just whining.

  • Darryl Rogers

    Good Job Miss Brittney. I hunt because it is fun. I also hunt because I to eat wild game. However, I would not at any canine. We must understand why one would hunt any canine, conservation. Any animal that is taken and it is not eatable still does not go to waste. The animal, like your wolf makes a fantastic trophy. Even when the meat, the uneatable meat, may be left to, as the antis would call it, to rot, is still not wasted. Other animals will feed on that meat and other cycles of life will use at carcass. This may not be popular totalk about but it is a fact…. of life.

  • Dale

    Some of you are really closet PETA members or liberals, maybe both.

    All predators MUST be managed, anywhere they have not been managed game herds that you say you like to hunt because you eat diasspear. Here in the staes we have states with wolves and due to politics there have been no hunts, elk, deer, small game is non existent!!! Science has proven that if you do not take 40% of a predator species they will be over populated in one year. I love to read Craig and his daughter's stories. Yes maybe they hunt things I will never get to hunt but isnt that why we read??? Cowboy stories, outer space, mystery novels……….so we can escape……you dont want hunt wolves, dont, I love it, I can explain the feeling I got when I shot mine in Alberta in May after taking 2 bears! So you wanna be hunters who cry about only hunting what you eat, try predator hunting, you might like it, but don't whine like little babies because someone else does becaue one day someone wont like what you shoot whether you eat it or not and then you will be crying for real!!!

  • ron

    It doent sound exciting, sitting in any blind. truck, stand,tree or ground blind. Try walking and stalking or using dogs sitting down to hunt is more like shooting not hunting. actually sounds like those leopad hunts. I never got that either They always grab the cat around the chest and hug it for a picture.. where did that tradition of hugging your kill come from. and quite frankly I wonder if Boddington owns the magazine If so no big deal if you can do it do it. But would like to see some other people featured

  • Spike

    You look like little red riding hood, but you kill wolves, Awesome… That is one gnarly wolf too. You travel all over the world too. Congrats on your many kills. http://www.peartreegameranch.com is where I go. Bet you never heard of it. Oh well. Have a great hunt, wherever you go next.

  • Wolflover

    Pls stop hunting wolves!!! They look mean and evil but they only do that to protect their selves from humans and sometimes find food! Nothing! Just want to tell u.. :)

  • I love wolves

    Im 11 years old, and i love wolves. Im an animal lover too. Pls stop doing this. God created this to make the nature complete.. So pls don't kill them! What do you get when you kill them? Money? Money is really important but nature is MORE important.. Pls stop doing this. The Lord gave it to us to complete the nature and make us happy! Can't you see that they have lives and we have too? Dont you see they have families? Like you! If you were to be the wolf and you got shot and killed, what would you feel? Terrified right? And YES, they kill us. I know. Because they are carnivores and you cant do anything about it. Some adventurers experienced on not having attacked by wolves.. Its because, they arent really mean! They just feel either terrified, hungry or surprised so they attack us!! Pls stop doing this.. Im about to cry.. :'( I know that they kill peoples too! Im terrified of them too. But pls leave them alone.. :<

  • (stwf)have a heart

    I love that she likes to hunt and everything but i truly love wolves and i see no point in killing them, im sure with all the money they use for guns they couldve also used it to save them or relocate them if there population was a problem. I know i probaly should have ignored this link but stupid me decided to look and now i regret it. Why dont you save wolves cause most of them are endangered, how would you feel i your children never got to ever see a real wolf. for most people they would be angry because they are beautiful and majestic creatures please stop.

  • Petar

    Brittany, send me you email, Id email you back some photos of hunts in Macedonia since Im from there….
    Im sure you'd find yourself biting your nails to the roots :)

    Petar

  • Hannah

    ok this is just wrong, i mean i love wolves and i understand that ppl hunt them for food,but if ur gonna shoot an animal ur can't eat then don't shoot it at all!

  • http://www.facebook.com/jake.alphawolf Jake Alphawolf Shapeshifter

    You sons of @#!*%s! Why the bloody %#$@! would you hunt a wolf for no reason! They are nearly bloody endangered mate!

  • Guest

    wtf why the hell would you kill such a beautiful creature just for the freakin’ fun of it

  • WolfieXOXO

    people should see wolves as a beautiful intelligent creature not just a rug or a scarf or a product for money

  • Ummer Ali

    Wolves are NOT toys to played with in the playground and then dumped afterwards so the person who did this is a genuine b****