I saw a wolf?? tonight in the woods behind my house

[WMSproject]

I have two large Great Pyrenees, each over 100 lbs. They are in a 6 foot chain link fence behind my house. They get upset at the slightest noise. I shoot varmints quite frequently out back of my place. Most recently I shot a 'possum and disposed of it's remains out back in the woods. I also recently disposed of a deer carcus.

Tonight while watching TV, my dogs went nuts. They do this when something is in the yard or in the woods behind my house. I went out on my back porch with my AR15 and 700 lumen flashlight. I saw something gray through the brush but couldn't identify it. I never shoot anything I can't positively identify. I recently saw a doe deer out back. I didn't want to shoot a deer at night. That's not legal. I figured it might be a raccoon or an opossum. I didn't know.

I went back in the house and put my shoes on. I walked around the house and up the hill toward the woods. I have a path cleared for walking back into the woods. I heard something moving maybe 20 yards away. I didn't want to turn on my weapon light until I knew I had a chance at shooting whatever it was. I was surprised when I turned on the light. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the extremely bright beam. I saw something very large. I mistook it for a deer. It darted away from me and then turned sideways. I then saw the long furry tail. It looked just like my Great Pyrenees except maybe 150 to 175 pounds. It was solid gray and had a very large head. The nose was pointed like my dogs. This thing was huge. No it wasn't a coyote. Too large. I know a coyote when I see one. My dogs are larger than the average German Shepherd and this was larger than either of my dogs by maybe 50%.

Before I could flip the safety off and get a shot, it was off running. It ran down hill from me and across my driveway. It ran down the road in front of my house. There was no way I could take a shot because of the house across the road from me. Besides, it was at full gallop and 75 yards away from me.

It came back again while I was writing this post. I missed it by maybe 30 seconds. It came back up the hill from the road and lit out through the woods upsetting my dogs and my neighbor's dogs. I did not see it this time.

I have quite a few concerns. First, has anybody else in Whitfield/Walker county ever seen one? Is it legal to kill one? If it is on your property and harassing your dogs? Do you have to worry about Rabies? It ran from me when it saw me. I assume it is healthy and not rabid. It or something like it has been coming up near my house for a while now. My daughter has outdoor cats. I live in the back of a neighborhood on the West side of Dug Gap Mountain, North of Villanow and the John's Mountain Forest.

Now I'm freaked out, It was a solid gray wolf, full moon... Dang, that scared the crap out of me and the worst part is I didn't get one shot off.

 

[RHelton10]

I'm a little concerned for your dogs if it continues to come back around your house looking for something...

 

[drtybykr]

Stick a chicken or something in the back yard, and wait. Pics when it is dead.

 

[Bear44]

Unless it was an escaped pet it was not a wolf. The closest wild wolves to Georgia are many hundreds of miles away. It was most likely a Malamute dog.

 

[Badger]

They are a protected species..
I've read that they have brought a few back into the Smokies, it may have strayed.
You might want to get in touch with your area DNR, it needs to be trapped and returned to it's intended range, if you are sure it is a wolf, odds are pretty long but nothing is impossible.
They are mostly nocturnal from what I've read so I'd make sure the kids were in before sunset and keep a protective eye on the family pets.

 

[WMSproject]

My dogs are probably safe behind the 6 foot chain link fence. Now that the adrenalin has worn off I've been looking at some photos. Yes it looked like a large gray wolf. I just haven't heard of them being this far south in the wild. I know two people with "pet" wolves and they are awesome and huge. If this was a coyote it was between 100 and 150 pounds at least.

 

[cooter]

I saw a wolf near dahlonega while I was hunting a couple of weeks ago. HHUUGGEE!!! much bigger than a coyote.

 

[oldmetlfan]

I almost hit one earlier this year near Jefferson, about 11 at night on my way to work.

 

[Tazz]

Like Badger said, they are protected so if you shoot it you're gonna be neck deep in really smelly chit! A guy in Troup County shot and killed a cougar a couple of years ago and the legal fees alone ruined him. Even though the DNR says there are no gougars or wolves in Ga. there obviously are because they can migrate looking for their own territory. Cougars are solitary animals and sometimes come up from Fla., that's where the one from Troup Co. came from but wolves are family oriented but sometimes get kicked out of their family unit or their pack. The one you saw could have been someones pet that they couldn't afford to feed anymore and turned it loose, wolves eat a ton of food! I used to have chow/husky mixes and one of them could go through 50lbs. of dog food in 2 weeks by himself, huskys are closely related to wolves. I have a friend who used to raise wolves and wolf hybrids and he had one that got loose and brought home half of a mule once, he put that one down because he was afraid it might eventually hurt or kill a human and he then stopped raising them. The DNR is probably gonna tell you there aren't any wolves in Ga. but don't shoot it anyway because the guy in Troup Co. was told the same thing about the cougar but he got arrested and prosecuted anyway.

 

[Sagan]

Not that I am advocating killing a protected species, but... If you have to defend yourself or animals from a 150 lb wild animal, you may want to consider a rifle or shotgun with a little more stopping power. I know the 5.56 is a decent round with a well placed shot, but a 12 ga with buckshot is a decent round with almost any shot. Considering how quick the animal was...