'I was terrified' says elk hunter who killed a wolf in northeast Oregon

Brian Scott watched in horror in a ridge top meadow as two running canids appeared out of the fog and sprinted around his flank in a sort of half circle as a third continued straight at him - at a lope. At a distance of 27 yards with an animal coming on a run, Scott felt there was no time to take a warning shot then reload. Wolf or coyote, "It meant to make contact," he said during a breakfast interview Saturday, sharing some ham with his children and half-heartedly working on a short stack of pancakes. "I was terrified. I screamed and raised my rifle. All I saw (in a scope) was hair so I shot." A 38-year-old small business owner, Clackamas resident and youth soccer and baseball coach, Scott hasn't slept much or eaten well since the Oct. 27 incident, the state's first self-defense wolf killing since they began spreading back into Oregon from Idaho. At the shot, Scott said the pair of wolves on his flank disappeared and a fourth wolf briefly howled somewhere below him as he walked, shaking, to where the wolf lay, then retreated to nearby timber to compose himself. A biologist and trooper showed up with forensic equipment, GPS units and a video camera; surveying the scene and evidence and taking Scott's statement...more