"1059's pack of 5 was heading N.E. at 4:10 p.m. when they got to within 100 yards of 2 standing deer. The deer had been standing alertly in a shallow draw, and when at least 2 wolves got to within 100 yards, they fled. The wolves began running after them.
"The deer were in snow up to their bellies and had to hesitate slightly at each bound. But they ran fast. We could only see one wolf very much [of the time]. It was also having a difficult time in the snow, and after a total run of about 250 yards (100 to the deer's original location and 150 after the deer), the wolf lay on the snow and rested about 10 minutes. The deer ran only about 200 yards more and stood alertly for the next 20 minutes at least. The wolves then went on.
"27 March 1969. About 2 miles S.E. of Central Lakes, Minnesota.
"At 3:00 p.m. while we were following wolf 1051 by aircraft in above location, we saw a deer running very quickly on top of the crusted snow and then stand and watch its backtrail. About 1½ minutes later we saw 1051 running along the same route. We did not see when the deer fled again, but saw it running about 100 yards from the wolf and doubling back paralleling its original route. When the wolf got near the approximate doubling-back point, he lay down and rested for about 5 minutes. The deer continued fleeing for about 350 yards, stopped, and for several minutes faced its backtrail. The wolf finally continued on in his original direction, giving up the chase.
"At 4:30 p.m.—1½ miles S. of Central Lakes, Minnesota—Wolf 1051 had come to within 100 yards of [four-lane] Highway 53 and was hesitant to approach it. Several cars were going by in both directions. Thus the wolf headed S. parallel with the highway about 150 yards E. of it.
"Suddenly two deer, which we had noticed S. of the wolf earlier, fled across the highway. The wolf soon got to the point where they crossed, hesitated about a minute and then ran across. No cars came at that time.
"We could not always see the deer or the wolf when W. of the road because there were several patches of evergreens. The wolf did head straight W. after crossing the road. Then about 250 yards W. of this point we saw a deer come out onto an old woods road which lay in a N.W.-S.E. axis. The deer ran N.W. on the road and then we saw the wolf where the deer had come out onto the road. While the deer ran N.W., the wolf cut into the woods to his right, N.E. We could not see it then but presumed it was running N.W. paralleling the road.
"After the deer had run about 50 yards up the road, it also headed N.E. into the evergreens. Within a few seconds it fled right back out and started S.E. down the road. The wolf was about 50 feet behind it and began gaining.
"When the deer got back to where the wolf had headed into the woods from the road before, it also headed N.E. into the woods. The wolf was then about 20 feet away and the deer was headed N. around in a circle with the wolf closing in on the outside. The wolf did not emerge from the evergreens for at least 15 minutes, nor did we see the deer, so I presume the wolf killed the deer. [But see entry for April 1.]
"1 April 1969. Dan Frenzel and I searched the area described on March 27 for 1 hour and found no sign of a kill. Old wolf tracks were seen, but only a single wandering track. No concentration such as usually seen at kills. Best conclusion is that 1051 did not kill the deer where seen from the air March 27."