The Hunt

• Gabby Weir, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

The pups chased after the howl, hoping to find their pack. The thin adults lay down for a rest, they know that summer won’t last forever on this harsh land. The muskoxen have won the battle yet again.
One of the yearlings hadn’t returned. The pups cry for him but the older members of the pack had seen his fate.

The following day they get up and continue their wander, this time the pups come to experience their first hunt. Mum, dad and the last yearling rush to stand up. There is a new scent in the air. They venture northwards into rocky mountains, little white dots sprinkled it. This they knew was game. Mum took the lead, following was dad, at the back was yearling. The three pups stumbled across wherever they pleased.

Finally they arrived. Mum waited behind a rock with the pups as dad and yearling went to attempt a capture. The curious pups poked their heads out from behind the rock. The two adults surrounded the Arctic hares. Yearling began the hunt by chasing them towards dad who then pounced. He missed and went tumbling down the sharp rocks. He caught his footing and footslogged back towards mum and the pups. Yearling trotted just behind.

The starved wolves walk gingerly down the mountain, onto the straw like grass. Winter is beginning to make a presence. Mum can smell a herd of muskoxen not too far away. They take a hidden rest as they wait for them to come to them.

Everyone woke up. They stretched their long boney legs and yawned. Mum kept still to feed her pups. The other two adults could then see the muskoxen herd. They sneaked up around them. They were spotted. The muskoxen formed a rosette around their calves— one of the only animals on Earth to protect their calves in that technique.

Yearling ran in but cowered when she was almost hit by an attacking muskoxen. Dad lept in and penetrated the other side too. They broke apart and scattered in a stampede. Yearling and dad both had their minds set on a calf that was running beside his mother. They separated them from the herd. Yearling galloped in between to divide them. Once they were separated dad pounced on the calve’s back and dragged it down.

Mum saw the killing with her sharp eyesight and nudged the pups to follow. They trotted across the plain to find Yearling and dad still massacring the calf. Mum was watchful of her pups and pulled them away when they got too close to the kicking legs of the dying calf. Dad released his jaw from the calf’s neck once it was still. It was a good start to a long Winter.

Polar Wolves haven’t been hunted due to their isolation. They are found in the Arctic parts of the Northern Hemisphere. They are incredible animals that hopefully will survive and thrive for many more centuries to come.