When Jim Dutcher was just a teenager, he worked a dream job in Wyoming in the summers as a horse wrangler. One day when he was looking for strayed horses he had an experience that made a huge impact on him and would play a part in his life in the future. He came across a lone gray wolf that day and the two of them observed each other quietly before the wolf moved on. He noticed that the wolf seemed unafraid and not at all vicious like all the stories had portrayed wolves. He never forgot that day.
Then as an adult, being the nature lover that he was, he became a wildlife film maker. He had a unique style in that he believed that the only way you could really capture the true nature and life of a wild animal on film was to live among that animal. He would set up camp in a tent very close to the animal that he was filming. He filmed all different types of wildlife. But once again during this time, he had another silent encounter with a wild wolf one day and it was then that he knew that he had to find out what the wolves were really all about. At that time there were only about 50 wild wolves left in the U.S. as several million had been exterminated by the government by the 1940's.
So in 1990, the Wolf Project was born and it soon became a labor of love for Jim Dutcher as he worked to show to the world on film that the wolf is none of the scary stereotypes often portrayed. During this time he lived in a tent for 6 years studying and filming the wolf pack that he had put together in the wilds of Idaho. This fascinating story also had tale of love between Jim and fellow wildlife lover, Jamie. They would eventually marry and continue to work together with the wolves that became known as the Sawtooth Pack. Over the 6 years, many changes happened in the wolf pack, and the Dutchers were thrilled to learn that the wolves were actually a very close knit family unit that loved and cared for each other. They also followed a very strict hierarchy to maintain order and loyalty in the pack. Many of what they learned about the wolves was unknown up to this time.
The story of the Dutchers and the Sawtooth wolf pack is a very heartwarming and informative film that will hold your interest to the end. It is a must see for wolf and wildlife lovers especially during this time of great fabrication by anti-wolf groups in the same parts of the western U.S. where the Dutchers did their study. The wolves are once again under great threat by humans so it is wonderful to be able to see them as they really are and not as they are so ruthlessly portrayed.
