For most people, all they know about wolves is what they see on TV. They learn that wolves are majestic, dominant predators with unmatched intelligence in their domain (which is true). Unfortunately they are also told that wolves are compassionate to one another, they kill only to survive, and they kill only weak and sick animals. They’re also told wolves never attack humans.

It churns my stomach every time I see one of these shows because I can see that it portrays wolves from a specific angle and doesn’t tell the whole story. By spending days on end in the bush, hunting and trapping, I’ve seen both sides of the wolf. So, here are a few hard truths that you won’t get from a nature show.