Late August 1939

Sergei Nicoli Zhukov had just been graduated from the StPetersburg State University with a Masters Degree in Physics.He had gone through school on a full time basis and was nowlooking forward to some time off and a vacation before reportingto the military in January 1940. This would be his military serviceobligation.

Sergei grew up in the town of Peterhof; this is a suburb ofLeningrad, Russia. It is about 35 kilometers west of Leningrad on thesouth shore of the Gulf of Finland. It was a very well to do suburb,as his parents were both professors at the State University. His father,Mikhail Ivonich Zhukov, was a professor of Mechanical Engineeringspecializing in metallurgy. His mother, Alexandra Christina Zhukova,was a professor of Astronomy specializing in optics.

During past summer vacations, Sergei and his parents had alwaysgone to their summer dacha on the north shore of the Gulf ofFinland. There they would fish, ride horses, go boating, and go onhunting trips into the lake region to the northeast. This summer hadbeen different, as Sergei had taken extra courses in order to graduateearly. He would be going on vacation alone as his parents werepreparing to go back to the University for the fall school term.

Sergei had been planning his vacation for many months and wasexcited about going hunting for bear in the lake region. His degree wasin physics, but his area of interest was armaments. He had always beena hunter and wanted to develop a rifle that was more accurate andeasier to shoot than the rifles that were on the current market.

During his last year in school for his special project, he developeda hunting rifle that on a test range outperformed any other rifle.He started with a Mauser-91, 11.5-millimeter. This was a very heavyrifle and shot a very large bullet. The initial rifle had a barrel length of85 centimeters. The lead bullet weighed 28.5 grams and had a muzzlevelocity of 750 meters per second. This was about average for a rifleand the penetrating power was minimal, but the knock down powerwas extreme.

The rifle that he developed had a longer but smaller barrel. Thebarrel was 95 centimeters in length and the bullet was reduced insize to 8 millimeters. He used the same brass cartridge and necked itdown to fit the 8-millimeter bullet. Thus he would be using the samepowder load as the 11.5-millimeter cartridge. The weight of the bulletwent form 28.5 grams to 15.5 grams. The muzzle velocity went to1,150 meters per second. This produced a number of advantages. Thebullet trajectory was a lot flatter, thus providing for higher accuracy.The knock down power was lessened but not to the point of beinga detriment. However, the penetrating power more than made up forthis. The rifle worked perfectly on the practice range and he was readyto take it out and prove it in the real world.

Attached to his new rifle he mounted an 8-power small tube scopethat allowed for extended distance and accuracy. On the practice rangehe could hit a 1 meter target consistently at 800 meters and a highpercentage of the time at 1,000 meters. At 1,200 meters, he could hitthe target about 25 per cent of the time. This was a vast improvementover the original 11.5-millimeter rifle. With it and the added scopehe could hit the target consistently at 600 meters and after that theaccuracy fell off to where it could not be deemed accurate.

The morning he started on his vacation he had breakfast with hisparents and they all reviewed his plans. His father said, "So, you areto go from Peterhof by ferry to Kotlin Island and there catch anotherferry to the north shore." Kotlin Island was an island in the Gulf ofFinland. It was about 35 kilometers northwest of Peterhof and itwas about another 35 kilometers to the north shore of the Gulf ofFinland.

Sergei replied, "Yes and from there I will catch the bus and travelthe 65 kilometers west along the shore to the summer dacha. Vlad andMarina will be there to meet me."

Sergei's mother added, "Yes, they are very responsible. I feel somuch better that we have them full time. They seem to enjoy thefreedom allowed by staying there."

They had fulltime caretakers at the summer dacha; an older retiredcouple, Vladimir and Marina Lisov. They took care of the place anddid any repairs that were needed. The caretakers also looked after thehorses and did a little gardening and fishing to help pass the time andbring in some added income for themselves.

Sergei then continued, "When I leave there, I will take two horsesand travel to the lake region and set up a camp and go bear huntingand try out my new rifle in the real world. I plan to camp out aboutfour to five weeks total including travel time."

"I know the rifle worked to perfection on the practice range, butdo not take any chances up there. There is no one to back you up,"answered Sergei's father.

Sergei had finished his packing and said his good-byes. He thenwalked the two kilometers to the commuter train station to catch thetrain to the ferry port. He had a backpack and his rifle. He figured hewould travel light until he got to the summer dacha and then he wouldget added supplies. His plan of taking two horses on his adventure,one to ride and one for supplies seemed to be a very good idea.

At the Peterhof ferry port he purchased a ticket all the way to theport at Zolenocorsk on the north shore of the Gulf of Finland. Whenhe got there he purchased a bus ticket to the area of the summerdacha. The trip was uneventful but he was still excited about hisadventure, it had finally started.

When he arrived late in the afternoon, Vladimir and Marinagreeted him. They were excited to see him and very proud that hehad finished his schooling with high distinction. Marina made a verybig dinner and they sat down and ate while Sergei told them of hisupcoming trip to the lake region to hunt bear. Vladimir was interestedin seeing Sergei's rifle. He was an avid hunter and firearms alwaysintrigued him.

The following morning he and Vladimir packed the supply horsewith the items he would need for camping and staying in the wildsof the lake region for a month. Even though it was still August itwould be quite cold at night as they were north of the 60th parallelof latitude. The tent and gear were made for the region and wouldkeep Sergei quite warm at night. When they were finished, Sergei wentover his checklist to ensure he had everything he needed. They saidtheir good-byes and he was off on a track to the northeast to the lakeregion. Sergei figured it would take him about three days to get to thearea that he wanted to hunt bear.

That night he did not unpack the tent as it was still very goodweather and he did not want to spend the extra time in taking it downin the morning. He built a good fire and made some long lasting coalsto keep him warm throughout the night. The following morning he ateand fed the horses. He then packed his gear and continued his journey.

The scenery on the trip to the lake region was still as beautifulas Sergei had remembered it from past trips. This time, however, hewould be going farther into the region, as he would be mainly huntingand fishing. He did have some fishing gear with him to supplement hisdiet when he wanted a variety.

At about noon on the third day he came to the spot that he hadpicked for his base camp. It was on a high plateau that backed up to aweather-sheltering wall to the northwest. He set up his camp pitchinghis tent and made a roped in area for his horses to be able to roam alittle but not wander off. He gathered some rocks and built a fire pitfor cooking and warmth. He then went out with an ax and gathered anample amount of firewood. To his luck he also found a spring comingout of the rock abutment that would supply him with water.

Later that afternoon he settled back and rested. The view wasout to the southwest, south, and around to the east. He could see forabout 50 kilometers from this vantage point. In his gear he had a pairof 8-power binoculars and a 24-power spotting scope. He set up thespotting scope and scanned the lower area to see and get a layout ofthe land. The area was pristine, no sign of another living soul. He sawa place at an estimated distance of about 12 kilometers to the east thatlooked like a promising spot for hunting. There was a ravine with asmall river running through it. If there were any bear in the area, thiswould be an ideal spot for them to obtain food and shelter.

The next morning Sergei packed enough supplies to last him theday and started for the place he had seen the previous afternoon. Hearrived later that morning, as the going was fairly easy. He searchedthe area for signs of bear or other large animals. There were no signsof large animals but he saw ample fish in the river and many largeheavy birds in the area. He decided that he would like some fish forthat evening's meal so he unpacked his fishing gear and set about tothe river. It was only minutes before he had a strike. He lost the firstone but he hooked and landed the second fish. It was a trout of about45 centimeters and weighed about two kilos. This would be more thanenough for that evening. He kept fishing and when he caught one hewould release it as he already had one for eating.

When it came on to mid-afternoon, Sergei decided to pack up andhead back to his base camp. He arrived in the early evening and setabout to cook his dinner. While it was cooking, he fed and wateredthe horses and readied himself for the night. That evening he ate thetrout along with some of the other goods he had brought along. Hewas rested and satisfied with his accomplishments for the day, eventhough he had not seen any bears. He sat up for a while in the darkand used the spotting scope to look at Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn for awhile. It was extraordinary that all three were visible. After it startedcooling off, he checked his horses one last time and then went into histent and bedded down for the night. During the night he heard a wolfhowling and he thought to himself how lucky he was to experiencethis serene and peaceful place.

After Sergei woke in the morning, he set about to have a snackand water and fed his horses. He decided to go on an exploratoryhike that day searching out areas that would produce the best possibleareas for bear hunting. He went a little farther south than the previousday and followed the river downstream. In the river he saw signs ofbeaver and muskrats. Along the shore he saw small deer and largebirds. He decided that for that evening's meal he would have a bird.However he did not want to shoot it with his rifle, as there would benothing left after he shot it. So he took out his 5.5-millimeter pistoland got close to one of the large birds and shot it. He field dressedit and put it on his packhorse. Later that afternoon he headed backto his base camp and prepared for the evening and night. He fedand watered the horses and cleaned the bird he had shot. He roastedit over his fire pit and along with other goods; he had a very goodmeal. Again later that evening he used the spotting scope to view theplanets and other stars. The sky was completely clear of clouds andmade viewing extremely good. It started to cool off so he decidedto bed down for the night. That evening the wolf decided to howlagain.

Thus, Sergei's vacation went, a lot of good scenery, good fishing,and bird hunting, but he saw no bears. During the evenings he wouldstar watch and listen to the wolf howl. At times he could also hearwhat sounded like younger wolves practicing their own howling. Hesurmised that mother wolf was teaching her youngsters how to howl.Every once in a while he could also hear owls hooting. He thoughtabout how uncomplicated the world around him seemed.

One night during his third week he heard the wolf howl but thenhe also heard another sound. It sounded like the roar of a bear. Thesounds seemed to be a lot closer than on previous nights. He thenheard what he believed to be a fight between the bear and the wolf.The wolf yipped, howled and cried out as if it were wounded. Sergeidecided that the next day he would go in the direction of the soundsand see if he could find any evidence of the bear or wolf.

Sergei arose early and prepared to go in search of the night'ssounds. As he neared an outcropping of rock, he heard what soundedlike puppies yipping and whimpering. He got down from his horseand searched the area. He found blood trails and decided that this waswhere the fight between the bear and wolf took place. He followed thetrail up the hillside for a while and heard the yipping again. He finallyfound a cave that had the entrance covered with brush and branches.He cleared enough away where he could see in and gain entrance. Atthe entrance to the cave was the female wolf. She had been attackedby the bear and fought it off but did not survive the attack herself.Further back in the cave, Sergei saw two little wolf pups cowering ina corner. They looked to be cold, afraid, hungry, and looking for theirmother. Sergei approached them slowly and offered them a piece ofbird meat he had brought with him. They seemed to be large enoughto be able to eat solid food and when offered they took it very readily.Sergei left them with some bird meat and went to his horse and gotsome water and a pan. He then went back into the cave and gave thetwo wolf puppies some water. They both fell over themselves drinking.While they were doing this, Sergei took their mother out of the caveand put her in an area that the puppies would not see.

The two wolf puppies seem to be a few months old and abouteight kilos in weight apiece. He tried to put them on the packhorsefor the trip back to the base camp but neither the puppies nor thepackhorse would have anything to do with this. Sergei thought thismight cause a dilemma, he did not want to leave the puppies behind,and they would not ride on the horse or would the horse have themride on its back. He took some rope and made leashes and tied themto the puppies. He then started back to his base camp. The puppieswere determined not to be led, and fought the leashes for a while untilthey tired and finally gave up and followed with their leashes tied tothe packhorse. They got back to the base camp later than usual andSergei was lucky to have some additional roasted bird packed. Hefed and watered the horses and then fed himself and the two wolfpuppies. In the twilight along with the firelight the three of themplayed together, wrestling and carousing. This was good bonding forthe puppies as they had lost their mother and soon would start to missher. Sergei would be set up to take over and care for them providingfood, entertainment, direction, training, and protection. Later thatevening he put a heavy stake in the ground between his tent and thefire pit. He tied the puppies to the stake and then went into the tentand bedded down. After about a half hour both puppies were cryingand Sergei decided not to let them do this as it might attract the bearor other large animals. He got up and brought the two puppies intothe tent and then all three of them bedded down. The puppies stayedquiet till almost dawn when they had to get up and relieve themselves.Sergei figured at that time the puppies had found and accepted theirnew home and master.

Sergei stayed in camp that day and continued the bonding with thetwo puppies. He decided that he needed to give them names. Whilehe was sitting and looking through the spotting scope for the bearhe decided to call the male wolf pup Yuri and the female Irena. Hespent the rest of the day playing with them and calling them by name.He started some initial training for them and they picked up on itvery quickly. They had their evening meal and Sergei decided that thefollowing day he would need to go out and get something for them allto eat as he was down to the bare essentials. He thought that by goingfishing it would be easier to tend to Yuri and Irena and fish at the sametime rather than try to hunt birds. Later that night he heard the bearand Yuri and Irena became alarmed and moved in very close to Sergeifor comfort and protection. This made Sergei feel good, as he knewthat they now trusted him unconditionally. He prepared his rifle just incase he would need it during the night.

The following morning he fed the horses, Yuri and Irena. Thenthey both perked up and sniffed the wind coming from the east.He took out his spotting scope and scanned the area and saw somemovement in the trees about three kilometers away. Previously he hadmoved the heavy stake inside his tent. He took Yuri and Irena and tiedthem to the stake and bade them to be quiet.