BONNERS FERRY - An Eastport couple is still reeling and charges may be pending after a man on a four-wheeler shot two dogs on a U.S. Forest Service road on May 17, believing one of them to be a wolf.

A single bullet killed Jim and Lisa Rosauer's husky-malamute cross Kenai and struck their second dog, a 14-year-old lab-malamute cross named Osar.

Osar is still recovering with bullet fragments in his leg but is facing complications due to infection and his age, Jim said.

According to Rosauer, the couple was out hiking on the road to Spruce Lake, coming to a bend with their dogs just out of sight.

They heard a shot and rounded the corner to see three people on four-wheelers about 180 yards away and their dogs down. The shooter was a 19-year old with his parents.

"The father told me, 'Sorry, It's my fault. I told him to shoot the wolf.'" Rosauer, a hunter himself, said. "I know that wolves are a contentious issue, but I was taught to respect the animals you hunt. At least respect the law, and safety."

The shot came right down the forest road, Rosauer said, and the couple was close enough behind the dogs that they felt spray from the bullet's impact.

Though the wolf season on private land is year-round, the wolf season on federal lands closed March 31 and will not open again until Aug. 30. Attempting to take a game animal during a closed season can result in fines as high as $1,000. Charges for multiple fish and game violations and public safety violations could be pending as the Boundary County Sheriff's Office and Idaho Fish and Game investigate the case but none have yet been filed.

Rosauer said the family stopped to apologize and helped him load his dogs into his truck, but it was too late for Kenai, who died at a veterinarian's office in Sandpoint.

"We need to tone down the wolf debate," Rosauer said. "We do this a lot - walk, or hike in the woods. We put orange on the dogs in hunting season, but the season was closed, and we were on a forest road. How can we know we're going to be safe out there? I'm not even going to start with dog owner rights."