Just In: "The Truth About Wolves in the West"

[milanuk]

Corbett,

The SSS idea was RBrowning's not mine. I just seconded it

Being born and raised in a very rural setting, I have relatively limited faith in the bureaucracy of the Game-n-Parks departments fixing anything they set in motion in anything resembling a timely manner. First off, they'd have to actually admit they made a mistake or miscalculated. That in and of itself is like getting blood from a turnip. And I have a special place in my heart for Ted Turner and his attempts to reintroduce the prairie wolf.

We had had confirmed sitings of cougars *in* Scottsbluff out on the western part of the state not long before I moved to Washington. Here they've banned the use of dogs for hunting, so now we have cougars eating small pets in town and reportedly stalking younger children going to and from school bus stops in the more rural areas.

Thank you, bunny huggers.

Monte

 

[speedbump]

We've had an explosion of bobcats here in Southern Illinois in recent years after being reintroduced. They will flat-out decimate the turkey population.

There are numerous cougar sightings by reputable citizens which were denied...until a BIG kittie was hit & killed by a train of all things.

A DNR officer offered to PAY for a full body mount for any cougar I could kill in one particular county - because he was sure there were none (heh, heh). However, when I asked if that offer extended to the counties just to the south, he declined.......

I agree with milanuk FWIW.

 

[Whitewolf393]

Monte,

I think alot of Washington State folks would agree that the influx of Californians changed alot of the hunting laws for the worse. I have a good friend here who grew up out there and he refuses to go back because of it. I had thought of re-locating there myself because the company I work for has several contracts there, but in light of that I'm not sure.

 

[ATH]

The Michigan DNR treated cougar sightings the same as Bigfoot sightings for decades. Finally a Michigan Tech Univ student got sick of being treated like an imbicile and collected scat, which she PAID to have DNA tested at the federal wildlife lab...it was cougar.
Subsequent investigations by scientists located large amounts of cougar sign and scat hundreds of miles south (and on a different penninsula) in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (they termed it a "virtual cougar litterbox".
Now since last fall there have been sighting in suburban Detroit of a full-sized adult. The officials said "it must have been released". Then in August I walked out in my yard and found a half-grown one lying in my garden. So I'm convinced there's a reproductive population.
As a biologist, I can't understand where the government finds such inept ecologists and population biologists to run their programs...it's either that or they just won't listen to them.

 

[milanuk]

Whitewolf,

Coming from the western Nebraska hunting environment to here in central Washington... I have to say this is about the least user-friendly wildlife management system I've ran into yet. A person about needs a lawyer and a GPS to make sure they are hunting in the right area to avoid trouble.

Competitive shooting, though, is a whole different story. Lots of NRA Highpower XTC, Long Range Prone, Hunter Benchrest, Group Benchrest, 600-1000yd Benchrest, rimfire Benchrest, trap, smallbore, etc. Pretty far and few btwn except for trap in Nebraska where I came from.

Monte

 

[Whitewolf393]

Does that mean you get to practice on ground hogs in those competitions? Hope so!

Sorry to hear that about Washington State and the non-user friendly hunting environment. I guess it really has taken a turn for the worse from what I heard it was years ago. I've been living in Virginia for the past 10 years almost, where the hunting is quite user-friendly, but the public lands are jammed with people, unless you go way back in the National Forests, and it takes years to find your niche there. I used to live in West Virginia, and the hunting there was far less crowded and even more user-friendly. But, I'd ultimately like to find a place out West somewhere that's got good skiing and friendly huntinb both :] Maybe Utah...?

 

[Guest]

Big Cats have a territory.. they "migrate" through an area about over 6-7 days... the territories are quite large...
Do you really think they "walked" to Nebraska? Bet they caught an airplane ride there....

We do need a complete balance but we'll never achieve it.. to many political extermeist groups.. ie: the sierra club tree hugging types.. the one that were behind the wolves being introduced to the park.. ( as if they wern't already there) They have A LOT of money and very savvy, intelligent Lawyers... their money has POWER... and they are winning...

I suspect WI generates a ton of revenue from hunting therefore the state want the numbers...

Wyoming wants to hunt the wolves but we can't get full support from neighboring states to jump on the band wagon... we want to have them termed as a predator off Nat'l forest and a trophy animal on Nat'l forest that way the outfitters can generate revenue for themselves and the state...

but yet again the idiots in that big white hourse just can't seem to see Wyo. point...

feakin morons... sure would like to take a few of them on a ride in the hills to show them how it really is... freakin weak boys wouldn't be able to handle a night or two "in the hills"

I am a hunter but I also respect the need for ALL the animals I like to watch as much as I do hunt... just not alot to watch anymore...

 

[gonehuntingagain]

Cougars may have migrated to Nebraska since the wolves were probably out competing the cougars for food. It wouldn't surprise me if they did hitch a ride though....

As for the 3 wolves that the DNR said were coyotes - then shoot them since they are legal prey! I think I would follow the 3 S's on that though.

While elk hunting this year, I thought it was strange that the bulls were bugling, but there were NO cows calling. I found out why a couple weeks into the season when I heard wolves howling.

I think we need to reintroduce them into some more of their original habitat, places such as Central Park in NYC. Then maybe some of these tree hugging morons will decide that the wolves are not all that when their little fluffy dog gets eaten while out for a walk in the park!

I think the west needs to file a class action lawsuit against the feds for not allowing them to control the population, after all it is affecting interstate commerce.
I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing (or will be doing) the same BS with grizzly bears too.

I'll take my tin foil hat off now and turn rant mode off....

 

[speedbump]

Fellas, if you REALLY want to get to the bottom of what your states are doing, file an FOI (Freedom of Information) request and force them to produce documents related to what you're after. They're not that expensive to do, but be prepared for a wait.....

 

[ljmelea]

best watch out for tracking collars if you happen to get wolf between you and your cleaning station.my canadian friends tell me the best shot on a wolf is in the guts then either their kin eats them or the poor old coyote gets even.we had one stalk us on a bow hunt two seasons ago.i saw a wolf outside salmon id in 1965,but it was a usa wolf,not the alberta type.i suspose if feds were not spending all their time in office,they would of known we all ready had wolves in id.wolves have been seen on outlying areas of Boise,(Capital)so it sure seems like time for controlled hunt.

 

[dbhostler]

Several years ago a farmer I know told me that he had heard the IL DNR released several pair of wolves in our area of Knox County. I hadn't thought much about it until now. This past Spring I walked out of the house about 7:30 am and saw two "coyotes" had a doe cornered down in our bottoms about 150yds away. She looked as though she was about to drop a fawn and they were there to take it. I thought boy these are big coyotes, looked more like sled dogs. By the time I could get a rifle out of the safe and loaded they were gone with the fawn, only the doe was left and she nosed under some reed grass to rest. Maybe there is some truth to the farmers story. Any more, when I walk our property especially at night, I like to be armed.
db

 

[Paul Wyatt]

DB, you are unnecessarily nervous about protecting yourself against wolves. According to the environmentalists there is not a recorded incident of a wild wolf attack on a human being anywhere in the world, ever! There was a good article in one of the outdoor magazines about a year ago that really went into detail about all of their propaganda on this.
It's really interesting to tell the people here in Russia about that article. These people look at you like you're from a different planet. The Russians tell stories of people being eaten at the city gates of St Petersburg by wolves in the 17 and 18 hundreds - but then it is probably just gossip being spread by unsifsticated folks who are making the stories up - afterall a trained environmentalist wouldn't lie about such things!

 

[Guest]

Been tracked by a big cat for about 12 miles one time.... in the dark.... that was pretty hair raising.. realized it when I got to the trail head and another truck was pulling in and the lights hit it... bad news was I was just picking up supplies and heading right back into camp... in the dark.. good thing I was on my fox trotter.. we gaited about 9 of the 12 miles...
Been attacked by a griz...

7 adult Coyotes will kill one adult deer per week for food... read about it, talked about it and now have witnessed it... they will kill and are very efficient as well...

never been approached by the wolves... they are pretty stand-off-ish... sneaky like...

however, I could see it happening once they depleat their natural food supplies... which could happen sooner than later...

It started happening with the big cats... we had one shot in town a few years back .. right on the Golf course.. people were loosing their pets at night... finally game and fish treed this cat.. they attempted to traquilize it.. after 3 missed shots ( yeah they missed him 3 times in a tree .. idiots ) the cat said enough of that and lunged at one of them.... so they had to kill it... right infront of about 100 spectators and golfers...

had a few bears trapped in Cody this year... they have migrated to town for food as well...

we had a school teacher video wolves killing an elk cow that had wondered just to the outskirts of town... the Game and Fish denyed it untill the realized the teacher that videoed it was one of the more respected native residents....

Since G&F were caught transporting the wolves I don't trust them further than I could throw one of them... they are a state run agency with Gov't influence.. so I imagine if we really knew all they were up too we would be horrified...

again this goes back to the anti-guns people and their master plan.. if they eliminate the animals that are to be hunted there is no need to hunt... if there is no need to hunt there are no need for firearms...

think about it people.. I know the NRA is a pain in the *** and I too get 5-7 calls a week from them.. but right now they are our best resource....


here's a master list link....


list of anit gun organizations and people

[ 12-02-2004: Message edited by: Ric Horst ]

 

[nickbracewell]

Fascinating,absolutely fascinating.May i congratulate all of you on a superb post.With all the talk of fancy equipment it is good to remind ourselves that we need something to actually hunt.
On a lighter note,if the antis in the U.S. want to spoil your hunting,rather than re-introduce the wolf they would have been more effective introducing the Scottish Midge.A meaner,nastier piece of work has never "walked" the earth.

BRIT

TALLY HO