Kill the wolf?

[5gauss]

Here in Oregon we can't even touch them yet. Since it's getting close to Christmas and I don't want to cause any ill will I'll leave this one alone. My stance has already been voiced.

Last count I heard was 127 Wolves in Oregon and growing. Deer population down, Elk seem to be slightly declining but holding better than Deer. Time will tell....

 

[RockyMtnMT]

The thing I see with these wolf threads is if you don't yell "kill them all", you are considered part of the problem. Guys who are yelling this make us all look stupid.

I would like to see evidence of 150 lb wolves. Unless they are hybrid they don't exist. The "Canadian" wolves were moving in on their own. They don't and didn't need any help crossing the border. Yes they were introduced into Yellowstone. They were going to get there on their own. We are on the border with Canada so we were seeing the migration of wolves long before most on this thread ever heard of a problem. I saw my 1st wolf in the late 80's in NW MT. Saw my 1st wolf in SW MT in the early 90's. I am fairly certain they were not trapped in the Northern Territory of Canada and dropped off. If that were the case they would have gone back to where they came from. There is a reason they kept the introduced wolves in Yellowstone penned up for a year. So they wouldn't go back to where they came from! The fact is they are spreading to where there is food.

We have thousands of hunters out every year, all of which can purchase 5 tags. I am sure that many that do not buy tags are still willing to shoot them. I haven't checked lately, but as far as I know the quotas go unfilled. I have shot one. Will again if I have the chance.

I have made these points in the past and been called some sort of wolf hugger. I don't get it???

 

[rwille]

Looks like according to the CDA newspaper they need helicopters in Northern Idaho to hunt them.

That's the only cost effective way to manage wolves.

 

[clownbuster]

I hear all sides of this. If you listen to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the wolves are the epitome of a threat to the whole ecosystem. Western sheep and cattle ranchers will pretty much back that up. We must maintain a balance in the population, or we stand a chance to have another animal go extinct. That cannot happen. I seriously doubt the wolves in the west, will get to the problems caused by feral hogs and coyotes in Texas.

Man get the #¥€& out of here your thoughtless and meaningless garbage. You say you "hear all sides of this" yet live in an ecosystem not affected by it but your best relation to it is the feral hog? Please come post this stupid s in SnipersHide where we can orally openly without boundaries pick your worthless carcass clean in a matter of seconds.

 

[Montanamike]

I guess you have not spent time in the west hunting. Unless you spend time in the back country hunting you won't see the real picture. Most of the areas we hunt have seen a major degradation of elk, deer and almost a complete eradication of moose. These animals are NOT an indigenous wolf to this area and they are much larger with a superior advantage in deep snow. We find many kills along creek beds that are indicative of wolf kills. Wolfs and cats kill in different manors. We confirm definite wolf kills vs cat. Our hunt areas of Idaho and Montana have seen back country hunt zones have a major decline of elk and deer of better than 30-40% with some areas almost completely eradicated of elk. These are back country hunt areas that you can't drive to- airplanes and horse/mule access only. If you don't access or hike in please don't comment when you don't have the real facts.

 

[5gauss]

The thing I see with these wolf threads is if you don't yell "kill them all", you are considered part of the problem. Guys who are yelling this make us all look stupid.

I would like to see evidence of 150 lb wolves. Unless they are hybrid they don't exist. The "Canadian" wolves were moving in on their own. They don't and didn't need any help crossing the border. Yes they were introduced into Yellowstone. They were going to get there on their own. We are on the border with Canada so we were seeing the migration of wolves long before most on this thread ever heard of a problem. I saw my 1st wolf in the late 80's in NW MT. Saw my 1st wolf in SW MT in the early 90's. I am fairly certain they were not trapped in the Northern Territory of Canada and dropped off. If that were the case they would have gone back to where they came from. There is a reason they kept the introduced wolves in Yellowstone penned up for a year. So they wouldn't go back to where they came from! The fact is they are spreading to where there is food.

We have thousands of hunters out every year, all of which can purchase 5 tags. I am sure that many that do not buy tags are still willing to shoot them. I haven't checked lately, but as far as I know the quotas go unfilled. I have shot one. Will again if I have the chance.

I have made these points in the past and been called some sort of wolf hugger. I don't get it???

Proper control should be the goal like they did 50 years ago....it can work done correctly...

 

[arch408]

Listening to the "wolf restoration biologists" on Meateater podcasts, they indicated that in some areas 30-50 domestic cows are killed YEARLY by every 100 wolves. Your tax dollars pay for those losses. Cattle kills are so prevalent, that big ranchers are also paid for missing cattle with the assumption that wolves killed them. Example: A rancher claims he had 450 head of cattle and they round them up off their winter range, but can only locate 390... you and I pay for the remainder, year in and year out. Secondly, ONE wolf, on average, kills between 16 and 20 elk per year. Figure 500-700 wolves in WY, MT, OR, ID (IIRC) this would add up to be 8000-14000 elk killed every year.
We have met AND exceeded restoration numbers long ago... and the bunny huggers keep moving the baseline. It will never be enough... and it will always be a battle settled by some liberal judge in a venue that knows no wolves except in a toystore.

Ranchers have to wade through tons of red tape, and the F&W has to confirm the kills. Then they have to wait months to get paid for less than actual value. S,S,S!!!!!!!

 

[KyCarl]

One day on my Coyote line and I could teach you guys how to give those Wolves a hard time. Snares and steel traps are so hard to beat. Wolves are Canines just like dogs and coyotes so they do things because they just have to? Like pee on a fireplug they just have to! You can take advantage of this and be ready make them do what YOU want!
You can think they only react..Have a nice locking snare ready..problem solved!

 

[Daves762]

Man get the #¥€& out of here your thoughtless and meaningless garbage. You say you hear all sides of this

Are you guys aware of how "paid trolls" operate? Or that it's even a thing?
Infiltration and subversion and causing chaos in the opposition ranks is a real thing. And it's funded by the opposition. People make a living in moms basement joining our blogs, groups, and teams. Then preaching the oppositions points of view. Think about it. Look out for it.

 

[clownbuster]

Are you guys aware of how "paid trolls" operate? Or that it's even a thing?
Infiltration and subversion and causing chaos in the opposition ranks is a real thing. And it's funded by the opposition. People make a living in moms basement joining our blogs, groups, and teams. Then preaching the oppositions points of view. Think about it. Look out for it.

So what - do you think mine, or any other's reply would be any different? Since when should people with truth back down from people speaking lies? Go ahead, I've got all day for speaking truth against lies and a vault full of fast-acting medicine for the really stubborn liars.

 

[rwille]

This from Forbes

33,715 views|May 6, 2016,12:29 pm
Why Wolves Are The Unsung Heroes Of Healthy Ecosystems
QuoraContributor
Consumer Tech

This article is more than 2 years old.

What should everyone know about wolves in the wild?

Answer by Oliver Starr, wolf handler and wilds advocate, on Quora:

Wolves are critical to healthy ecosystems – we need wolves more than wolves need us! Please watch this amazing video that helps put in perspective the role wolves play in restoring a damaging ecosystem back to health.

Unlike human trophy hunters, wolves take targets of opportunity – the young, the sick, the injured, the invisibly genetically inferior – in so doing they maintain the health of their prey species. Human hunters kill the fittest animals because they can – wolves improve the strength of their prey, humans consistently diminish it.

Wolves are considered both an apex predator and a keystone species. This means they are at the top of the food chain with no natural other animals that prey upon them for food.

Their reputation as dangerous animals or creatures that kill for enjoyment is simply inaccurate. As predators, wolves consume the flesh of other creatures. Unlike humans, their biology dictates a diet that consists almost entirely of meat. Wolves are the largest of all wild canids and they typically require large prey or a very high density of smaller prey to maintain their presence in an area.

Wolves have been known to eat moose, elk, deer, caribou, bison, musk ox, and virtually every other ungulate species that shares their range. Wolves will also eat smaller animals such as beavers, rabbits, squirrels, mice and, unfortunately, sometimes domestic livestock and pets.

Some people claim that wolves "decimate" they populations of the species they prey upon; however the facts do not bear this out. In the United States we've been documenting wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies for 25 years. We've also been documenting ungulate populations, particularly elk, for even longer.

While it is true that there are a few management units across the whole of the wolf recovery area that do show some reductions in elk numbers, by and large the presence of wolves has resulted in increases in elk populations nearly everywhere they've returned.

Wolves form very close social bonds. Wolf "packs" are actually families that typically consist of one or more breeding pairs, siblings of the breeders, and the offspring from one or more previous litters.

Lone wolves –perhaps the worst of all the mischaracterizations and vilifications heaped upon wolves is the idea that "lone wolves" are particularly killers or out to cause harm.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Lone wolves are technically known as dispersers and they're not looking for trouble, they're looking for love!

Not all wolves have the makeup to leave their natal group and set off on their own. It's a tremendously risky undertaking that very often results in the dispersing wolf dying in his or her effort to find a mate and start a family of their own.

Totally false.

 

[Troutslayer2]

The wolf has been a perfect scapegoat for the wildlife herding and hoarding rancher.

 

[clownbuster]

One day on my Coyote line and I could teach you guys how to give those Wolves a hard time. Snares and steel traps are so hard to beat. Wolves are Canines just like dogs and coyotes so they do things because they just have to? Like pee on a fireplug they just have to! You can take advantage of this and be ready make them do what YOU want!
You can think they only react..Have a nice locking snare ready..problem solved!

Poison

 

[KyCarl]

Too non selective! With the right sets non target animals aren't in any danger.
you can't do that with poison..