Kill the wolf?

[bigngreen]

Wolf numbers here in BC have grown out of control.
Forestry industry hasnt helped because all the road clearing and cut blocks, and wildfire of beetle pine have made it harder for moose, elk and Caribou to hide in timber, and easier for wolves to run them down. Currently we have a govt cull going on up north to save the caribou. And it is working. Caribou numbers are coming back. Catch one wolf, collar it, track it to the pack, fly over them with a chopper and some expert marksmen, and take out all but the collared wolf. Let him run to the next pack, repeat the program.
Our provincial govt is mostly left/socialist/green/ anti, but the biologists have it right. Just wish they would smarten up and re-open the griz hunt.
As for hunters here, we have No Bag Limits on yotes and wolves in many areas, but its not an effective means of control. Hunters rarely see a wolf, they are very cagey.

That's basically what is happening down here to keep them under control, the agencies want two pilots and gunners but can only find one but collaring one and using them to keep track of the whole pack is a tool that is working well!!

 

[carpetman2]

1st, eradication would be next to impossible. 2nd, wolves are not in any danger of extinction as the wacko enviro folks have been expanding them world wide and they have always been in large numbers in North America. 3rd, they are just plain trouble. They not only kill all North American big game, they kill domestic stock, pets, and they spread disease especially parasites. They have devastated our area elk herds and have nearly eradicated our moose. We will be hunting wolves intentionally.

 

[sturner]

This is just typical of somebody from Texas, New York or California trying to tell people of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming telling us what's best for us.

Really you going to go there
All of my buddies back y'all on your problem

 

[26Reload]

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

Yeah...first one to get rid of.....Ted Turner

 

[Hubby45]

I'm not a big fan of the invasive Canadian Gray. They have wreaked havoc on a number of the elk in my state. I've seen firsthand what they've done to a once prime elk hunting area and it's not good.

 

[milo-2]

What we need to do is document wolf kills and cattle kills and then portray them to the anti's including f&g commissions. Emotions are the only thing that will change anti's minds.

That is a tough sell. G&F know of the carnage, probably know more than you and I.
You will be competing with professional wildlife photographers, some who've become rich taking pics of this beautiful, majestic, adorable creature and creating some fantasy world for snowflakes to believe in.
You will need pics and vids of it happening, not after pics. And even if you do get great footage, just what publication platform will reach the intended audience?

 

[L.Sherm]

Really you going to go there
All of my buddies back y'all on your problem

Well you got 1 that doesnt

 

[oldpilot]

Wolf reintroduction is not an act that returns balance or helps the environment. Nature selects species for Extinction. The Mexican Wolf and Red Wolves are extinct because their ecological niche closed. The Coyote and Bobcat then became the most successful preditor and lion's and bears prospered, and now ARA want to reintroduce a failed species??? Why? When I was a young lad our ranches supported herds over a hundred mule deer, big Horn sheep we're seen every day, and bears and lion's we're hunted any day we cut a track. A government hunter went from ranch to ranch year round would average four lion's a week. The main ranch was a 380 mother head permit and losses from predators averaged about 20. I never saw a coyote there until I was 16, and we thought it was an odd stray dog. By the time I was a sophomore in college, government hunters we're no more, coyotes were everywhere including cities, the deer populations we're in decline, the sheep we're seen only rarely, and lion's we're everywhere. The good old Forest Service cut the herd permit to 96, and calf losses to predation we're near 40 per year. So in all our collective wisdom we passed laws against leg hold traps and poisoning, the most effective control measures, and began "reintroduction" of another Apex predator. The people in Central and eastern Siberia can tell you stories about wolves and the winters of 67-68 and the mid seventies, when entire villages vanished and reindeer herds we're decimated. (Just FYI, the Soviets did away with predator control in the early sixties) Please explain to me why we need to reitroduce wolves, and get rid of deer, elk, and do away w ith the shooting sports!

 

[Wade Phipps]

Having seen what wolves have done to the whitetail population where I hunt (No bucks over 3 years old and deer clustering near houses), I think there are many issues with their management. One is that they under count so population estimates are usually half the actual numbers . Two is that they underestimate the impact on deer, elk and other species. (My dad has not seen a coyote in several years since the wolf population came back, but lots of foxes now.). Three is that the courts constantly block sound wolf population management. Four is the population target is a constantly moving goalpost with the target always being increased. Five is the myth that wolfs only kill to eat. Like many predators, given a chance, wolves will kill everything they come across whether they feed on it or not. Six is that they only kill the weak and infirm. As we all know, luck is part of hunting and prey just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time or conditions are in the wolves favor. Seven is urbanites love predators for some reason, and the re-introduction decisions are purely political compounded by the fact that state biologists need to appease their employer. Our forefathers did their damnedist to wipe them out for a reason. I think that populations could be managed and sustained at lower levels in some areas without much impact, but it will never happen as non-hunters are taking over most fish/wildlife positions in government.

 

[7MM Mike]

As a Canadian and Albertan I find it pretty entertaining that some folks think our wolves are a different species. there is only one grey wolf folks.... Science.

As for the Caribou here, we have forestry, oil and gas development to thank for their decline. opening roads and cutlines allows easy travel and access for the wolf into areas where they are already being pressured by development. aerial gunning is a bandaid fix at best, though I don't disagree with it.

Id rather have them than not, just like the grizzly. the hunting would lose a large measure of charm without these critters on the landscape. Sure, maybe there would be more game, and the hunting easier too If they weren't here.

makes you wonder why anyone would want to hunt Alaska?!

 

[26Reload]

This is the problem with statistics. They can be made to seem like something they are not. Wolves, are not all over Idaho. Narrow it down to where they are located and post those statistics.[/QUOTE]

Well sorry to inform you.....but having seen a floored graph showing populations of wolves well be for and years after intro.....you can basically take a drive anywhere in the Rockies of Idaho and there are wolves....as i live in southeastern...and they are moving from the eastern range in a westerly direction and are or were just over the mountain form pocatello a couple months ago.....hell..that doesn't mean they havent already been here and circled back.....a lab on the porch of the house attacked in the city of malad 3 years ago......by wolves......there are no rules for where they can and can't be.....park lines don't stop them..statelines don't stop them..fences don't stop them....hell...the Columbia River didn't stop them.....they are too numerous...and proliferating like rats(and whitetail deer).....i prefer the deer...

 

[Stiletto150]

That is a tough sell. G&F know of the carnage, probably know more than you and I.
You will be competing with professional wildlife photographers, some who've become rich taking pics of this beautiful, majestic, adorable creature and creating some fantasy world for snowflakes to believe in.
You will need pics and vids of it happening, not after pics. And even if you do get great footage, just what publication platform will reach the intended audience?

-That I don't know, have been pondering how to pay for a website that can be an upload point for everyone's videos and pictures. Maybe the a wildlife reality report. The real question is how to get the anti's to watch it and change their mind slowly. It's going to be a long process.
As for the photographers, they can get rich on the last ones left. Or the pictures they have already taken will go for more money. They can sell pictures of amazing herds of elk and deer and flying falcons and hawks.

 

[Timbersquatch]

https://www.facebook.com/100019355640182/posts/465585494096635/?sfnsn=mo

https://elknetwork.com/informing-misinformed-wolves/

Some interesting reads on how wolves affect elk herds

 

[Tidus56]

Hey fella, you think you are the only one here that has grown up in cattle country and dealt with coyotes and calves? That is the biggest joke I have heard so far. I said this once and I will say it again. I never said not to shoot them. I said eradication of them was a no go. If you have wolves wiping out the calves, you have too many wolves. An occasional calf is what it is. If you have elk numbers to where the elk are destroying crops, you have too many elk. Most people are too busy worried about their own personal interests, instead of the balance of nature. Hunters worried about their bag limits, farmers worried about their crops, ranchers worried about their stock. I fit is all 3 of the previous entries and still understand you have to have balance. And, yes F&W can make good decisions, it is getting the decisions pushed through, when you are fighting all these personal interests groups and anti-hunters, is where the problems take place. You think that is a joke? I know better.

Interesting aggressive response to a straight forward opinion.
1."Hey fella, you think you are the only one here that has grown up in cattle country and dealt with coyotes and calves?"
Where in my post did I say I was the only one who grew up in cattle country? I state an opinion on that adding wolf to calving season is something I have no interest in.
2. "I never said not to shoot them".
I never said you did or didnt.
3. "An occasional calf is what it is."
Thats your opinion doesn't make it fact. I prefer ranchers dont lose their livestock. Most where I live are hobby ranchers/farmers and by no means rich.
4."If you have elk numbers to where the elk are destroying crops, you have too many elk."
Thanks for the lesson. Depredation is done here to help farmers with this issue.
5. "And, yes F&W can make good decisions"
Ummm okay when did I say anything about F&W? I never state any opinion about F&W.
6.You think that is a joke?
Once again what are you referencing? I never said anything was a joke. Maybe take a moment and re read my post.
7."I know better."
Based on what and again know better than what? Better than me? How could you know better, you dont know where I am from. You dont know the cattle situation, elk situation or any wildlife in general where I am from. You dont know the current state of loss of cattle from predators where I live and the list goes on.
My opinion, that is stated is really straight forward. Growing up around cattle and dealing with predators I have no interest in adding another one. Especially one that is so devastating.