idahoelkinstructor

SSS all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NVMIKE

I have a friend in WY who has been hunting or in elk camp since he was a baby(35yrs) his grandfather, great uncles(and their kids), cousins, moms, aunts,ect has been hunting the same place for @50yrs near Jackson hole. I was talking to him the other night and he's talking about cancelling his hunt because the wolves have wiped out the elk. The local herd was gone several years ago, and the last few years the migratory herds are smaller and smaller and fewwer in number every year. They have gotten elk every year so far and figure that they can again this year, buthe just cant stomache killing any more elk in the area. They have been getting two or three bulls a year lately, they used to get 5-10/ year and pass on anything less than 5x5's.they have killed EVERY bull they have seen for three years running and still aren't takeing as many as they did every year for decades before the wolves.

Idaho hunter 58

I live in N. Idaho and there are new packs being "recognized" monthly and who knows how many others are out there that arn't getting "recognized" by fish and game. The avery pack was just in the paper last week and if you read the CDA press you will see weekly articles on the wolf problem. I know that i will be carrying my glock with my during bow season.

ironranger

It's the same old story of big government pushing their programs on the statesand then saying "You'll just have to live with it". Same thing here in Minnesota. Where I grew up in northern MN, the locals hate them and the tree huggers from the big cities are delighted. I say let's tranquilize the wolves and do a transfer to the big cities. Then the tree huggers will be happy to see them up close and they can feast on their pets!!

I remember back in the late 60's before they were protected here we had all kinds of deer up there. Boy how things have changed. There are still some deer to be taken and some large ones but the deer per square mile has gone down significantly.

MinnFinn

Muliefever, what you described with the herd of Elk and the pack of wolves is exactly the experiences we've witnessed in N.E. Minnesota, especially on winters with higher than normal snow falls and in the early spring when the snow is 2-3 ft. deep with heavy crust. The deer either have a very rough time if they go off the trails, while the wolves can run at will to bring many of them down. Or the deerstick to the trails and the wolves wait to pick them off time after time. Under those conditions a pack of wolves can kill and only partly eat a very significant % of the deer pop. It happened big time in winters of 95, 96 inland from Lake Superior. For 5 years after those winters I saw exactly 2 deer. I saw a number of wolves during that time though.

Finally, deer are starting to make a come back inland. But another couple of tough winters and no controls on the wolves can spell disaster for deer and moose here. (Don't talk to me about southern or central MN either.) I know there are plenty of deer in other part of the state and even close to Lake Superior. But inland in northern MN wolves and now some cougars moving in from Canada can raise hell with deer and moose like you would believe unless you lived or spent a lot of time in the rural areas up here.
We need wolves delisted in MN (have for 10+ years needed that.) Then we need reasonable controls (trapping, hunting) in the heavier wolve pop. areas, not just in central MN. Fair is fair.

whotheguy

Read some very shocking articles this past weekend on the wolf population and its effectsin various states.

If you can get a copy of the July/August 2005 of Bugle magazine printed from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, it's a must read. There are at least 5 different articles directly relating to this problem.

If you can't get a copy, let me know and I'll post it here, although it will be very lengthy.

If you really want to be wide-eyed from actual facts, this will almost put you into shock.

SSS

rick_reno

I've been in Id since they came back. I had a conversation with a F&G guy last year, and he said the population is about 200 - the habitat was expected to support 140. They're spreading, my in-laws have seen them where they live in Priest Lake (way up North) and a good friend had to chase feeding on a big mulie out by Clark Fork - he wanted the rack. Personally, they haven't impacted my hunting at all but if their populations keep growing I'm sure they will. It'd take a lot of them to impact the moose population, they're so plentifulthese days they're a pain in the ass.

ShatoDavis

I don't think we disagree at all. I agree totally with everything you said. I don't think we should go as far as some would though. Some would exterminate wolves, I don't think that is a solution.

I read the story about the wolves hamstringing the small herd of elk. At first it repulsed me, then I thought about it some more. The wild is a very tough, and unforgiving place. Nature is rarely fair. Now that being said, I don't live in or near the mountains so I have to defer to those who see whats going on there on a daily basis. I don't think that the wolf population can continue to be allowed to go unmanaged any longer.

wyomingtrapper

"I don't think that the wolf population can continue to be allowed to go unmanaged any longer. "

I expect we all agree with you, but the fear is that it will continue to go unmanaged much longer. I live in the mountains and there are plenty of cattlemen about and I don't know anyone that is totally against having any wolves about, but by the time we are allowed to legally control them, the damage will be done and it may take years to recover. If the lying sobs at the federal level had stuck with their original plan, we would be already managing them by our (Wyoming) biologically sound plan. I expect alot of canines are going to die in the high country this fall. Classic what is ethical is not legal, what is legal is not ethical, situation. As soon as wildlife management is run predominantly by special interests and not biology, we and all of the animals are going to loose.

Rebel Hog

DITTO,Trapper!