Idaho wolves

White Eagle

White Eagle

New member
I have been corrosponding with outfitters in Idaho and have heard refered to on more than one occasion wolves. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gifAre there alot of wolves in Idaho or something ?
If there are do they regularily prey on elk to where a hunt could be affected by it ?
Curious minds wanna know .... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
There are now between a 800 and 1500 depending on which side of the issue the folks you talk to are on. This is at least three times the federal target number we were supposed to have.

We've been trying to gain some control from the feds since the program began. They are dining on our elk, our deer, our livestock our bear and cougar hunters dog packs and our pets.

We still have elk, but the face of our elk hunting has changed and for the worse. Because the wolves keep the elk scattered they are much harder to hunt and have to be hunted in much rougher country than before the wolf was brought back.

Our Governor and our fish and game have been trying to gain state control over the wolves from the feds for the last few years. Wyoming was the holdup as the Feds wanted Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to develop state wolf control programs and would not release control to the states til all three had a program the feds liked. Wyoming simply said any wolf off federal property could be shot and so our wolf populations just grew and grew til the feds finally let Idaho and Montana develop a program seperatly. No offense to you folks from Wyoming, most of us here felt exactly as you did.

Were hoping to have a wolf season next year, but the pro-wolf folks take the state fish and game to court over every decision they make which in essence makes state control either impossible or so expensive it's not possible.

I don't believe, at least in my lifetime, Idaho will ever see the elk hunting like it was in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Folks are still killing elk here, but, the hunting is much harder. Once this genie was let back out of the bottle there's just to much resistance to ever get it stuffed back in.

Hopefully we'll have some wolf hunting in 2008.
 
Yes to both questions. The wolves really keep the elk moving. They wolves started out isolated to some back country units and now are in areas that I never expected to see them. Hopefully they will be de-listed soon and we can hunt them and get there numbers down to a managable #. I don't know how the outfitters have had to change the way they hunt now but I do know the elk numbers are down overall. I went to an area 2 weeks ago and there was elk sign everywhere but I didn't see an elk anywhere but I did see wolf tracks so what was there was gone now. I went calling this last weekend and I believe I had a young wolf come in. It was still fairly dark and at 1st I thought it was a german shepard but I was around 8 miles from any homes and as soon as it seen me he didn't act like a domestic dog so I'm not sure. I hope that we will be able to hunt them in 2008 but I would be surprised if there isn't a big court battle first.
 
The implication was the wolves are forcing the outfitter to hunt different areas I'll shoot a wolf for you if Idaho has a season in 08 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Same nonsense going on here in Montana. This year, F&G extended elk season for two weeks because there were not many elk shot during the general season. They blamed it on weather. I disagree, from what I see from spending a lot of time in the mountains, the elk are not where they once were but there is one heck of a lot of wolves around. One of my sons is a Railroader and he told me yesterday that he and the engineer saw wolves along the tracks on the Spokane, Wa to Whitefish, Mt run and he said they saw no deer or elk in the areas they usually do. We are losing our hunting, imo.
 
Being from Wyoming, I was glad to see them stick to their guns about killing any wolf outside the park. The feds said in the beginning that they wouldn't leave the park (they can read the signs you know). By making everyone agree to their (feds) terms prior to allowing delisting, they were assured that the holdouts would be the bad guys. Good to see that IDBob sees through that, means others do too.

Tonight on the news, they said that the feds accepted Wyomings' plan so if we ever get them delisted, we can start shooting.

Outfitters I have worked for in the past said they rarely see calves. You know what that means, sooner or later no adults. The feds say its the bears but they have always been here and the numbers of elk had been on the increase.

One last rant, my favorite coyote hunting area in the mountains has little or no coyote population but you sure hear the wolves.
 
The Elk have suffered and will continue to suffer until we get the wolf population under control. The Elk can and will rebound but the Shiras Moose is another matter altogether. Moose populations in Wyoming have been decimated by the wolf and very well may never recover. I see the day, within the next decade, that the Shiras Moose will no longer be present in huntable numbers. Many areas in Wyoming that use to give 50 moose tags or more before the wolf re-introduction, now offer 2 to 5 tags. We are not talking about that long of a period here either. I know Wyoming held up the process but I am glad the Governor stuck to his guns. The only way for us to get this under control is to be able to shoot every wolf we see, outside of the re-introduction area. Tags for wolves is all well and good but we could reduce their numbers more if they were targets of opportunity and anyone could shoot them, with no license, outside of certain areas. Outside of re-introduction areas they should be listed as a predator, just like the coyote, and be fair game. Maybe we will see that in the near future. One can always hope.
 
We are going to have a wolf hunt in 08,130 wolf qouta,Wyo will never have one if their gov dont pull his head out and realize he is not going to bully the US govt.
 
Nonya,

It is the opposite. It is the state that is getting pushed around by the feds. I agree that Wyoming could just give in, but when the state does not want that, the govener can't back down. His job and the jobs other elected officials should represent the people and their will. The overwhelming majority of WY residents don ot want the wolves and would rather they were shot on site outside the introduction area. It is the goveners job and all the other elected officails of the state to ensure the will of the people.

To bad more officials did not do this. Anymore they all back down and compromise.
 
Well we just approved our 2008 wolf season with a 130 wolf quaota,thats 130 more wolves we will kill than Wy.Ill take our Gov who plays politics and gets it done over a hard headed good ole boy that stands his ground and gets nothing done any day.You can buy an out of state wolf tag for $325 and hunt them here until you get a new Gov.
 
For the record the IR takes a PRO WOLF stand so they will print anything that makes it sound like the pro wolf organizations are going to win their battle,its in the hands of the MT F&G now,nothing pro wolf about them.
 
Nonya,
Not arguing with you bud, just letting you know that it isn't as clear cut as folks might think it is. ESA must prevail first with the USFWS and delisting. The correct steps are being taken to achieve this but I know of no other single issue that causes more controversy than wolves and on so many levels such as emotion, scientific and political just to name a few.
 
I would really be surprised to see a wolf season in Montana in 2008..the pro-wolf organizations will keep this tied up in the courts for a long.
 
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