Wolf rumors or fact?

CWeeks

CWeeks

New member
Well guys another post got me thinking tell me what your fellings and thoughts are. I have heard that the wolves get on a heard of elk and deer around and pick them off as they need them to eat, is this fact or fiction?
Also I am feeling that the fish and games here in the west are hurting our hunting lands severaly in the fact that the re-introduction of wolves here in the west has caused elk and deer populations deminishing very rapidly. I believe in the next ten years here in the west where we are already having issues there will be so many wolves that 1 of 2 things happen. Either the deer and elk populations will be so low and near gone or; 2. The fish and game will realize that they made a huge mistake and there will be so many wolves that there will be an open season on wolves just like coyotes.
Just my thoughts how does everyone else see it.
 
It wasn't the Fish and Game that introduced the Wolves into Idaho it was the Feds. Our Idaho Fish and Game and in fact most of the folks in Idaho were against the wolf re-introduction. Our State government was also against it. We did not get a choice.

Wolves are one of the few animals that will kill seemingly for the shear pleasure of killing. Talk to any of the folks here in the Clearwater country whom has lost a pack of bear or cat dogs to them.

Were supposed to have a wolf season this year as the Feds have deregulated our wolf population this year. Were still going to have a fight in court with the pro-wolf folks over any hunting regulations they put into effect. I doubt that other than unrestricted shooting will ever provide any real control over the wolf population here. Folks that think that simply buying a tag for a once a year shoot will control the populations are dreaming.

Last elk season was the first time in years I have not put in an elk camp up around Pierce ID somewhere. The year before I put a camp up in a place I usually harvested and saw exactly zero elk. I did see some tracks, but every evening sitting around the campfire we listened to the wolves gather for a hunt and every morning we would have wolf tracks around our camp. We found evidence of more than a dozen elk kills within five miles of our camp while hunting.

The year before I camped the entire elk season up on French Mountain near Orofino Creek above Pierce ID. This was another spot that I'd had good harvests over the years. Our party saw exactly two elk, both cows and not one bull.

There are still elk here in Northern Idaho, but the wolf has changed the face of hunting. You don't see anymore herds and you have to dig them out of really nasty places, places that I simply can't get into anymore.

This fall I'm concentrating on deer hunting, there still seems to be plenty where I live a few miles below Orofino. I hunt up above my place on the Camas Prairie. I haven't seen any wolf sign up there and the deer populations are still high. I have seen a few moose and elk moving into the canyons above my place and I'm hoping the wolf packs don't
follow them in.

Elk hunting country in Idaho.

RockymtnsfromFrenchmt.jpg


Hillsidefrenchmt.jpg


OrofinocreeknearPierce.jpg


The closest I got to elk last year.

Elkdodo.jpg
 
Well this is always a hot topic, with lots of input both pro and con and not much of it based on facts.

We do have a healthy wolf population in Alberta, open to hunting, No bag limit.
I hunt them in both wilderness areas and agricultural/ranch areas. They are the top of the food chain here and very good at what they do. Some areas have complaints from ranchers.

Some areas I hunt, they are hard on the moose and other areas the big game , elk, deer , moose are doing great.

When they are perceived as a problem, control methods are stepped up. I think it unreasonable to expect an instant fix to any kind of wildlife problem. It takes time. Often hunters don't see the big picture and are only concerned about the game they can hunt this year. Addd wolves to the equation with all the misinformation and emotion along with the fact that you can't please eveyone, and you have a tough situation.

Ranchers complain about deer and elk damage and then they complain about the wolves /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

In the area I live, we have generous seasons and bag limits, but no wolves. The hunting pressure cannot keep up with the damage complaints from deer and elk.

In the area I hunt wolves, same thing. Complaints about elk, deer, and wolves. How do win???? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I do understand the issue at hand redfrog there is always goods and bads, pro's and con's. And I do realize that it takes time do remedy wildlife issues. But the wolf has spread through Idaho like wild fire every year hunting dogs are devoured by wolves and populations of animals drop at alarming rates. But you are right all in all there will always be complaints either way I am just looking for others opinions about this important issue.
 
And I'm sure not disagreeing with you Cweeks.
I've been in areas where the wolves have whacked the ungulates pretty good.

I like to hear opinions on the "wolf" subject as long as the discussion stays civilzed, but too often the emotions take over, people get insulted and the topic gets lost.

I think wolves have a place in the big picture. I also think that they need to be managed, either by hunting or culling or whatever. Unfortunately there are as many on the "other " side of the issue that think nothing should be done. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I dont know about the rumors/news, and there aren't lots of wolves here....yet. but I am sure that the MYTH of wolves/lions "killing the weak and diseased and only what they NEED to eat" is exactly that.
CD
 
The "sick and the weak" well not exactly. they will take any animal that they can. They sure don't do a physical on them first. They kill the ones they can. That's their job.

Gor those that want a different take /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif from 2004

"Terrible news from Alaska.

The anti-conservation Board of Game has just voted to allow up to 900 wolves to be killed by the barbaric practice of aerial gunning. This is six times as many as were killed last winter. Easy targets against fallen snow, wolves can be gunned down from airplanes or chased to exhaustion, then shot at point blank range.

In order to artificially boost numbers of moose and caribou for sport hunters, the Alaska Board of Game recently approved plans to kill 80 grizzly bears by allowing hunters to bait the bears with human food. Hunting grizzlies by baiting is currently illegal in Alaska. The Department of Fish and Game may also provide a "bounty" to grizzly bear hunters in this area, pending legislative approval this winter. In addition, the board approved expanding land-and-shoot wolf killing for two additional areas, where up to 400 wolves will be killed by aerial gunning teams. All six of Alaska's aerial wolf killing programs will target nearly 900 wolves this season. These deaths, coupled with legal hunting and trapping, will result in approximately 2,500 wolves, or one-third of the Alaska's total estimated wolf population, being killed this winter. Although the Board of Game attempted to include federal lands such as Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge in the wolf killing plan, efforts by Defenders and others helped ensure that these areas were excluded.

Since January 2003, bloody paw tracks have spread across Alaska after Gov. Murkowski reinstated the state-sponsored aerial wolf "control" scheme. As many as 147 wolves in 2003 were chased down and shot or shotgunned from planes in Alaska.

The wolf killing is in response to hunting groups wanting to up the Moose population. Murkowski being in the pockets of the hunting lobby, especially out of state hunters, he approved the aerial assisted killing which has not been used since the late 1980s. Alaskans voted in 1996 and again in 2000 to end all related same-day use of airplanes for public wolf hunting and trapping. In 2003 only 14% of Alaskans held hunting or trapping license.

During this state-sponsored killing, the state issues permits to selected private pilots and their passengers who will then shotgun the wolves from the air after tracking them down in small, fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters. In some cases the aircraft will not be able to land to retrieve dead wolves and put dying wolves out of their misery. This will continue for at least 2-3 winters, to kill additional wolves as they enter the area. After this formal control effort ends, the state will continue indefinitely with de facto control, to be carried out by private ground trappers and hunters.


We're counting on your support to help stop the aerial killing of wolves in Alaska. Please take two actions now:

-First, call Governor Murkowski's office at (907) 465-3500 to express your outrage.

-Then, make a tax-deductible emergency contribution to our Campaign to Save Alaska's Wolves. We need to raise $25,000 in the next 72 hours. Your donation will be used to raise media awareness, mobilize grassroots pressure and take legal action to stop the savage killing.

Time is of the essence. So, please don't delay. Call Governor Murkowski's office and make an emergency contribution to Defenders today.


Together we can stop the carnage.
Thanks for caring,

Steven DelVecchio
VP for Membership

http://www.defendersactionfund.org/"
 
CWeeks, IDBob nailed it. The Idaho Fish and Game had NOTHING to do with wolf reintroduction, they were completely against it in fact. Up until now, the IDF&G has had no say in how wolves are managed.

As far as getting a "wolf season" I'm not holding my breath, despite what has been said about a possible season in the near future. Before the first wolf tag is issued there is sure to be plenty of opposition from the pro-wolf groups. Lawyers, judges, and court rooms are sure to be involved and that takes lots of time and money.

I'm not sure a season on wolves in Idaho will have much, if any effect, on the population anyway. Once wolves get shot at on a regular basis they will become wary of humans and difficult to kill. In my opinion, it's going to take helicopters, traps, and poison to actually lower the population.

With wolves taking their share of elk and along with forcing elk to change their habits has really impacted elk hunting success the past 10 years in North Central Idaho. Wolves are very territorial and cover large areas. Sooner or later wolves will reach the carrying capacity of the habitat.
 
i have to stay away from this issue because i'm a extreemist anti wolfer.
yes i'm conserned about the wolf population i think it should still be 0.
 
BUT AREN'T THEY "CANADIAN" WOLVES?
Wolves from Canada were used for reintroduction to central Idaho and Yellowstone so they aren't native.
REALITY: The wolves that currently inhabit Canada once historically inhabited the central and western United States, live in similar habitat and rely on the same food source. Since wolves were exterminated in the western region of the lower 48, capturing animals from Canada as a source population was actually
the ideal match.
.DETAILS: Reintroduced wolves are often incorrectly called "Canadian" wolves however, biological and genetic research provides evidence of only two subspecies of wolves inhabiting the central and western portions of the United States, both of which moved freely across the Canadian border. Other taxonomists reject the subspecies theory, believing that the same wolf species lived in both the western U.S. and Canada. When selecting wolves for release into central Idaho and Yellowstone, biologists chose wolves in Canada that were already preying on elk and living in habitat similar to that of Idaho and Wyoming. A few wolves have even made the trip on their own. In 1991, a GPS collared wolf traveled from Banff National Park, Alberta to British Columbia, down to Browning, Montana then southwest past Coeur d'Alene, Idaho into Washington state and back to her home territory traveling an area of about 40,000 square miles in less than three years. While this is an extreme example, several wolves have dispersed hundreds of miles in just a few weeks. Source: Lukens, Jim. Idaho, eleven years with wolves ­ what we've learned. News release, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, April 25, 2006. Mech, L.D. and L. Boitani, editors. 2003. Wolves: behavior, ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press. Wandering Wolf Inspires Project, 5/23/2006 New York Times.
SEE THAY ARE NOT EVEN IDAHO WOLVES!! "wolves were exterminated in the western region of the lower 48"
EVEN THOE THE CANADEON WOLF MAY BE A MACH THAY ARE ADAPTED TO HUNT THE BIGER GAME UP NORTH A 160 PUND PREDITER IS NOT FROM IDAHO THAT IS WHY THAY CAN TAKE ENYTHING THAY WONT IN WEST DOSENT HAVE TO BE SIC IT DOSENT HAVE TO BE HURT
 
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