Wolves!! LOL

[Mtn Mam]

Gee you guys, instead of killing those poor li'l innocent wolves, why don't you crate 'em up and send to Washington DC, with instructions to open all the crates in the back yards of all the big-wigs there?

Undoubtedly, those senators, judges, lobbyests, just everybody with (mostly unearned) power would just be thrilled to death to see how healthy and big and shiny-teethed those cute creatures they sent us have attained.

Positively a win-win solution for all of us, IM not-at-all HO.

[ctdad]

Seems like many feel the same way as mtn mam regarding the politics of wolves. But it is an interesting first post?

Anyway, welcome to the forum.

[Mtn Mam]

I'd been reading hunters laments about the elk being gone. The subject had of course drifted to wolves, and I just had to put my solution in. After I regiesterd (yup, I'm a newbie) I couldn't find where I'd been reading, so held my breath in fear of irritating long-suffering elk hunters, and posted away.

Thanks for your comment, and thank you too for welcoming me.

[Mikeha33]

Welcome Mtn mam! Hell, it's elk season, I'm West bound and down in t-minus 19-1/2 hours, last thing on my mind these days is what could be happening in "our" government!
Good luck this fall, it is the best time of the year!

[Indian Summer]

Welcome to our forums Mary. Do you hunt elk?

[Duck-Slayer]

Welcome too the forum.... awesome first post.....
Matt

[Mtn Mam]

Welcome to our forums Mary. Do you hunt elk?

Nope. Lived in the mountains most of my life but just never got into hunting. Love, love, love venison though. Do ATV'ing whenever possible up around the Cascade, ID area, and have seen wolves (plural), deer (plural), a young elk (one!) in the last 8 years. Friends just north of Cascade said the elks by the ...dozens? came into their lawn area in the fall, getting safe from hunters they thought. Friends would go to sleep every night with the sounds of elk pawing and clanking antlers, grunting. Until the wolves were introduced. Their elk are gone.

Good luck this year, thanks for the post.

[Mtn Mam]

Welcome too the forum.... awesome first post.....
Matt

Thanks, Matt! Good luck to you too, in all your passions.

[Mtn Mam]

Welcome Mtn mam! Hell, it's elk season, I'm West bound and down in t-minus 19-1/2 hours, last thing on my mind these days is what could be happening in "our" government!
Good luck this fall, it is the best time of the year!

Thanks, Mike! Wonderful to hear good enthusiasm! When you get back check our Nation status just to make sure we're still a United nation! Otherwise, have a great hunt, wish you all the best!

Party on, all you great, enthusiastic hunters!

[Indian Summer]

What interested me is that you, quite likely by accident, got right to the root of the problem when it comes to wolves. It's not the wolves. It's the brilliant considerate people who put them there. When will man learn that we when we tamper with mother nature, sometimes there's no turning back.

Party on.

[SquidHC]

While I know the topic of wolves is a hot one, I have to throw in a few thoughts. Firstly, are you aware that the re-introduction of wolves to Yellowstone was one of the best ecological management successes that we have seen, both in terms of improving the overall health of the elk herds and improving overall ecosystem health (especially in sensitive riparian areas)? The case is largely the same in nearly all areas that wolves have been re-introduced. That said, the packs have certainly done overly well in some areas and as such need to be closely monitored and controlled in much the same style we control elk and deer populations. Utilizing general hunting seasons, possibly including emergency hunts in critical WMU's, allows wolves to be maintained at a suitable level and can be ecologically beneficial to the overall health of the regions natural spaces. Now I know there is a lot more to it, especially in areas that don't allow them to be hunted even though their population levels are above carrying capacity, but if properly managed having wolves in an area can actually improve the elk herds. Just another angle to think about.

[Mtn Mam]

While I know the topic of wolves is a hot one, I have to throw in a few thoughts. Firstly, are you aware that the re-introduction of wolves to Yellowstone was one of the best ecological management successes that we have seen, both in terms of improving the overall health of the elk herds and improving overall ecosystem health (especially in sensitive riparian areas)? The case is largely the same in nearly all areas that wolves have been re-introduced. That said, the packs have certainly done overly well in some areas and as such need to be closely monitored and controlled in much the same style we control elk and deer populations. Utilizing general hunting seasons, possibly including emergency hunts in critical WMU's, allows wolves to be maintained at a suitable level and can be ecologically beneficial to the overall health of the regions natural spaces. Now I know there is a lot more to it, especially in areas that don't allow them to be hunted even though their population levels are above carrying capacity, but if properly managed having wolves in an area can actually improve the elk herds. Just another angle to think about.

Yes, I am a probably more than a wee bit prejudiced. Let me know how you feel when you witness 2 wolves hamstring a Hereford, then go after her newborn calf. In calving season, they leave that calf and go after the next cow, and which they may or may not haul off the newborn. They're smart enough to hang back in the forest watching until the next cow is ready to calve.

Sure, a rancher (now) has the right to kill a wolf in the process of killing, but he's usually treated as though he's a Nazi. We could go on all day on this.

To each his own.

Thank you for replying.

[Mtn Mam]

What interested me is that you, quite likely by accident, got right to the root of the problem when it comes to wolves. It's not the wolves. It's the brilliant considerate people who put them there. When will man learn that we when we tamper with mother nature, sometimes there's no turning back.

Party on.

Hey, Dear Heart! Whoa there a moment! Where'd your quote "...quite likely by accident..." come from? That sorta presupposes I lost my brain or never had one. So why would you decide I arrived at my thoughts by accident? I believe I have as much gray matter upstairs as the next person; probably even you. I truly would be interested in what made you decide "...Quite likely by accident, [I] got right to the root of the problem." Hmmm.

I KNEW, absolutely, positively, without a doubt KNEW, we'd have wolves when that first brilliant, considerate idiot gave the idea to the media. And I also knew, as well as any Westerner with half a brain would, what was going to happen. So nope, it sure wasn't by accident that I came upon my opinion. And of course there was no pondering over it. No lists of pro's and con's. That brilliant, shining light of the answer was right there, front and center. Jeesh.

If you meant no harm, Indian Summer, please edit your work prior to publishing.

Otherwise (I'm going to be nice, I'm going to be nice) Otherwise, nice to hear from you! Have a really fine day.

[Indian Summer]

Simply put.... I just wasn't sure.

Squid... the "suitable level" that was outlined in the reintroduction plan was exceeded tenfold long ago. That's the problem, we found out a little too late we can't trust the wolf huggers or the politicians. Once they got their foot in the door on the plan they were like cockroaches you just can't get rid of.

And by the way.... eliminating over 90% of the Yellowstone herd was not an overall improvement to the health of the already healthy herd. Certainly you're not hung up on the "they only kill the sick and old" line are you? 90% of the herd was not sick weak and old. lol

[foxvalley]

I'm not to much on yellowstone,but i believe there is no hunting in the park, is that correct? And is it also correct that the best management tool that the U.S. has ever had,and ever will have is controlled hunting? Sure the wolves helped control the pop.,along with bears and cats,which should be managed along with every other animal in the park,or anywhere else,including wolves.
To think that wolves "only kill the sick and injured" is pure hogwash, and being a pack animal,they are extremely effective on killing pretty much whatever they want, healthy or sick.
I wonder if anybody would like to see what happens to our bear dogs in WI,they mostly get torn apart,and "skinned alive". Are the wolves eating them? No.Are the dogs hunting the wolves,no,they are just in the woods.
Or maybe I should post a vid of how a wolf eats,lots of time they don't even bother killing the animal first, they just start eating huge mouthfulls of ham while the animal is still very much still alive.

[Mtn Mam]

I'm not to much on yellowstone,but i believe there is no hunting in the park, is that correct? And is it also correct that the best management tool that the U.S. has ever had,and ever will have is controlled hunting? Sure the wolves helped control the pop.,along with bears and cats,which should be managed along with every other animal in the park,or anywhere else,including wolves.
To think that wolves "only kill the sick and injured" is pure hogwash, and being a pack animal,they are extremely effective on killing pretty much whatever they want, healthy or sick.
I wonder if anybody would like to see what happens to our bear dogs in WI,they mostly get torn apart,and "skinned alive". Are the wolves eating them? No.Are the dogs hunting the wolves,no,they are just in the woods.
Or maybe I should post a vid of how a wolf eats,lots of time they don't even bother killing the animal first, they just start eating huge mouthfulls of ham while the animal is still very much still alive.

Wow, Fox Valley, you got it! Your last paragraph? Ditto the rancher's calves. I'm not a rancher by the way, just feel for them.

How many of you have seen the types of wolves they introduced to Idaho? Certainly not the native species. These wolves are HUGE. I'm talking yearling-calf big. Watched one trying to scare geese off a river and all I could think at first was "How would you go about finding two huge German-Shepherd-dog parents to give you that size of offspring?! I walked closer (unarmed, I don't hunt and wasn't carrying), the wolf noticed me, whipped around, then oh-so-casually begin walking towards me, and suddenly, "Oh oh!" The icy shock of shivers down my spine were just that -- pure ice. "Oh, crap," I tell myself, "that baby is a wolf, not a German Shepherd, and you might live to see another day if you back off & find safety. NOW. SLOW." All of this in a foot of snow. If I'd fallen I sure wouldn't be here writing this to you. Frightening? You bet! There is no way on God's green earth that you are prepared to see the size of this slant-eyed BIG BIG "dog" catching you in his radar.

Fortunately, safety was near in the form of our pickup and a cabin nearby. The closer I got to the truck, the wolf began slowing. Walking again, stopping, staring, walking, to finally turning and running back into the forest at the sound of a door slamming. Did I heave a sigh of relief? Well, the heaving part was mighty near, as was the relief. Sad to know we'd never again be free from predators in our forests.

Thanks to the ignorant that occupy Washington, D.C.

Happy hunting, folks! And remember, don't kill -- instead, crate that cute, friendly thing up and ship it off to a D.C's back yard. And I & a million more will thank you!

[cantgetdrawn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... I7h5Ad1D_0

[pointysticks]

What interested me is that you, quite likely by accident, got right to the root of the problem when it comes to wolves. It's not the wolves. It's the brilliant considerate people who put them there. When will man learn that we when we tamper with mother nature, sometimes there's no turning back.

Party on.

wait..there is some irony in here..i know it. :D

i'm not a fan of wolves..but to be honest, only because they want what we want. i feel the same way about the big lady at the deli eyeballing the last piece of pie. i want that pie!! sucks to be an elk hunter only to be out done by a bunch of wild dogs.

but tampering with nature? we tamper all the time! some good, some bad moves. the wolves disappeared because we tampered. not so sure MORE tampering is the fix.

it blows me away that wolves are not hunted more. are they that difficult of a prey? i've never tried it. hunting in ID, i heard them, saw their tracks..but never laid eyes on one.

[Rizzy]

They are really hard to hunt on purpose. If you give one a lesson, then the whole pack learns it. The rifle harvest is primarily due to luck. Trapping is how they get harvested on purpose and ultimately controlled in the long run. Luckily the states surrounding Yellowstone are pro trapping states. When they get established in a non trapping states like Colorado, then we will get to see the biggest ecological disaster of the century.