Will you hunt wolves?

[ID_shooting]

I believe that the wolfs should not have been reintroduced and should be re-erraticated, stories like this one help me justify this beliefe. If they will kill a dog, when will kids be killed? I am even more troubled that you can protect livestock but not your hunting dogs?

What do you think, If they allow wolf hunting in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montanta, will you partake?

Wolves pounce on hunting dogs

07:18 PM MST on Thursday, January 13, 2005

Associated Press

LEWISTON -- Wolves have been killing hunting dogs recently.

Kevin Stamper of Grangeville lost his two-year-old blue tick/walker hound mix to a wolf pack near Grangeville on January Second.

Stamper says he's never seen wolves that low before.

Snow can force wolves to lower elevations. And populations have risen since reintroduction ten years ago.

Steve Nadeau is the wolf coordinator for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in Boise. He says hunters shouldn't let loose their hounds if they see wolf tracks around.

While Idaho will soon get more leeway to manage wolves next month because of new federal rules -- hunters can only protect their pets from wolves on their own land, not while out hunting.

Nadeau says any wolf kill will be investigated to ensure the killing was justified.

 

[Cascade Hunter]

They are moving into Oregon now and I will shoot them if allowed.

 

[dakotasin]

no wolves here (yet), but i would certainly shoot them if they were.

 

[stevelyn]

Will you hunt wolves?

Yes I do. At every opportunity. I even find one in a snare every now and then.

 

[HankB]

Not being in wolf country myself I don't have a dog in this hunt ( ) but it seems to be the folks who MOST want wolves reintroduced are the people FURTHEST AWAY from the place they're being reintroduced to.

And their motives may not be entirely based on the love of wolves; I remember reading one environazi's view that went something along the lines of "If wolves bring down enough deer and elk, then those nasty HUNTERS won't be shooting Bambi anymore."

It's my understanding that locals - especially those with vulnerable livestock - in the "new" wolf country are following "shoot, shovel, and shut up" when it comes to dealing with these critters. Can't say as I blame them.

 

[Yooper]

Even wolf hybrids have been known to attack children.

 

[smokemaker]

I shoot coyotes, so there's nothing saying I wouldn't shoot a wolf if I had the chance... probably be shoot, shovel, shut up, too.

 

[mete]

Wolves attack dogs ? www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article948508.ece

 

[Zeke Menuar]

Would I hunt wolves? No. Wolves have a right to live and do their thing just like any other critter. I do believe the rules about wolves are a bit messed up. A property owner should have the right to blast a wolf just like he can with a cougar, coyote or any other pest. If I saw a wolf in the back 40, I probably wouldn't shoot it right off the bat. But if the dog or cat or any other animal I owned turned up missing, I certainly would get the Tupperware Special some work if a wolf came around, rules or no rules. Keep the shovel handy.

ZM

 

[H&Hhunter]

Would I hunt wolves? No. Wolves have a right to live and do their thing just like any other critter

Zeke,

Are you saying that hunting should not be used as a management tool for wildlife?

Deer & elk have a right to live and do there thing and they are hunted yet still live and do their thing in the woods. What's different about a wolf?

And to answer the question not only yes would I, yes I have when I lived in Alaska..

 

[Art Eatman]

Seems to me that this is another area of conflict where those who don't see homo sap as part of nature get all confused. Unfortunately, the political power belongs to the confused tribe.

"Carrying capacity" applies to predators as well as the grazing/browsing species. So long as the predator population is relatively small, whether the fanged kind or the armed kind, no problem.

So, as long as a prey species population is "just right" for its habitat, and so long as wolves and people take the (generally) "surplus" animals, all's well.

The big problem is that many species of predators are opportunists. They don't differentiate between a weakened elk or a puppy dog or a newborn calf.

Ergo, "S,S,SU"--pronounced "Shoo". The logo would be a skull with crossed rifle and shovel and a gag on the skull.

Art

 

[Mannlicher]

No problem at all with hunting Wolves. I hunt Coyotes, and ferral dogs, so I don't see much difference with Wolves.

 

[landon74]

I'll give another vote to Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up. If it attacked my dogs, it'd would get smoked same as anything else. Would I shoot one on sight? Probably not.

 

[Zeke Menuar]

Would I hunt wolves?

Would I hunt wolves personally. No. If a wolf was out in the back 40 killing something of mine or my neighbors, you bet.
Do I advocate hunting wolves in general. Yes. Here in Oregon we are going to have to at some point.

When the city-dwelling veggie-nazis banned hunting bear and cougar with hounds, the damned critters started breeding like rabbits. Then the cry-baby liberal start screaming because they have cougars next to their suburban elementary schools.
Now bear and cougar have higher bag limits, and longer seasons. The ODFW actually advocates getting bear and cougar tags when getting deer and elk tags and shooting bear and cougars if you see one.
If the wolf population continues to adapt and expand, we will have to hunt them just like any other game animal.

Keep the rifle sighted in and the shovel handy.

This is my opinion. Your opinion may vary.

ZM

 

[H&Hhunter]

Zeke,

That is the whole point of this thread. Wolf populations have expanded to the point in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana that they are going to open a hunting season on them to try and keep their population in check.

I respect the fact that not everybody wants to hunt them. It's just that much like some other species the eco nazis have canonized wolves and put them on their "noble" creature list which makes many people loose their friggin minds when talking about hunting them..

All opinons welcome of course..

 

[deerhunter17]

I would love to you them, but in Wisconsin we can`t

 

[Fuzzy]

I probably wouldn't hunt wolves if there was a season but I don't object to their being a season. Wolf populations should be managed like any other species. They can do a lot of good when their population is at the proper level and they can do a lot of harm if there is a large surplus of animals, but any species can. I say let the wildlife biologists (you're friendly, local Game and Fish folks) figure out what the rules should be and they rest of us should abide by them.

 

[Sam]

Some funny guys are trying to reintroduce "Mexican Brush wolves" down here.
i checked one out in the local zoo. Looks persactly like a coyote. If they don't look enuf different from a coyote to be indetifiable, then how am I gonna keep from shooting them? law or not!

Sam

 

[Art Eatman]

Sam, the last time I saw any data on reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf by the USF&WS, there was a cost structure shown for three actions. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it would cost roughly $12 million a year for a full program; $8 million a year for a limited program--and $4 million a year if they did nothing.

Y'know, I'd love a $4 million a year job to do nothing.

From what I've read, a mature Mexican Wolf weighs in around 65 to 75 pounds. Coyotes generally are in the 30- to 40-pound range...

 

[itgoesboom]

I would have a hard time shooting a wolf, simly because my next door neighbor has a wolf hybrid, and it would be like shooting her.

I.G.B.

 

[Art Eatman]

Sorry, IGB, but I just don't make that sort of connection. E.g., I've always liked to have a house pet, be it cat or dog or both. That never kept me from shooting the feral variety.

Something else to think about: You've heard of the FFA and the 4H kids? Livestock shows and all that? Those kids know from the gitgo that the calf they hand-raise is gonna end the show by being sold to a butcher. (Doesn't mean it's all that easy, as I found out myownself at age 13. It's just part of life, is all.)

Art

 

[Ankeny]

Wolf populations have expanded to the point in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana that they are going to open a hunting season on them to try and keep their population in check.

Really? That's news to me.

 

[Cosmoline]

I'd love to, but the critters are very clever and keep well clear of people, at least around this part of Alaska. They're out there, but you won't find them wandering around like a black bear or porcupine.

I tend to doubt claims of wolves killing pets. I strongly suspect it's coyotes. Even a little coyote can kill a big dog. They don't bluff or posture. They just go in and kill. It takes more tame dogs by surprise.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

This has almost become an epidemic in NorthWestern Wisconsin. Mostly bear hunting dogs, I think. Would I kill a wolf, most certainly if it were legal. I think the penalty for illegaly killing a wolf would not make NRA4LIFE a happy camper.

 

[fulloflead]

I believe that the wolfs should not have been reintroduced and should be re-erraticated, stories like this one help me justify this beliefe.

So we should completely eradicate an animal because it's an inconvenience to humans? I'm glad YOU'RE not in charge of these things. I'm glad you don't live in Africa too.