Wolves kill another cow, Smackout Pack suspected

[CAMPMEAT]

I live on art creek.. There is wolves around and they did kill the neighbors sheep he had the warden out.. I have only seen yotes around the house and have got everyone i saw..

Then we know who I mean. He didn't want me to say his name, for good reasons. Have you heard them up there Jess ?

[BOWHUNTER45]

  Once they have a Rib eye steak for dinner they will continue to have  high end meals 

[boneaddict]

Beef, its whats for dinner.    I myself like to mix the moose, elk and deer with a little black angus.

[pianoman9701]

now wdfg can admit there in over there heads and didn't know what they where getting into. I cant wait for my tag.

From the WDFW release regarding the Wildlife Commission meeting last Friday,...

'"No one wants to see a repeat of the situation that led to our action against the Wedge pack," said Dave Ware, WDFW game manager. "But the fact remains that wolves are recovering more quickly than expected, and we have to anticipate there will be some conflicts along the way."'

I believe Mr. Ware was understating the fact that there's a huge pucker factor going on in Olympia right now regarding the recovery and its "success" thus far. Even though they'd been told by residents AND the game departments of ID,MT, and WY, they couldn't wrap their little minds around the fact that these critters move great distances, are very bright and opportunistic, and breed like...wolves. 30-50% per year population growth is stunning for any animal population. For one at the top of the food chain, it's awe inspiring.

[jackmaster]

only a liberal idiot would think that wolves will leave cattle and sheep alone, and hunt wild game, it makes me laugh that they honestly think that the wolves arent smart enough to hunt farmers cows and sheep, that its the alpha pair that teaches them this, yeah right, i know damn good and well that i would go after whatever was easier to catch and whats easier than a pet cow......or fluffy the sheep.... this will become such a huge friggin cost for the wdfw that they will have no choice to admitt that they were idiots for allowing this.....

[BOWHUNTER45]

Well they best start forking out the tags ...I WANT ONE 

[bearpaw]

Why doesn't the WDFW fess up and tell the truth ? They haven't ever said anything about probable wolf kills of the 7 sheep killed near Art Creek by the Boulder Pack this year.

That's because if they did that they would have to admit that it's a pack. I think they realize they have a huge problem and the wolves a recovering faster then they thought they would. They just dont want to admit it.

A pack can be in more than one place at a time.  I think the idea that they are always together is a very common misconception around here.  A single pack will disperse and hunt in groups, pairs or solo pretty regularly.

Agreed, they definitely move around a lot!

Plus there are singles and doubles moving around looking to start a new pack or just surviving, whatever the case.

[huntnphool]

I think they realize they have a huge problem and the wolves a recovering faster then they thought they would. They just dont want to admit it.

Does anyone else find the fact that this whole thing has been touted as a "recovery"? For decades the wolves have been gone, or at the very least "far and few between". WDFW have been working on this wolf recovery for not that long, always saying that all these wolves are naturally migrating here.

 My question is why have wolves, after decades of been virtually non existant, all of a sudden make a beeline for all these different locations in Washington?

 Have they started migrating here in numbers because WDFW all of a sudden have started a "recovery"? Seems to me the majority of these wolf sightings started roughly the same time as this so called recover plan was suggested................hmmmmm.

[FSTaxidermy]

only a liberal idiot would think that wolves will leave cattle and sheep alone, and hunt wild game, it makes me laugh that they honestly think that the wolves arent smart enough to hunt farmers cows and sheep, that its the alpha pair that teaches them this, yeah right, i know damn good and well that i would go after whatever was easier to catch and whats easier than a pet cow......or fluffy the sheep.... this will become such a huge friggin cost for the wdfw that they will have no choice to admitt that they were idiots for allowing this.....

I think they only budgeted $80k for wolf depredation of livestock annually  going to need a lot more then that 

[jess]

campmeat i heard them howlin last night and they sound way different than a yote there is a few of them right above the house.. Deer are no where to be found and the dogs kept trying to climb in to bed last night.. I heard the wolves are crossed with a husky and they were released by a lady on tonasket creek?? Have you heard this? If they are crossed they can be shot on the spot right?

[CAMPMEAT]

campmeat i heard them howlin last night and they sound way different than a yote there is a few of them right above the house.. Deer are no where to be found and the dogs kept trying to climb in to bed last night.. I heard the wolves are crossed with a husky and they were released by a lady on tonasket creek?? Have you heard this? If they are crossed they can be shot on the spot right?

The people I know that have hybrids at the end of Tonasket Creek don't breed them. He's most likely to shoot the " invaders " that wanted to try and breed his dogs. I haven't seen hardly any deer whatsoever. I have a couple local deer, but that's it. I've heard a few coyotes at night lately, but it's been a looooooong time since I've heard those.

Also, we might be able to see the northern lights tonight after 10 pm. FYI. It was on the news last night.

[denali]

http://stevenscountycattlemen.wordpress.com/

More wolf activity in Stevens County
Posted on October 11, 2012 by stevenscountycattlemen   

Yearling killed near Smackout Pack area

The remains of a year-old cow were found on Rocky Creek, just 20 miles northeast of Colville on Oct. 5, indicating that wolf problems in Stevens County will not be exclusive to the Wedge area.  The northwestern area of Stevens County, commonly called the “Wedge”, was the location of numerous wolf-livestock conflicts this summer, resulting in 10 dead and 8 injured calves at the Diamond M Ranch.

The latest dead cow, commonly called a “yearling” due to its age, was part of the all-natural beef herd raised by Olsen Farms and sold at farmer’s markets throughout the state, as well as at Pike Street Market in Seattle.

According to reports from the Stevens County Sheriff’s Department, the cow had been dead for several days and pieces of the carcass had been ripped off and dragged 10 to 20 yards from the kill site. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) agents responded to the kill, but would not confirm if it was a wolf kill at the scene, per their department protocol. However, wolf tracks and scat were both found at the location.

The Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association suspects this kill was caused by the Smackout pack that was confirmed in the nearby area.

“This kill shows us that wolf activity is not going to be exclusive to the Wedge pack area and is not the result of ‘sloppy ranching’ as some conservation groups have suggested,” said SCCA President Scott Nieslen. “Our oversaturation of wolves in Eastern Washington means these kinds of incidents will be spreading throughout the region in the near future if the management of this animal is not changed.”

SCCA is advocating that the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission immediately delist the Gray Wolf as an endangered species in Washington State so more adequate management can take place. If the Gray Wolf is delisted, it can be managed as a predator like cougars, bears and coyotes.

Nielsen noted that the management of the Smackout Pack, which has been touted by both environmentalists and WDFW as an ideal model, is failing.

“There was a lot of discussion at the Commission meeting last week about how the Diamond M could have avoided losses if they had ‘worked with conservation groups’ like other ranchers. However, all that really meant is that the Diamond M did not accepting money from environmental groups or from the state,” said Nielsen. “Money cannot fix this problem and non-lethal methods do not always work. We need to be honest about the situation here in Stevens County and rethink the approach.”

[bearpaw]

Heres the best approach....     Delist like Wyoming!

[mkcj]

Well if they only budgeted $80K they spent 40K on an elect deterrent fence to protect a calving area. It didn't work at least that's what they said at the meeting on 10/5 

[JimmyHoffa]

During one of the DFW wolf meetings talking about the then proposed wolf plan.......  The comission chair asked the biologists flat out 'Why were wolves and grizzly bears killed off?'  The bios looked confused.  She asked again, 'What was it that was so bad about wolves and grizzly bears that they had to be killed off; but cougars, black bears and coyotes didn't?'  The bios still looked confused and said they didn't know...'No, idea.  We'll look into it.'    Hope they're not still looking.......
I wish I could find the actual clip from it--I remembered it best I could.