how quick wolves are spreading and reproducing is a surprise to me!

[cougarbart]

I am really surprised with all the old school way of life in eastern washington that they are letting wolves population grow, even more than idaho! 1 tribe has a hunting season, 1 had open season and snared one yet i can't believe we haven't had old school conservation!

[boneaddict]

Too many cell phones, not enough people willing to take the risk.

[cougarbart]

they have cell phones in idaho and seen quite a bit, especially the first year or so!  later alot of animal lovers out feeding the critters!

[bobcat]

How do you know there hasn't been "old school conservation?" Nobody is going to be dumb enough to admit to it on here.

[boneaddict]

Thats true cougar, but there is quite a lot different breed of folks in Idaho than Washington.   Check out the thread on here about turning in someone for shooting one.   Even among conservative outdoorsman, folks are willing to light it up for a few points or for justice.

[cougarbart]

because if there was they wouldn't be spreading as fast as they are, and with all the horn hunters out somebody would of found and called it in trust me! and it would headlines in the media! ya bone rural idahoians if you want something done right do it yourself attitude!

[Dhoey07]

What makes you think that they are spreading faster in washington than anywhere else?  Idaho has to hire helicopter gunners to shoot wolves.  I figured all them good ole' backwoods idaho boys would have them wolves in check

[uplandhunter870]

its a different lifestyle in N Idaho than eastern WA, I lived in Moscow for a couple of years and its just, well lets say a tad different there.

even if someone was to admit to some "western justice" on a few wolves you really think s/he would be able to get away with it? the east side of the cascades have eyes and those eyes belong to the econut elitist from seattle that believes that we should have wolves and no hunters because hunters are not part of the "natural" ecosystem (but yet they forget that the indians hunted). and with the current state of WA wolf politics i honestly believe that if someone was caught red handed killing wolves i think the state would throw every book they could at them just to make and example.

so why risk it?

[turkeyfeather]

I think you also have to take into account that in Idaho hunting wolves is legal and they still seem to be having a hard time keeping them in check. Now change that over to Washington where you would have to be very discrete and sneaky about it. That would essentially make it impossible to make a dent without drawing some sort of unwanted attention. Until wolves are de-listed our hands are tied and we really can't do anything to slow them down.

[buckfvr]

Problem is, by the time we are allowed to hunt them over here imparticular, we will be so far behind, that even with legal hunting, the wolves will gain numbers and continue to expand at a high rate.

THey are knowingly going to let hunting go in the toilet in this state.......

As they acknowledged at the meeting last night, at this point, there are more cougar than wolves.......my thought is, the cougar population would continue to grow even with a season same as coyote.  Most people over here have never even seen a cougar.  Point is wolves will be the same......a fleeting sighting versus a shot opportunity will be the challenge if it ever gets to that point.

[jackelope]

because if there was they wouldn't be spreading as fast as they are, and with all the horn hunters out somebody would of found and called it in trust me! and it would headlines in the media! ya bone rural idahoians if you want something done right do it yourself attitude!

Not enough people see enough wolves in this state to make a difference, even if they were to illegally shoot them. 296 wolves have been killed in Idaho this year and the seasons almost closed(everything closes 3/31) in all the units. That's not much of a dent in the population of Idaho I bet, and thats legal hunting. Factor in that a guy would be poaching a federally protected animal, and the odds of poaching occurences drop drastically I imagine, regardless of your lifestyle or where you live. Definitely not enough to slow down their spread by folks illegally killing them. I'm sure some get shot illegally here, but I bet you could count on 1 hand how many per year and you'd have a couple fingers left over when you're done.

 Just my opinion. I have no evidence to supplement any of this, it's just what I think.
 

[bobcat]

I guarantee wolves are being killed illegally in this state. But as others have said, it's not many, and definitely not enough to prevent the wolf population from increasing.

We know of at least a couple wolves that were killed, and they only got caught because they tried to mail a wolf hide to Canada. So how many have killed wolves and not been caught?

[Dhoey07]

because if there was they wouldn't be spreading as fast as they are, and with all the horn hunters out somebody would of found and called it in trust me! and it would headlines in the media! ya bone rural idahoians if you want something done right do it yourself attitude!

Not enough people see enough wolves in this state to make a difference, even if they were to illegally shoot them. 296 wolves have been killed in Idaho this year and the seasons almost closed(everything closes 3/31) in all the units. That's not much of a dent in the population of Idaho I bet, and thats legal hunting. Factor in that a guy would be poaching a federally protected animal, and the odds of poaching occurences drop drastically I imagine, regardless of your lifestyle or where you live. Definitely not enough to slow down their spread by folks illegally killing them. I'm sure some get shot illegally here, but I bet you could count on 1 hand how many per year and you'd have a couple fingers left over when you're done.

 Just my opinion. I have no evidence to supplement any of this, it's just what I think.
 

Wolves are only federally protected in the western 2/3rds of this state. 

If there was an year around season on cougars, I would still be 0 fer.  I've never seen one.  I have seen a wolf though