Range Riders

[KFhunter]

Not directed at you, I don't know you or where you come from.  I sometimes tend to write in the 1st or 2nd person, when I should be writing in the 3rd person 



but you're exactly right.  The wolves come in at night, or on the other side of the range.  A person just can't be in the right place at the right time.
cattle are spread wide, most often times the range rider follows the birds to a kill site.  A good range rider always has their eyes in the sky 


speaking of eyes...I would like to lay eyes on this contract that conservation northwest is having the ranchers sign off on to get into their various wolf prevention programs,  I know they're being lured in with promise of compensation for loss of livestock to wolves. 

No one in Stevens CO will sign off on it,  I'd like to see it.

Anyone got a link?

[HORSEPOWER]

If you got a small operation on a couple hundred acres, ya.

toss out 200 cattle on a 30 mile long range in brush you can't see 100 feet though, you'd need help.

If that was directed at me we're well over 200 head.

I realize this is a program for outfits that lease ground up in the trees not for places that own outright most of what we graze. I still think it's a dead end idea. I've shot coyotes out of the barn yard before (yes I know coyotes and wolves are different animals). I know other ranchers that have had bears or cougars in their barn yards. I do not believe someone riding around on a horse is going to keep wolves from killing things unless the person on the horse is killing the wolves first.

With that scenario, not even 10 range riders, in that one area, are going help.

And on top of that, they will be spending most of their time hauling around all the property of land owners that they're not welcome on, just to get to the next gate they can open.

[idahohuntr]

I think it's a silly idea. We can ride out and check our own cattle if it comes to that, no sense in paying the state to do it.

[KFhunter]

Yup - it's going to be ugly this summer I think.

The wedge pack is fully rebuilt, some of the dogs in that pack have had beef in their mouths. 
They were young this last summer, but next summer they'll be prime adults, with some big litters. 


conservation northwest has stated supporting the removal of the wedge pack was a "tragic mistake", and vowed to never allow it to happen again.

[idahohuntr]

conservation northwest has stated supporting the removal of the wedge pack was a "tragic mistake", and vowed to never allow it to happen again.

Yes, and WDFW complains that they had little to no hunter support when they proposed and carried out this task so I kind of doubt they would want to go through that again.

[bearpaw]

Let the cattlemen, the landowner etc. hire the range riders and pay for them.  Keep WDFW completely out of it.   Will range riders work...no clue.

This is the typical response those of us in wolf affected areas are accustomed to seeing from people who do not have to deal with the problem.   

conservation northwest has stated supporting the removal of the wedge pack was a "tragic mistake", and vowed to never allow it to happen again.

Yes, and WDFW complains that they had little to no hunter support when they proposed and carried out this task so I kind of doubt they would want to go through that again.

Please show us where they state that?

[KFhunter]

Hey on the bright side there is no law against taking out dead heads if they're from domestic animals. 

I wish they weren't running polled cattle, be nice if there was horns on em 
Heck, they should run longhorns then I'd be picking up dead heads!


Hey CAMPMEAT would you suggest that at the next cattle meeting, tell em all they should switch to longhorns so we can pick up "sheds"   

[sebek556]

How can the edge complain of little hunter support when they kicked us away at the mention if it? I didn't see anything from them if hey we need to get rid if the pack so put in for tags, nope they didn't want us there. The only wanted people who's pay check they can dangle in front of them if they dared say how bad it was or is going to get.

[HORSEPOWER]

There was a wolf in our yard Monday night (couldn't see others but more than likely they were there), so if they are this bold, and we are already out caring for our livestock and property, I'm pretty sure hired range riders aren't going to do the trick either.

[KFhunter]

How can the edge complain of little hunter support when they kicked us away at the mention if it? I didn't see anything from them if hey we need to get rid if the pack so put in for tags, nope they didn't want us there. The only wanted people who's pay check they can dangle in front of them if they dared say how bad it was or is going to get.

Not only that but they were harassing the crap of the hunters going in that area, couldn't tell them to keep out but that was the message.

[bearpaw]

There was a wolf in our yard Monday night (couldn't see others but more than likely they were there), so if they are this bold, and we are already out caring for our livestock and property, I'm pretty sure hired range riders aren't going to do the trick either.

They tried this non-lethal silliness in Oregon, the wolves kept eating beef and they had to kill some wolves anyway. 

[idahohuntr]

Let the cattlemen, the landowner etc. hire the range riders and pay for them.  Keep WDFW completely out of it.   Will range riders work...no clue.

This is the typical response those of us in wolf affected areas are accustomed to seeing from people who do not have to deal with the problem.   
Sorry bearpaw...unlike you I do not believe more government programs will solve wolf conflicts, nor do I think an agency funded largely by hunters should provide financial support to the cattle industry.  I think the state should allow livestock producers the flexibility to take care of problem wolves themselves.

conservation northwest has stated supporting the removal of the wedge pack was a "tragic mistake", and vowed to never allow it to happen again.

Yes, and WDFW complains that they had little to no hunter support when they proposed and carried out this task so I kind of doubt they would want to go through that again.

Please show us where they state that?
Multiple times at GMAC meetings the assistant director, Nate Pamplin, has expressed disappointment at how little support was voiced to the governors office or other elected officials about the WDFW wolf removal being a good thing.  The greenie groups sent 10's of thousands of emails in one day and had the phone lines so tied up even the Governor could not reach her own office.  The main point here is that folks like to kick wdfw any chance they get...but WDFW does something many on this forum I would think find beneficial and where is the support??  One of my biggest points of contention with folks on this forum is that WDFW is not the enemy.  They are perhaps our most important ally in getting reasonable wolf management in Washington state.  Lets not make them enemy number 1 as so many on here are quick to do.

[bearpaw]

Let the cattlemen, the landowner etc. hire the range riders and pay for them.  Keep WDFW completely out of it.   Will range riders work...no clue.

This is the typical response those of us in wolf affected areas are accustomed to seeing from people who do not have to deal with the problem.   
Sorry bearpaw...unlike you I do not believe more government programs will solve wolf conflicts, nor do I think an agency funded largely by hunters should provide financial support to the cattle industry.  I think the state should allow livestock producers the flexibility to take care of problem wolves themselves.

I'm sorry too, but unlike you, I am able to understand that WDFW and the wolf lovers in this state have forced unmanaged numbers of wolves onto these ranchers and refused to let ranchers and hunters control the population, for that reason the state should cough up for the cost of protection.

conservation northwest has stated supporting the removal of the wedge pack was a "tragic mistake", and vowed to never allow it to happen again.

Yes, and WDFW complains that they had little to no hunter support when they proposed and carried out this task so I kind of doubt they would want to go through that again.

Please show us where they state that?
Multiple times at GMAC meetings the assistant director, Nate Pamplin, has expressed disappointment at how little support was voiced to the governors office or other elected officials about the WDFW wolf removal being a good thing.  The greenie groups sent 10's of thousands of emails in one day and had the phone lines so tied up even the Governor could not reach her own office.  The main point here is that folks like to kick wdfw any chance they get...but WDFW does something many on this forum I would think find beneficial and where is the support??  One of my biggest points of contention with folks on this forum is that WDFW is not the enemy.  They are perhaps our most important ally in getting reasonable wolf management in Washington state.  Lets not make them enemy number 1 as so many on here are quick to do.

I will not give WDFW a free pass on this when they promoted and adopted the most liberal wolf plan for the smallest and most human populated western state! WDFW sided with Conservation Northwest which is run by an Earth Firster. WDFW has ignored data from other states and provinces on predation impacts and has given little consideration for the impacts of wolves on Washington's true endangered specie "caribou". Nate was trying to garner support, but many people in NE WA are still shaking their heads that WDFW drug their feet for so long.

Despite disappointment I realize that WDFW needed support on their management action, I actually sent a message supporting WDFW for their actions, did you send a message?

[sebek556]

Actually if I remember correctly there was a call for supporting them removing the pack on the forum and many said they sent it in. Also if you hunt Idaho, why would you worry about wdfw being enemy number 1? Also what so you call someone who takes your money and craps on you just about very chance they get? I don't call a person or organization like that my friend.

[idahohuntr]

I don't make enemies or go out of my way to blast the people that manage resources I care about.  I could fill volumes of books with things I think WDFW could do better or differently or more efficiently...its a big reason I volunteer time on their councils...but they have a tough job and it does no good for hunters to constantly bash them.