Sounds like some people should talk to the Dawson's and get some tips.
I know those people somewhat, I know the range rider pretty well.
for them it's working quite well, but I stop short saying that their success can be emulated with other ranchers in other conditions and locations with other wolf packs.
The diamond M refused to utilize the range rider program due to the strings and bureaucracy involved but don't think for a second that they aren't out patrolling around their cattle, they're up there every day with their own hired hands riding in those cattle. The WDFW refuse to tell them where the wolves are, snubbing them because they didn't sign on, opting to do it themselves. The biggest problem they face though is having cattle spread out all over the place in different allotments. They aren't all on a single grazing area where the Dawson's are more centrally located.
The Dawson's through their daughter are getting that information and cooperation from WDFW, because they're the "model" for all the wolf conservation groups so they're getting a lot more help for playing along. The wolf groups praise them as a model ranch, so WDFW helps them stay that way by giving them access to the wolves collar tracking location.
Most ranchers don't get that level of cooperation from WDFW, so the Dawson's are really a unique case study, the poster child if you will (not that they don't deserve it, I'm not condemning or criticizing them). I just don't anticipate any other ranchers getting that level of support in the future and the Dawson's will probably loose that support once we progress further down the tracks with wolf delisting. Once it's state wide delisted and hunting started I suspect ranchers will be left hung out to dry.
The range rider was hired from a trusted family member, so that makes a huge difference. The range rider that served further north for another rancher was a total joke, some hippy from the coast that spend just a couple hours at best, mostly in his truck driving around.
