No, Idaho isn’t ‘managing’ wolves

[wolfbait]

No, Idaho isn’t ‘managing’ wolves


Recent reports to the contrary, the government does not have a handle on the number of wolves in Idaho. Not even close.

Earlier in April, the state Department of Fish and Game released a report that said there are at least 770 wolves in Idaho. If you believe what the department had to say, there were 26 breeding pairs, down from 49 six years ago.

I don’t believe them at all. There are way more than the government lets on.



Listen to what Jim Hayden, a biologist and wolf counter at the Department of Fish and Game, is telling us about his wolf numbers, as reported in the Spokesman-Review newspaper: “The 770 is a number we’re very confident with. We know the actual truth is higher than that, we just don’t know how far higher.”

Read that line again: “We just don’t know how far higher.”

He also went on to say that the agency stopped looking for breeding pairs after surveying 43 packs “because it’s expensive” and they had enough data to suit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Idaho’s backcountry is being overrun by wolves.

Wolves are ruthless predators. They’re super smart, constantly breeding and constantly on the prowl for food anywhere they inhabit. Throughout history, man has fought back because man had no choice.

Wolves have long created problems for farmers, ranchers and urbanization. Wolves kill, slaughter, invade and destroy. Some of the earliest laws passed in the new American colonies were laws allowing for bounties to be paid for each wolf killed.

In the late 1800s, wolf depredation was so bad some states also adopted bounty programs to eradicate the animal. That wasn’t enough, and that’s the reason why Congress, as early as 1915, sought the removal of wolves from lands in the West by appropriating $125,000 to drive them out.

Of course now, environmentalists claim we have too few wolves. The problem with the wolf count is that we have too many. We have so many wolves that they’re destroying wildlife. Traditional trophy deer and elk habitats have been sacked. They’re destroying livestock.
Wolves — far more of them than just the 770 the government claims exist — are leaving a trail of destruction in Idaho’s backcountry. And while government bean counters and pencil pushers claim they have the problem well at hand, they don’t.

We’re not “managing” wolves. We’re being inundated by them, and the government is pretending to have a grasp of how many we have in our midst.

The biologists either have their collective heads in the sand or they’re willfully and wantonly misleading the public. Meanwhile, environmentalists are ignoring the history, contending that somehow, miraculously, wolves have stopped doing what have always done with precision — propagate the species — and that the wolves deserve even greater protection.

Our vast natural resources are being jeopardized, our hunting grounds are disappearing, our wildlife is being ravaged. And the Department of Fish and Game and the Governor’s Office are doing nothing. When will the so-called “leaders” of this state wake up to the great farce that is wolf reintroduction and annual wolf counts and do something to stop the rape, pillage and massacre taking place by the predatory wolves that are growing in number?


http://www.idahopress.com/members/no-idaho-isn-t-managing-wolves/article_8adf462e-0012-11e5-868a-4b6db1e7e5de.html

[jasnt]

They don't care about deer or elk or hunters. It's all about the end goal.....ending hunting and guns. Move everyone to big city's and the wilderness will be off limits. 

We need to tell our kids how important hunting is. Teach them the truth and show them how amazing it is out there. They are the future and if they don't get a love for the outdoors and all it has to offer or they won't care. With all the new foragers and people wanting to go natural you would think we would be getting more support but to many people are uneducated to these things.  I believe aspen bud is right when he says we need to take wild life management out of the hands of voters. I also think that we need Hsus and Dow out of it as well. 
Rant over

[dreamingbig]

So how many hunt-wa members would it take to do a decent wolf drive in said backcountry?  One drainage at a time? Might not make a dent but every wolf shot helps!


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[idahohuntr]

That's pretty funny stuff...Idaho isn't doing anything to manage wolves eh?     What a crack-pot.

 

[WA hunter14]

they/we are not doing near enough, unless something big changes the wolf population will continue to grow.

[dreamingbig]

Oh and I have an idea to raise a hunter funded non profit that would pay out good money for every wolf shot and dropped off.  I figure if every elk and deer hunter could donate $10 to $20 per year it would be a decent some of money to distribute and help with the motivation to thin the population.


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[jasnt]

I don't think any state is doing enough. It should be just like coyote. 24/7-365. No limits. Even then it would not be enough to control numbers. They would just get smarter and harder to get.

[WA hunter14]

Oh and I have an idea to raise a hunter funded non profit that would pay out good money for every wolf shot and dropped off.  I figure if every elk and deer hunter could donate $10 to $20 per year it would be a decent some of money to distribute and help with the motivation to thin the population.


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the problem isnt really motivation its success, have you tryed finding a wolf?

[jasnt]

Unlimited $5 wolf tags. Also allow trapping. I mean real trapping not those "live traps"

[idahohuntr]

Idaho has almost unlimited hunting and trapping opportunity on wolves.  The legislature passed a wolf control bill appropriating several hundred $k each year to control wolf numbers.  The state routinely hires trappers/USDA to kill wolves in problem zones.  As a result of many efforts wolf numbers have declined since highs in 2009.  In addition, with several mild winters in a row, we have seen solid increases in deer and elk numbers in most areas of Idaho.

Those are the facts.  Whatever this crackpot wrote for this backwoods paper...tinfoil hat stuff.  Anybody who claims Gov. Otter doesn't want to manage wolves...   

[WA hunter14]

how do you know there are less wolves?

[dreamingbig]

Oh and I have an idea to raise a hunter funded non profit that would pay out good money for every wolf shot and dropped off.  I figure if every elk and deer hunter could donate $10 to $20 per year it would be a decent some of money to distribute and help with the motivation to thin the population.


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the problem isnt really motivation its success, have you tryed finding a wolf?

For the right amount of money I feel hunters can be motivated to learn.  Most likely it would take hunters working together.


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[jackelope]

Unlimited $5 wolf tags. Also allow trapping. I mean real trapping not those "live traps"

Killing wolves is not easy.  Regardless of how many tags are sold. You could give them away and they still wouldn't be easy to kill. It takes more than just hunters.
And the traps in Idaho are real. No live traps there.

[jasnt]

Unlimited $5 wolf tags. Also allow trapping. I mean real trapping not those "live traps"

Killing wolves is not easy.  Regardless of how many tags are sold. You could give them away and they still wouldn't be easy to kill. It takes more than just hunters.
And the traps in Idaho are real. No live traps there.

i understand they are not easy at all. I also know Idaho trappers take most the wolves in ID. The unlimited tags is to fund auroral gunners that will be needed to control predation on livestock

[WA hunter14]

what is needed is poisening them but that isnt gonna happen and shouldnt for the sake of killing non wolves, we need a war on wolves with a draft

[mfswallace]

Idaho has almost unlimited hunting and trapping opportunity on wolves.  The legislature passed a wolf control bill appropriating several hundred $k each year to control wolf numbers.  The state routinely hires trappers/USDA to kill wolves in problem zones.  As a result of many efforts wolf numbers have declined since highs in 2009.  In addition, with several mild winters in a row, we have seen solid increases in deer and elk numbers in most areas of Idaho.

Those are the facts.  Whatever this crackpot wrote for this backwoods paper...tinfoil hat stuff.  Anybody who claims Gov. Otter doesn't want to manage wolves... 

[Bigshooter]

Idaho is the only state that is trying to aggressively manage wolves. 

[mfswallace]

Idaho is the only state that is trying to aggressively manage wolves.

No all but Washington are trying! tough when HSUS, PETA and Anti-Human Society and others fight any lethal control. then you have some in the hunting community that through shear ignorance or down right support think its a good idea to have these type of groups at the bargaining table