Lake Chelan Wolves

[WAcoyotehunter]

Jeremy- you're about to get your a$$ handed to you by a whole bunch of folks...

I tend to agree that wolves are not the end of times for hunters, but they are not going to help us any.  I think I know where you're going with the grizzly helping stabilize wolf populations.  I suppose they will take a kill from a wolf, but they also take kills from hunters and occasionally try to take hunters!  I'm not in favor of any large carnivore reintroductions.  The animals are here, let them repopulate at a natural rate.

[NWWABOWHNTR]

Reintorduce Grizzlys???  Oh ya that's right .... there aren't any here either.  Just like the Ranger's told me at Harts pass back in the late 80's... "No sir you did not see a grizzly bear."   "Yes,  sir that was a 600+ pound black bear color phased with an abnormality that caused the hump".... oh yes sir,  some black bears can make scrapes on trees that high.  Just as a clue I had packed into the Pasayten up above Anacortes crossing a mile or two.    is all I have to say about that.

Now as far as wolves go,  let me just say look at what happened to the hunting in Idaho for deer and elk over the last few years... that is right wolves makes the hunting better??    Dude,  careful not to litter that granola when you step out of your Subaru.....

[esgarbanzo]

I was mostly kidding about grizzlies. I'm scared enough with cougars following me around the woods. I know that being moderate/pro on wolves is a minority opinion, but I had to throw that out there.

You have to admit that granola is delicious and filling, more so than many quick breakfasts. Subaru makes a decent vehicle, though I don't have one...

[MichaelJ]

esgarbanzo,
Can you honestly find ANY un-biased SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE to back up IMPROVED hunting where wolves are present?
Keystone predator: they may be fine in a park where there is no human predation, but the fact that they are competing directly with another keystone predator; humans!  Don't our deer/elk deserve just as much to have healthy populations?  Anthropogenic influences on both biotic and abiotic factors of our ecosystems is a reality.  We have a responsibility and duty to manage them, not sit back and look at the mess we've made of nature and expect it to rebound to 100%.  Mother nature is dynamic and very resilient, we need to step in and manage what factors we can to help her on her way...
Sure I can live with SOME wolves, but the way they are managed now (or lack there of) is absolutely retarded...
They re-populate very quickly when their numbers are down, and they sport-kill more than any other predator.  They are a predator and should be managed as such.  Same rules and regulations as coyotes, no bag limit, shoot on site...  They are extremely smart and with the rate at which they reproduce, no matter how many we kill they will continue to grow in population.

Michael

[NWWABOWHNTR]

esgarbanzo,
Do you have any pictures of your jaunts in the woods while hunting?   

[bearhunter99]

I agree with alot of the folks on here.  A MANAGED wolf population might not be a terrible thing.  The problem is that the depts of fish and game hide how many true wolf packs there are, mostly because they get so much pressure.  Actually, I should't say the fish and game depts as a whole because I think the greatest part of the deception is the wildlife bioloigists that work for both the game dept and the Defenders of Wildlife organization.  I have hunted in Idaho around the Dworshak Reservoir and down into Kooskia for years and I cna tell you first hand that the wolves have decimated the elk population and haven't done the whitetails any favors either.  The biggest problem is that anyone can sue anybody for anything and thus stall the inevitable.  Wolf populations HAVE to be managed, plain and simple.  Alaska and Canada do have some great hunting in areas with wolves, but in both of those places wolf tags are cheap and they are generally shot on sight.  They are not protected by the bunny huggers.

[Special T]

I must say my neck is plenty red, and I've had more than a few Subaru's... Then again they were on 30 in tires and the exhaust was rerouted through the hood! Granola is OK with hot black coffee, but i got to draw the like at Birkenstocks! 

[Kain]

Wolf populations in Canada and Alaska cannot be compared to a states like Washington.  The human population density is far lower up there.  Wolves can easily travel 20-30 miles in a day and can be into conflict with humans within in days no matter how remote they started out.

Also wolves there have always been hunted so stay as far from humans as they can.  Here they will not be hunted for another 15-20 years.  A potentially dangerous situation.

[Shootmoore]

I must say my neck is plenty red, and I've had more than a few Subaru's... Then again they were on 30 in tires and the exhaust was rerouted through the hood! Granola is OK with hot black coffee, but i got to draw the like at Birkenstocks! 

Don't lie Special T, I know you seceretly want to live in LaConner.

Shootmoore

[WAcoyotehunter]

They re-populate very quickly when their numbers are down, and they sport-kill more than any other predator.  They are a predator and should be managed as such.  Same rules and regulations as coyotes, no bag limit, shoot on site...  They are extremely smart and with the rate at which they reproduce, no matter how many we kill they will continue to grow in population.

I think we tried that...and they did not continue to grow in population.  They were extirpated as a result of that sort of management.   ID and MT should continue with their hunting seasons to reduce the wolf population.  WY should get on board because they are going to get wolves re listed.

[bearhunter99]

A shoot on site season such as other predators would not work because the wolves here really have no fear of humans, yet.  Eventually they will learn to be afraid but it might take a few years of regulated hunting seasons.  I just haven't seen the deer or elk population being that well off and in such high numbers that they could withstand the introduction of another alpha predator.  They are being hit hard enough by the increase in bear and cougar populations since the foolishness of 1996.

[Special T]

Shootmore   Only so i can put one of those "special" turkeys on a stick!

[Shootmoore]

They re-populate very quickly when their numbers are down, and they sport-kill more than any other predator.  They are a predator and should be managed as such.  Same rules and regulations as coyotes, no bag limit, shoot on site...  They are extremely smart and with the rate at which they reproduce, no matter how many we kill they will continue to grow in population.

I think we tried that...and they did not continue to grow in population.  They were extirpated as a result of that sort of management.   ID and MT should continue with their hunting seasons to reduce the wolf population.  WY should get on board because they are going to get wolves re listed.

Actually we did not try that specifically.  It took poisoning, trapping, preditor hunting, bounties, and state and federal hunters to extirpate them last time.  I imagine if you took out the trapping and poison you would be unable to get rid of them today.

Wyoming should stick to its guns in my opinion.  I have seen that trying to meet the Defenders of Wildlife and the Fed in the middle only has them trying to push farther.  Instead of Wyoming giving in I say the Feds should give in and allow Wyoming to manage an experimental population as they see fit and delist in that state.  It does not affect the Yellowstone which is not administered by Wyoming.  The Fed has continued to expand the requirments from the origional release plan.  Sometime you have to say enough is enough.

Shootmoore

[MichaelJ]

I think we tried that...and they did not continue to grow in population.  They were extirpated as a result of that sort of management.   ID and MT should continue with their hunting seasons to reduce the wolf population.  WY should get on board because they are going to get wolves re listed.

Not hardly, the only way we were able to exterminate wolves was the use of poisons, and doubtless thousands of other animals got killed that way too... Not advocating poisen, but hunters should be allowed to hunt them the same they do coyotes.  Look at how many wolves ID was able to harvest this year, and that is with extending the season!  How many pups are going to be born this year?  A helluva lot more than 200 thats for sure....

Michael

[esgarbanzo]

NWWABOWHNTR,
You didn't scare me off, though maybe I should be concerned that you want a picture of me. I don't have any evidence of improved hunting with wolves and clearly they compete with human hunters. Though our landscape is dominated by people, more than places like Alaska and Canada, many of these things (agriculture and logging) have helped deer and elk populations expand. I think wolves should be hunted as soon as their population can support it, but no limit seasons will only extirpate them once again make hunters look terrible in the public eye.

Any pics of me hunting would bore you. I have only successfully gotten a deer once in three years of hunting the late muzzleloader season. It was a doe in an any deer area and I didn't take any pictures. If you're questioning my street cred, that's legit. I've watched this site since I started hunting, but haven't really had anything to contribute.. until now I guess... a little controversy.