Post by: KillBilly on October 06, 2011, 08:25:29 PM
There is no language written in any wolf recovery plan to protect the hunter's privilege to hunt. Wolves are well known to cause wild game population declines which are so drastic hunting is either eliminated or severely curtailed. And there is no provision for recovery of wild game populations for the purposes of hunting. It simply will not be allowed.
The problem with wolf recovery is that most people, especially hunters, have not looked beyond press releases and into the heart of the wolf issue.
In spite of the negative publicity generated by the anti-hunting, anti-trapping movements, hunting and trapping are some of the best wildlife management tools.
Hunters' harvest can be limited through numbers of licenses issued, bag limits, length of seasons, and specification of sex of the animal harvested. Thus, only the surplus of an ungulate population is generally hunted.
If the need arises that an ungulate population needs reduction, it is easily accomplished by allowing an "any sex" hunt and increasing license numbers. Additionally, hunters will pay for the opportunity to hunt which in turn pays for wildlife management.
Wolves hunt year around - 365 days a year. Wolf predation is not limited to two weeks, one month or whatever a hunting season length may be, it is year around.
Hunters, please understand the impacts of wolf recovery on hunting and the role wolf recovery plays in the anti-hunters' agenda. Natural predation, especially wolf predation, can replace your privilege to hunt.
It must be stated clearly that the wolf is the best tool for shutting down hunting. The anti-hunters know this. Most hunters don't. Thus, wolf recovery is not opposed by the people who will be impacted most.
Post by: sebek556 on October 06, 2011, 08:35:08 PM
Post by: jyerxa on October 07, 2011, 07:28:56 AM
I appreciate your reminder and knowledge on this matter because I am catching up to speed on this. :tup:
Post by: CedarPants on October 07, 2011, 07:58:09 AM
What frustrates me to no end is that all these groups .... Conservation Northwest, Wolf Haven International, NIWA, Alliance for Wild Rockies - the list goes on and one - all of them keep screaming about the "science based wolf management plan" that needs to be adopted by the WDFW........ and the WDFW appears to be listening to them. Really? What part of this plan addresses wolf management? What part of this plan is science based when they are willing to throw out testimony and factual statistics from the commissions of neighboring states?
KillBilly is right on the money. Make no mistake about it - these groups see the wolf as a tool to end hunting. Conservation Northwest has told me time and time again that they have no problem at all with the management of wolves via hunting to keep their numbers at a reasonable level once "their numbers have reached recovery objectives". Yet if you follow CN's news releases, publications, Facebook posts, etc - the message they are telling everyone to deliver to the WDFW is loud and clear: There is to be no limit to the number of wolves in Washington, and there is to be no hunting of wolves in Washington.
It's all smoke and mirrors being used to deceive, and its working. These groups also have the patience of knowing it may take a decade or two to achieve their goals. While they know they can't end hunting tomorrow, they do know they can end it eventually and they are going about it very methodically
Post by: jyerxa on October 07, 2011, 08:23:48 AM
These groups also have the patience of knowing it may take a decade or two to achieve their goals. While they know they can't end hunting tomorrow, they do know they can end it eventually and they are going about it very methodically
And that is exactly how they have been working for the last 50 years. They want to turn Washington into a petting zoo.
Post by: grundy53 on October 07, 2011, 08:33:55 AM