I don't want towipe them out but starta controledhunting season.
Sounds like pretty much the same thing Ive been saying.And I do hope you guys get one soon.
What angers me and most hunters here in the westwith this wolfissue is that ithas been shoved down our throats. Like it or not, we didn't get to vote or voice our opinion on the introduction of wolves and how to manage them. We try to speak up and make our voice known and are told to be quiet becasue we and uneducated about the subject.
Thats a crock but it happens with DNR policies in every state.Believe it or not one of our biggest issues is with the DNR cutting down trees.Bowhunters make up probably 60% of the deer hunting around here but every piece of land the state gets ahold of they immediately go in and clear cut, sometimes they take entire groves and treelines out that are over 100 yrs old.Weve signed petitions, emailed the DNr headquarters and have given the guys doing the cutting so much **** about it its funny they can sleep at night.We get the same response, theyve been to college, Iowa was once entirley grassland etc...One day one of the new DNr guys and a hunter that I was helping track a deer almost came to blows when the subject came up, mostly because the DNR was fresh out of college and not afraid to tell us how smart he was and how uninformed we were.
No they don't make all these up, but they sure do bend the facts to fit their plans and opinions
Again, sadly thats pretty common.The insurance industry pushed our legislatures into going on a massive deer killing campaign here a few years ago.Were on the other side of the state fro the main DNR headquarters, somehow the info they were putting out from 3 hours away wasnt even close to matching the reality of what I was seeing for deer numbers, I spend most of 6 months out of the year in the field in this area where they were relying on mail insurveys that were worded so even repeat sightings of deer were counted as part of the population.
An example, I use the same stand every night for a week, the same doe and two fawns comes by my stand during the morning, then again at night, after 7 days Ive only seen three deer right?On the survey they sent I would have marked down 42 deer sighted from that stand for the week.It doesnt take much to manipulate numbers.
Anyway, I do hope they figure something out for you guys, after doing some more reading last night it appears that whatever the reason for your elks decline hunters are taking the shaft for it.The area I in Yellowstone I referenced even counting in bear, coyote, and wolf kills apparently dropped the number of hunting permits as a solution instead of dealing with the predators taking the majority of the elk.Thats not right IMO.