Dirt, Wolves are a problem and need to be controlled. How do you explain the decline of the yellowstone elk heard that was around 19,000 head a few years back, and now the current count is 9,000 head. Thats 10,000 elk dead with-in 4 years. Harsh winter? OR Wolves? Maybe a combination of both, but I doubt it. The wolves kill for fun, they do eat some of the meat but they kill for training and fun. Thats what happened to the yellowstone heard along with most of the elk in WY & ID. I was just at the elk refuge over the weekend and asked if they have much predation from wolves. There is 2 resident wolves that freequent the refuge. To date there have been 15 elk killed by these 2 wolves, fewer than half were eaten. The others were left and eventually picked over by a pack of coyotes. Why do you think Teddy Roosevelt (one of the pioneers of hunting/conservation in our country) wanted to eliminate the wolves back then, because they were a problem then and have become a problem again with the reintroduction. There is good reason the wolves were on the brink of extinction. They need to be controled in order to protect our wildlife for future generations of hunters. I talked to an outfitter in Gardnier, MT who told me a wolf story. He was on his back deck watching a heard of elk feed in a medow in the spring. All of a sudden a pack of wolves attacked the heard killing 13 calves leaving all of them without eating a single one. He told me he sees this happen more often than you would think, he restated that the wolves are killing machines and love to kill for fun. Just had to vent. We don't have to kill every one, but they need regulation and controling be it by issuing a drawing for tags and let the hunters hunt them or other means.

Hyde