moonelk

WHAT GOOD DOES ZILLIONS & ZILLIONS OF ACRES OFHABITATDO, IF THERE IS NO ELK THERE TO USE IT?

MinnFinn

Oh but to the people who bow down and worship the ground these big predators walk on and smell the crap piles like it's perfume, it's all to be sacrificed to their precious wolves. It's like many other things. In their place and within limits they are an important part of the wildlife. But with fed gov't (US) locking down so that it's near impossible to get to the point of a reasonable wolf management program, just like other wild animals state DNR or Wildlife depts. run reasonably well, things get so freaking out of whack with the wolf number before long that it's pathetic.
Very very few fawns this year in N.E. MN where the wolves are thick in numbers. It's not looking good for hunting a few years from now, unless something in this regard changes.

mtisfullofit

Hey folks let's not kid ourselves its all about the MONEY. I use to work in this industry for another group just as bad asRMEF. They will give you a non-stand politcally correct statement not to indicate they are on one side of the fence or the other.
Look at the mission statemnet, I promise you If more money could be made by have anti-rmef banquets andsoliciting thatgroup they would jump fast.
Money Talks!

I love the special one of a kind tags they get from gov't DNRS Which they sell to the highest bidder. Did I mention it's about the money. too bad a coupleof hundred thousand of us couldnt throw a buck in a state raffle and have a shot at these once in anybodies lifetime hunts.

Here in wisco the hunter gets to pay for the elk programand management andRMEF gets the credit and one of the 1stTHREE tags in the statewhich they will sell to the highest bidder, the native american pop getsone which they will most likely sell to the highest bidder and the state will get the other in which 750,000 hunters will most likely be spending money on a chance in a drawing to try to win. keep the elk out west if this is what RMEF is doing for US.
I have a better chance of shooting a wolf in wisconsin than a elk! and I live in the sw portion.

IfItRunsHuntIt647

Wolves are definately a threat to elk hunting. It's known that where there are wolves, there is only one pack in the area. If two wolf packs cross each others paths in yellowstone, there is usually a dominance fight, and one pack gets to stay. Outside the park, however, there is another addition to the equation...hunters.People are a predator also, and there can only be one "pack" in an area, whether its wolves or hunters. If this isn't the case, i think it could considerably mess with the elk ecosystem. People harvest enough elk in these areas to keep the herd stable, adding wovles to this equation is not a good idea. The elk heard has done fine in the past without wolves added in the mix. Adding another predator is not going to keep this equation even. We should keep nature's rule with only one "pack" hunting the elk, and I'm not giving up my role in natures equation to a pack of wolves.

MinnFinn

For those who live in states which had Timber (Gray) Wolves introduced in recent years, I have this advice for you. Actively press your state gov't leaders and state wildlife / game dept. to petition the Federal gov't to turnover to you state control of managing the wolf population. In order to do that, the state needs a plan approved by the feds that shows the wolf pop. is sustainable.

Now that you've got the wolves, you're stuck with them. Take from residents of states like Minnesota that have large populations of Timber Wolves. Even though the feds and state officials agree that the wolves can be take off endangered or threatened status, they'll hold public meetings. You'd be amazed how truly ignorant people who live in cities and other places where there are no wolves are when it comes to managing them in someone else's area.

It'll be a long hard struggle just to get state control and rational limits on how many wolves are allowed. But if you don't persevere, your game population is going to suffer and your hunting is, too.

Good luck!