furgitter

Just because the meeting wasnt totally focussed on destroying the wolf population doesnt mean they skirted the issue.Tell me it isnt warmer than it was 20 yrs ago.What about less habitat? They were trying to explain that every dead elk isnt because a wolf killed it.Im sure they take there toll dont get me wrong.I dont get along with wolves either,But the feds and local DNR are not in on some kind of conspiracy against you.Listen to yourselves.Instead of the usual complaining,more people need to start playing an ACTIVE roll in the woods.Help with the winter wolf count,Get the creds you need to be taken seriously when you talk,instead of going out and reaping every year,try giving a little bit.The dnr will take any help you can offer around here.

zuren1cs

I'mnot familiar with the wolf/elk situation in Idaho other than what I've heard on the national news, so I'm not going to offer comment.

Not to get off topic,but the "scientist" inAlaska (Timothy Treadwell) was not a scientist. He had no formal training in science or research of any type. To the best of my knowledge, he was not conducting any research, hewas just living with the bears and filming it. Hewas a washed up actor wanna-be, recovering substance abuser, and self-proclaimed "bear whisperer". In my opinion, he was a dilusional psychotic thrill seekerwith a death wish to generate media/public attention and his actions and work should not be confused with responsible science (speaking as a former field biologist and current chemical lab researcher who hunts, fishes, etc.).

Comparing him to any other biologist is like comparing a .17round to a .460 Weatherby Magnum or an AMC Gremlin to a 2007 Ferrari......e.g. Two entirely different things.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell

caselesss5

we are taking and active roll in the woods. i would call putting a bullet in a wolf is very active. beside by the time all this bull**** with the endangered species act is finally over it might be too late. anybody who says we need to take action apparently thinks action only comes from a piece of paper that tells you what you can do. i would ratherstand up and doing something for ourselves.


SSS

furgitter

Have it your way clueless,I already said i dont care for wolves.Im just telling you the right way to go about it.Get yourself busted,give up your guns,someone will be happy to take your stand.

ELKINMTCWB

I lived in MT and called yotes every year. LOTS of yotes. On the just west of helena I started calling in wolves. 1st it started I would see 1 or 2 every 10 trips or so. I called and told the DNR. They told me they where just big yotes.The next year I would call in wolves about every 4 trips. The yotes went to O. I would see 3 to 7 wolves at 1 time. Gess what the DNR told me There was NO wolves in that moutain range.MMMM after that winter the ranchers started to call DNR every dayabout the wolves.It took few months for DNR to get a copter to fly around and shoot the wolves.


My point the DNR could give a rats behind on what a hunter has to say. But it the boys with the big money start talking it will get fixed.

Funny how I go to jail for shooting a wolf but the DNR can fly around and shoot them.


If we are going to let wolves run the elk/deer/yotes out of the woods, than we dang sure should get to hunt the wolves.

Best thing I can say is help every rancher find ANY and ALL cows killed by wolves. Dnr will than do some thing.

Charles

furgitter

The dnr cant jump every time some yahoo with a rifle in the woods says something about what he saw.Thats why i say to go there and take the track identification class.Then what you say has teeth.You found wolves that they didnt know about,and you probobly get out in the woods more than they do.You could be a real asset.

trouthunter

Idaho DNR cannot do anything. Thier hands are as tied up as Idaho sportsman are. Read the following story for a little insite to the wolf problem facing Id, Mt, and Wy.

http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/?p=787

An excerpt from that story shows how the state DNR has trouble assisting with any wolf problems...

The only legal choice we have is to band together and petition for change. One such group I follow is the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition.
http://www.idahoanti-wolfcoalition.org/index.html
I try to sign petitons when I can and be involved as much as possible with efforts like this to try and effect some positive change.

I just use this forum to bitch about wolves

SSS

idahoelkinstructor

furgitter and others who agree, no offence but I think you are missing the entire point. No one is arguing about the numberor lack ofwolves. And with 700- 1000 wolves roaming around Idaho alone, the DNR could care less if some joe blow hunter runs into wolves.Also come spring when thepups are born, you can bet that number willalmost double.I have tried to be a good sport and report them each and every time. But the last two timesthat myfamily and I have reported wolve sightingswe got a answer that went somethinglike this. "hmm thats no suprise, becase we have known about those wolves in that area for some time, were only surprized you didn't run into them sooner." The local fish and game are no dummies and when conducting there local winter big game counts from the air they see the number of wolves for themself hanging around the winter grounds.Its no surprisethelocal F&G andour govenor, along with the majority of the state elk hunters want the wolves shot. Why you might ask do the IDFG want them shot, well they (IDFG) arenot stupid, they know that without elk and elk hunters, (iemoney/revenuemade from elk make up a big % of the over all budget)and other big game that they are out of a job. Sure we do have somegreat water fowl and small game hunting too. But take away the elk and you can bet many of officers will be out of a job.Itis truewhen yousay Idaho and hunting most people think elk andelk hunting in the wilderness/backcountry. After all Idaho hasthe most wilderness by far of any state in the lower 48. In addition we have a lot of BLM/Nation Forest. Sure we are not known for the biggers bulls like Arizona, New Mexico Utah or Nevada, but for sure opprotunity for a chance to punch a elk tag Idaho is (or should I say has been) at the top along with colorado. We still have good elk hunting but our very best area's are droping like dead fly's and like someone else mentioned theyare becoming ghost elk areas. Prime places where elk used to roam and call their hearts out are now silent and empty come september. I used to hunt one of those areas and its my home away from home, and will be in my heart forever with elk or no elk. With that said I hate it when someone say well your just not hunting hard enough, because the elk are their but you just can't find them because the wolves have made them smarter.Because of that I have the elk counts taken directly from theIDFG handy and let them choke on that for a bit.After all facts taken from the winter ground countsdon't lie. Sure the wolves do make the elksmarter and they do learn to shut up in septemer, but when they are simply not therein the winter time well then explain that? I might be going off on my high horse, but dam it I am and will be a elk hunter and elk lover forever and ever. For those who don't realy know me I am also a competion elk caller and travel to many elk calling events in the west.For 2006 Itook 10th in the world champships (RMEF), I took third in my home state of Idaho and well as several other the top 3 finishes. I also bombed a few and didn't get in the top three, but all were very fun and enjoyable among family friends and newly made friends. I am sponsored in my callingby a very well known camo company. I am not yet a pro staf member of a call company, but Ihave turned downa few small offers to be field pro staff. Sure it would be niceand maybe fun to call for the camera, but it doesn't pay enough to give up my job as a dad to teach my kidsall about the wonderfulworld of hunting.I have two kids(soon to be 4 and 5 this spring)who are the world to me. When compeating in the calling competions it isfun and rewardingwhen Imake it into the top 3. But thats nothing compared to the joy I getseeing my son or daughter geton stage andcall their little hearts out trying to sound like aelk.Also come each hunting season, I want my son and daughter to see and learn about hunting elk in person, and not on some taped TV show/program. Someday when the timing and offeris right I might change my mind and become a pro staff member of a calling company. But my main worry and goal is when I get older I want a grandson or granddaughter to say. "Grandpa lets go elk hunting, I'll call for you, my dad or mom has been teaching me like you taught them".Furgitter and anyone else are you starting to see my point? Elk hunting is not just a yearly week outing for me and my family but a way of life. I truly mean it when Isay I love elk! Period!Do I hunt them? Sure of courseI do!I like eating them even more than the hunting, and I love watchingand calling themin closeeven more than that!!! I admit when I have a downed elk I do have to pay my respects to god for such a wonder animal he created. It issad? Well yes it is sad, as well as joyous!I have punched my Idaho elk tag 13 times, and have been in on over 50other Idaho elk kills, soIknow the feeling quite well. Now throw the wolves into this mix, take away our elk andway of life and people wonder why we elk hunters get so upset?The bottom line is the wolvesneed to be controled and lowerd in number right now before its too late.Sure we even have the govenor of Idaho behind us but the fact of the matter is orthe hitch is they are protected under the endanger species act. Which will not be lifted without a major fight in court which could take years becasue the anti's(pro wolf lovers)are well funded and prepared for just such a battle. And you can bet they don't give a rats ass that the elk population drops to nothing provided they know it will stop hunting.They argue that the wolves are not spread out throughout their origional range so theyneed to be on the list.So what are we as elk hunters todo? Do we sit on our butts and do nothing? I do agree with joining the SCI and othergroups that stand up and fight for our rights. But then again I don't have much hope in our court system andI sure don't know how to fix it either. But I do know how to call in realy big coyotes and put a hole in their hide so that elk populations will live on for my grandkids! So I comeback to my origional question in my other post for you and everyone else " Wolves to shoot or not to shoot that is the question".

caselesss5

uh... isn't fish and games job to monitor animal populations and movements. maybe they should put the coffee down and go do some work. i know most government jobs are cushy but come on they get paid to hang out in mountains, it should be that hard to go to work in the morning

MinnFinn

The so called "experts" are generally those who sit behind a desk and read report and "statistics" that someone with a given result they want has compiled. Of course there may be some truth in what they say. Evidence really isn't clear of such effects until the effects are very significant.
Talk to the COs and people who live in areas around Yellowstone (e.g. Dubois, WY) where wolves, grizzlies and mtn. lions (mainly the former) have dramatically dropped the Elk herd by killing the majority of each year's calves.
Oh, here in MN the wolf pack that's been hanging around the folks NE MN farm/wood lands killed another big whitetail doe last week within 100 yards of there house. 4 weeks earlier they killed another one within 200 yards. Of course both does were likely carrying fawns inside. So, that's 4 less deer. And if they carried off last year's fawns that typically would still be with the does now, that a couple more. That's only in the 10 acres immediately in their clearing. There are hundreds of thousandsof forest land all around there that the same thing is happening. And the snow isn't enough deep yet. If we get 2-4 feet in Feb.-Mar. as is often the case, it'll be bad. Sorry, no "expert scientists" happened to witness that. Just some average Joe's who've seen it happen for so many years they can't count how many fewer deer and moose there've been because of somebody in D.C.'s misguided view of an unrealistic number of large predators in somebody else's (our) backyard.[:'(]