RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

I'm not an expert on this subject by any means but let me tell you what I know from experience in Minnesota here where we've had wolves for many years. First, the department of natural resources has always understated how many wolves we have and my brother has caught them in the act. He asked them one time how many packs there were on a huge lake outside of town. They said just one pack and then he saw them fly over while out ice fishing one day. They circle the packs to study them. He took a cruise on the snowmobile and observed them circling 5 different areas that day. Further complicating the issue is that the US Fish & Wildlife are involved and these animals are considered Federal property. We've been talking about delisting them in Minnesota for a few years now and not much has been done. The Anti's will keep it tied up in the courts if it ever comes to where we might get close to controlling their numbers thru hunting, etc. too. Even if Colorado never introduces them they will get there thru migration sooner or later. I would say...Let's not kid ourselves. Once they are present, the Anti's will make it very tough to be able to control their numbers thru the courts. We are seeing it in Minnesota...

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

Someone help me understand the real issue here.

Are wolves the real issue? What I mean is, is a wolf any different than a bear or a cougar? I have never read or seen anything to suggest they kill anymore than they need to consume. That means they don't kill for fun, they are just predators that kill prey to feed.

Or is the Federal government the real issue? I think it is. They should let states have a plan for managing them. You can't put an animal in an ecosystem where everything else is managed but let one animal roam free.

Remember though, we wouldn't be in this mess if everyone would have been responsible in the first place. Sure a man should be able to protect his property and livelihood. It should be legal to kill a wolf caught in the act of hurting livestock. There should be hunting seasons. But man should not be able to kill everyone he sees and then hide them under the next pine tree. Thats ludicrous for a true sportsman to say about a wild animal. What if the local farmers in your area got together and decided that deer were evil cause they ate all thier crops. Then they started killing every deer they saw. Didn't matter if that deer was 20 miles from home. We would have a thread where everyone would chime in and suggest thier punishment should be everything from chinese toture to the electric chair. Why do think the Buffalo are all but gone? Why do you think elk were all but extinct for a time? A true sportsman does care about conservation. Nature is wild and not a big ranch where we get a list of animals and decide what does and does not belong.

Ok the tree-huggers got the politics of wolves screwed up and as sportsman we ought to spearhead that issue. But also as sportsman we should care about conserving wild things and wild places.

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

They CAN, WILL & DO KILL FOR FUN. How would you like to watch them kill twelve cow elk only to rip there stomch open and eat the fetus? They did not eat any other part of these elk. This does happen every winter. I have watched them do it and so have other people. When they kill an animal it is not pretty. They do not kill it & then eat it. They cripple it & eat it to death. When a wolf kills two or more elk or deer they are not recorded by the true numbers they kill. They list them as bonus kills. A bonus kill could be two elk or twenty elk???

I myself do not think wolves are the real issue. I think the real issue is control & change. You can not force wolves on people & tell them it is a Federal crime to kill them. Ranchers need to have the power to shoot them. They need to protect there source of income.

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

We defintely have a growing wolf population in northern Wisconsin. Yes, they migrated in and continue to grow. Very touchy subject and many emotions running with it. They will definitely take deer numbers down. Actually may be de-listed here soon...similar to MN. The area I am in has two very distinct packs, within a "fairly" close range to each other.

As far as an area having too many yotes as someone mentioned, the wolves will take care of that. Hardly any yotes in our area any more....K9's of different breeds do not mix well, and the wolf will win. We have had quite a few hounds taken in the past recent years by wolves. (that's a whole other story)

If the population continues to grow (many of us beleive it is much higher than our DNR states) then I hope we have a hunt for them....I know I would apply.

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

Here in Idaho last year a pack of wolves killed 52 sheep in one night. These sheep along with sheepherders and their dogs spend many months a year on the stock range where we hunt. Do they kill for fun? You bet!!
On the Outdoor Channel it was mentioned one wolf kills a deer or elk every other day. We have aprox. 39 wolves living in our hunting country. Do the math for a year and see if you don''t think it's an issue!!! elknut1

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

Cougars and Bears don't run in packs.

The wolf introduced in Wyo. is already in Colorado!

Soon - You will see a reintroduction plan for Colorado that you may not be able to get rid of.

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

yes my attitude is strong and based on emotions bigbulls but for good reason if i forced some bullsh!^ tax down your throat without even considering your opinion i could expect that you would feel close to the same way i do about the wolves

think about this last year i lost 37 calves to predators 16 were confirmed to be wolves 21 were unconfirmed therefore no reimbursment
21 500# cows at $.80 a pound $400 a cow $8400
16 500# cows at $.80 a pound $400 a cow $6400
of that $6400 i was reimbursed $1280(market value of weight when killed)

if you look at prices you will see the figures i gave are very low and the actual loss is +or -5% higher
my point being of $14,800 i was reimbursed $1280 in the years preceding 1996 i lost an average of 5 cows a year to predators

so this is where i make the point if you were taxed an extra $13000 a year starting tomorrow(you get no choice in this) and it is going up yearly also. your not going to be a little vengful at me for this new unneeded tax

this is the best way i can explain my irritation with the US F&G and all you wolf lovers
i will do my best to control them on my property no matter what the law says

and as for the deer and elk we fill out damage reports and call the WY G&F and they take care of removing them from haystacks, helping with fences, etc all to help out the sportsman
and in return i recieve a whapping $11 for every ungulate killed and tagged on my property its not much but at least its a plus

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

also for all you wolf lovers

if you truly want to look for the truth about wolves look closely to where thay are located and you will find that the people wo love them are not located there thay are like you hundreds of miles away spouting some BS

like
"they are needed in a natural environment" (we made it many years without them)
or
"i am for there reintroduction" (this is usually in some park or national forest, in which they do not stay)
or
"we should preserve all wildlife" (this one just kills me by preserveing wolves your killing thousands of animals)
"I support there reintroduction" (usually meaning it isn't going to cost me a dime and i dont care about the guys whom are trying to make a living in that country)

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

Wolf Killer, jjt, Elknut, whitetails & muskies:

Very good points!! It's usually the ones who love them who don't have to live or hunt amongst them for sure. And I know alot of the locals in northern MN are tired of the federal government forcing their ways on them and this is just a prime example of it. I think that all of those anti's and wolf lovers should see a video of what Wolf killer mentioned. I hope that we will soon see them delisted in MN so that they can be hunted but I have a feeling that the anti's will file law suit after law suit and drag it out in court for years to come. I feel bad for any state that has had them forceably introduced.

RE: Colorado beware of wolves
 

Here in Minnesota they should definetaly be delisted. Originally it was thought that a pack needed a huge home range, and wouldn't be able to adapt to living near humans. So most thought the wolves would only stay in the extreme north where there are few people. Well now there are established packs as far south as 1 1/2 hrs north of the Twin Cities. The local farmers should be able to protect their property, and shoot some of these animals. If nothing else, at least they would feel like they had some control of the situation, now it's totally out of their hands. I definately don't want wolves eliminated from MN (I like it that we have a healthy population here) but right now there are too many, and it is irresponsible to not control them like we do with every other animal.