Krypt Keeper

I live on the eastern part of VA and been told for yrs there are no mountian lions and bear this way. Coyotes are becoming a problem here recently also. Its funny also how me and several of my friends including my boss (up close and personal) have seen a mountain lion in our area, it got captured on a trail cam this yr also.

Also bears being hit by cars have gone up, and now you can shoot bears in my county this yr.

They just didn't move this way overnight.

Breech I would look into getting a CCW to have on you. I hunt bow and black powder all season. After the mountain lion adventure we had several yrs ago I always have a sidearm on as do my friends. With my CCW permit it also allows me to carry during bow and blackpowder.

I am only 5'9" and just over 200lbs. Can't convince critters I taste bad so I try to be better protected. If you can't carry a sidearm look also into stuff like pepper spray for bears. Better than nothing.

halfbakedi420

wow thats kewl!!! we dont have any wolves here, i like wolves , but not yotes...definitely a wall hanger if ya get the chance!!!is it legal to shoot em'? are they a problem animal, like throughout the area?

cayugad

Wolves are protected. Although they have been talking about having a "season" on them. You will have to get a tag and they will limit the kill of them.

It is something on a winter night to hear them howl around the house. I had my sister visiting once and she'd never heard them. So her, her kids and I went out and howled at the wolves one night. It was fun but I think the kids were a little scared. Also one night (years ago) I let my dog out. He was trained not to mess in the yard. He always went into the woods. He walked off the main stairs did his business and came right back to the house. I think he knew something I did not.

We have bear, wolves, mountain lion, and coyotes in our area. There are other critters you really don't want to run into also. One trout season I came across a badger and he was just plain unfriendly. We had to run away from him and then make a wide circle to get around him. Another friend came face to face with a fisher on a creek bank, and pulled his revolver on it. But it ran off finally.

I usually carry something when I walk in the woods. I hope the snow storm does not encourage the wolves to hunt more deer... Good luck Redclub.

spaniel

Ha, trust the DNR to tell you whether or not they are there...nope. They say no mtn lions in MI, had one in my backyard in broad daylight. They say no wolves, someone finally got fed up with being called a liar and paid out-of-pocket to mail scat to a USFW DNA lab in CO and it came back as wolf. Then I saw one myself while out in the western UP (they're just a BIT bigger than a coyote!).

Wolves moved into the area of MT I hunt just this year. My game sightings already went down from last year. But there were wolf tracks everywhere.

I'm ok with there being a few predators, the problem is the tree huggers (or fear of them) prevent proper management of their populations (HUNTING them!).

cayugad

Well when a hunter sees more wolves then he does deer in a hunting season, what would that tell an intellegent person. The DNR in Wisconsin the last few years have been killing off the herd. I suspect the Insurance Companies have something to do with this. But they gave out doe tags, even forced us to shoot does, and all the time the wolf population was growing.

What will be interesting is when the wolves start killing more of the prize elk in the area. We will then see how the DNR reacts to that.

We have had people calling for the heads of the DNR herd managment. Even senators are screaming. The hunters in parts of the State are just wild. The overall deer kill is down 29%. In one part of the State (northern WI) the buck harvest was down 49% this year. Add that to the 21% from last year. And that tells you that your probably not taking venison home this year or next year.

halfbakedi420

i think it would be kewl if each state took a turn at stopping hunting fer a few years and let that states hunters pay their same hunting fee's for their state and hunt in another...thus keeping the game system afloat with their monies..basically other states would sponsor , lets say Wisconsins hunters fer 3 years..and on to another in a different region, or do you stay in the same region? i dunno..there has to be a way , so my great grand kids can hunt tooo!!!!!

falcon

The mentality of the DNR types never ceases to amaze me. In OK we are not allowed to hunt coyotes at night with a light or a sight dog. We are not allowed to hunt hogs over a lighted feeder at night. We are seeing more and more cougars here. The OK DOW says they did not bring them to OK. A guy who lives around Lawton had a horse so badly mauled by a cougar he had to shoot it. The man called the DOW and was told that cougars have a tracking chip and if he killed the animal they would get him. The state legislature over-ruled the DOW and it is now legal to kill cougars if they are a threat to humans or livestock.

bronko22000

boy Dave - I was going to give a comment about you having friends but I though I better be nice this close to Christmas. Its funny, but if the DNR Warden says there aren't any wolves in your area then I guess you can't get blamed for shooting something that isn't there....right?

Pglasgow

Thanks for posting those pics Dave. We visited Minnesota a few years back in the Ely area. We were able to locate a pack and do what your grandkids did, have a howling session. For my wife, it was the highlight of the trip. We also found a moose kill site and a deer kill site hiking in the region. Fishing was great. We saw alot of deer, though I'm sure fewer than there would be without the wolves.

Growing up in Oklahoma the ranchers in the area I lived hated (and I suspect still do) deer. If it were up to them, they would all be gone. Deer bring ticks, road hunters, trespassers etc. Same up here in Colorado with antelope. The landowners didn't ask for them and don't want them. They would sooner have them exterminated forever.

The debate on wildlife... what should be exterminated ... and what deserves to survive will likely be going on a long time.

liquidorange

those are wolves? in southern new jersey we have coyotes that big. we also have no deer in the pine barrens anymore.