Wisconsin to open a timberwolf season?
04-14-2008, 09:06 PM
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Heaven, WI
Posts: 600
RE: Wisconsin to open a timberwolf season?
I didnt catch it on the news but as far as i know they've been removed from the endangered/threatened list, the most current population estimates place the state numbers somewhere around 500-600. Before any hunting season is opened they'll need to do some extensive population surveys as well as hold numerous community hearings. It's something that might happen in the future if it's decided the population gets too high, however it'll face quite a bit of adversity from the save the wolves groups, and i'm afraid too many people will want to eradicate the wolves entirely but that'll never happen. Something to keep an eye out for, but i foresee it being like the elk hunts with very few tags lotteried every year and very limited areas actually open to hunting.
04-15-2008, 06:20 PM
#4
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 114
RE: Wisconsin to open a timberwolf season?
A public harvest of wolves could be considered if other controls do not appear to reduce wolf depredation problems and bring the population closer to the goal of 350 wolves outside of Indian Reservations, but the legislature will need to authorize the DNR to hold a public harvest, restrict hunter/trapper participation, and designate specific quota zones.
• The most recent wolf population survey in 2006 included a count of 465-502 wolves across the state, and 449 wolves outside of Indian reservation, thus the population was 99 wolves above the population goal. A new survey for 2007 should be completed in spring 2007, and will determine whether the wolf population is still above the management goal.
04-16-2008, 11:37 AM
#6
Spike
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location:
Posts: 50
RE: Wisconsin to open a timberwolf season?
[align=left][/align][align=left][/align][align=left]"A public harvest of wolves could be considered if other controls do not appear to reduce wolf depredation problems" [/align][align=left][/align][align=left]What other controls are they using to reduce the problems? I don't understand. I also think that the estimates they have are low.[/align]
04-24-2008, 11:46 AM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 239
RE: Wisconsin to open a timberwolf season?
Basically what I saw on the news was that the DNR was asking hunters if they want a wolf hunt. Of course hunterd do, the wolves are wiping out the deer population up north! I'm not holding my breath till they deside for a fact that a hunting season is needed, it could take 5 years to become a reality and the area's being over run by wolves probably do not have that long. I gun hunted near Black River Falls last season and never saw a deer or even a deer track. Just 1 year earlier, opening morning sounded like a war zone in the same area. Wolves move pretty fast when it comes to killing deer that have had 0 natural predators in over 100 years.
The only good thing that comes from having wolves is that the overpopulation of deer will no longer exist, which should help keep CWD and other deseases in check. I've been talking with a biologist who's been studying the elk near Clame Lake. Over the years, the wolves have pretty much left the elk alone up until last year. As he predicted, the wolves are running out of easy to kill deer in that area and as a result we've seen more elk killed by wolves lately. If something isn't done soon, our elk herd will be in trouble. We only have 130 elk.
The elk reintroduction plan in WI. was put on hold when CWD was found in southern WI. Having the deer herd thinned out by wolves can only be a good thing if we can add more elk to the reintroduction program and control the number of wolves. If we got to have wolves, we have to have more than just deer to feed them. WI. DNR and the Rockey Mountain Elk Foundation has come up with a plan to get elk from Elk Island Canada. Elk that are naturally quarenteened on an Island and free of CWD and other deseases. WE NEED THESE ELK! The only problem? The Dept. of Agriculture will not let them be transported into our state! The Dept. of Agriculture will not even let the DNR move any of our elk with in the state. As it stands, our 130 elk are on there own bunched up and just waiting to be wiped out by wolves and CWD.
As A WI. hunter, I see the DNR TRYING to thin the deer herd down south, and I see the wolves thinning the deer herd up north. Like it or not, the deer population is getting thinned out. For someone who wants the elk to thrive in Wisconsin, a temporary reduction in the deer population is just what the elk need to keep CWD out of the elk population. The wolves have effectively put up a buffer zone between the elk and CWD deer down south.
If we add more elk right now to our herd, depending on the number of elk added, we could be hunting elk in WI. in 15-20 years, 10 years if we really tried hard.
I've talked with a lot of deer hunters who seem to think that we can keep up our overpopulated deer herd just as we have over the past 20 years. Nobody wants to face the facts that having that many deer isn't healthy for us, mother nature, or the deer. CWD is but 1 of many diseases heading our way. Take a look at Ill. Minn. Iowa. Missouri, blue tongue, TB ect. Deer are dropping dead all around us. Look at history and the natural cycles of life. What's left of the food chain in WI.? All we have is deer. The deer wont last long now that the wolves have made a comeback. If we have to have wolves, we have to have elk and buffalo too. If we don't control the wolves, we won't have deer, we won't have bears, we won't have elk, all we'll have is wolves until we kill them off again and history repeats itself.
I understand WI. deer hunters wanting to shoot wolves on sight. With out control, wolves are a serious threat to deer hunters. Deer hunters have to start thinking about the big picture, start thinking like BIG GAME hunters. We can use the same tactics to get elk and buffalo back in the north woods as the anti's used to put the wolves back. Wolves aren't a threat to deer hunting, they're the key that opens the door to elk and buffalo. If we don't put at least a few of the food chain links back, we risk loosing everything. If we have to have wolves, we have to have the other big game animals to support them. 20 years from now we could be a big game hunting paradise with whitetails, elk, wolves and bear for starters. Or, we could try to hang on to just deer hunting.
YES, we want to hunt the wolves. There numbers have to be closely monitored and controlled. Yes we want the deer herd to be thinned out under control and closely monitored but if we are going to share our deer with wolves, we need something in return. The elk reintroduction studies and plans are on solid grounds, all the proof is in writing and well documented. Elk are supposed to be here, we need them. The environment needs them, the economy needs them, our whitetail deer need them, black bears need them and most of all, our grandchildren are going to need them. I've said it a thousand times, "If we have to have wolves, we need elk and buffalo to feed them." If we can't have elk and buffalo because the Department of Agriculture won't allow it, then I guess the wolves that turn to cattle are there problem. If all the deer are gone, I'm not shooting the wolf to eat, I'm going with the wolf to hunt beef.
It comes down to who is really in control of our wildlife management. Agriculture is big business in WI. and have a big part in wildlife management and only have the farmers interests in mind. The DNR can research and do what's best only to be over ridden by the Dept. of Ag.. The Ag. deer and bear damage program is another prime example. You'd have better luck getting a FREE bear tag from the Dept. of Agriculture than waiting the 5-9 years to buy a DNR bear tag. Free deer damage tags has led to the slaughter of thousands of WI. deer that our tax dollars also paid the farmer to feed. Don't think I'm blaming our farmers, they're just following the rules. Because of the rules, it's more profitable to slaughter the deer because the farmers are not allowed to profit from the deer. We need to change that. That same program if not changed will also take over the wolf management so again, the Dept. of Agriculture will trump the DNR and hunters when it comes to wolf tags. We need to find a way that farmers can profit from returning there land to natural habitat and profit from the deer, bear, elk, buffalo, caribou moose mountain lion and wolves he can attract to his land. What ever wildlife takes away from A working farm, such as crops and live stock, that farmer should be allowed to sell the right to hunt what ever is determined to be causing the damage. If a farmer looses 50% of his crop, but can make 10 times that guiding 20 deer hunters per year, bear hunters, wolf hunters, elk hunters...... makes a lot more sense than the current policy of tax payers paying for the 50% loss and farmers required to get volunteers to slaughter the deer year round. What's kind of ironic, is some of Wisconsin's worst farm lands used to be some of north America's finest big game habitat.
The only good thing that comes from having wolves is that the overpopulation of deer will no longer exist, which should help keep CWD and other deseases in check. I've been talking with a biologist who's been studying the elk near Clame Lake. Over the years, the wolves have pretty much left the elk alone up until last year. As he predicted, the wolves are running out of easy to kill deer in that area and as a result we've seen more elk killed by wolves lately. If something isn't done soon, our elk herd will be in trouble. We only have 130 elk.
The elk reintroduction plan in WI. was put on hold when CWD was found in southern WI. Having the deer herd thinned out by wolves can only be a good thing if we can add more elk to the reintroduction program and control the number of wolves. If we got to have wolves, we have to have more than just deer to feed them. WI. DNR and the Rockey Mountain Elk Foundation has come up with a plan to get elk from Elk Island Canada. Elk that are naturally quarenteened on an Island and free of CWD and other deseases. WE NEED THESE ELK! The only problem? The Dept. of Agriculture will not let them be transported into our state! The Dept. of Agriculture will not even let the DNR move any of our elk with in the state. As it stands, our 130 elk are on there own bunched up and just waiting to be wiped out by wolves and CWD.
As A WI. hunter, I see the DNR TRYING to thin the deer herd down south, and I see the wolves thinning the deer herd up north. Like it or not, the deer population is getting thinned out. For someone who wants the elk to thrive in Wisconsin, a temporary reduction in the deer population is just what the elk need to keep CWD out of the elk population. The wolves have effectively put up a buffer zone between the elk and CWD deer down south.
If we add more elk right now to our herd, depending on the number of elk added, we could be hunting elk in WI. in 15-20 years, 10 years if we really tried hard.
I've talked with a lot of deer hunters who seem to think that we can keep up our overpopulated deer herd just as we have over the past 20 years. Nobody wants to face the facts that having that many deer isn't healthy for us, mother nature, or the deer. CWD is but 1 of many diseases heading our way. Take a look at Ill. Minn. Iowa. Missouri, blue tongue, TB ect. Deer are dropping dead all around us. Look at history and the natural cycles of life. What's left of the food chain in WI.? All we have is deer. The deer wont last long now that the wolves have made a comeback. If we have to have wolves, we have to have elk and buffalo too. If we don't control the wolves, we won't have deer, we won't have bears, we won't have elk, all we'll have is wolves until we kill them off again and history repeats itself.
I understand WI. deer hunters wanting to shoot wolves on sight. With out control, wolves are a serious threat to deer hunters. Deer hunters have to start thinking about the big picture, start thinking like BIG GAME hunters. We can use the same tactics to get elk and buffalo back in the north woods as the anti's used to put the wolves back. Wolves aren't a threat to deer hunting, they're the key that opens the door to elk and buffalo. If we don't put at least a few of the food chain links back, we risk loosing everything. If we have to have wolves, we have to have the other big game animals to support them. 20 years from now we could be a big game hunting paradise with whitetails, elk, wolves and bear for starters. Or, we could try to hang on to just deer hunting.
YES, we want to hunt the wolves. There numbers have to be closely monitored and controlled. Yes we want the deer herd to be thinned out under control and closely monitored but if we are going to share our deer with wolves, we need something in return. The elk reintroduction studies and plans are on solid grounds, all the proof is in writing and well documented. Elk are supposed to be here, we need them. The environment needs them, the economy needs them, our whitetail deer need them, black bears need them and most of all, our grandchildren are going to need them. I've said it a thousand times, "If we have to have wolves, we need elk and buffalo to feed them." If we can't have elk and buffalo because the Department of Agriculture won't allow it, then I guess the wolves that turn to cattle are there problem. If all the deer are gone, I'm not shooting the wolf to eat, I'm going with the wolf to hunt beef.
It comes down to who is really in control of our wildlife management. Agriculture is big business in WI. and have a big part in wildlife management and only have the farmers interests in mind. The DNR can research and do what's best only to be over ridden by the Dept. of Ag.. The Ag. deer and bear damage program is another prime example. You'd have better luck getting a FREE bear tag from the Dept. of Agriculture than waiting the 5-9 years to buy a DNR bear tag. Free deer damage tags has led to the slaughter of thousands of WI. deer that our tax dollars also paid the farmer to feed. Don't think I'm blaming our farmers, they're just following the rules. Because of the rules, it's more profitable to slaughter the deer because the farmers are not allowed to profit from the deer. We need to change that. That same program if not changed will also take over the wolf management so again, the Dept. of Agriculture will trump the DNR and hunters when it comes to wolf tags. We need to find a way that farmers can profit from returning there land to natural habitat and profit from the deer, bear, elk, buffalo, caribou moose mountain lion and wolves he can attract to his land. What ever wildlife takes away from A working farm, such as crops and live stock, that farmer should be allowed to sell the right to hunt what ever is determined to be causing the damage. If a farmer looses 50% of his crop, but can make 10 times that guiding 20 deer hunters per year, bear hunters, wolf hunters, elk hunters...... makes a lot more sense than the current policy of tax payers paying for the 50% loss and farmers required to get volunteers to slaughter the deer year round. What's kind of ironic, is some of Wisconsin's worst farm lands used to be some of north America's finest big game habitat.
04-25-2008, 05:43 PM
#10
Spike
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location:
Posts: 50
RE: Wisconsin to open a timberwolf season?
I am all for legally shooting wolves, but I have one comment for wack. Predator/Prey cycles go up and down. Once the deer population comes down a bit, so will the wolves. And then it goes back up, and down, and up. That's ecology and evolution. It seems like the wolf population is going up fast (which it is) because of the huge deer herd. Just my input. I don't think we need buffalo and elk to support nature even though I would love to see them in northern WI. My two cents.