US wolves taken off endangered list, clearing way for hunting

[Hoyt]

How's the best way to cook them wolves? The reason I ask is I read on a taxidermy site I go on about how delicious mountain lions and bobcats are. I'm serious..everybody that posted about them said they were the best wild game they had ever eaten. Said they tasted like pork. Personally I wouldn't eat one or a wolf..but wondered if you fry um up or what.

 

[RC]

hmmm, that's hmmmmmmmmmm not yummmmmmmm. well never havin the pleasure/chance to try either cat or lion, couldn't tell ya about them, but seems indians used to eat dog,so i guess wolf over an open fire would be the way to start.... course after skinnin coyote,,don't know as i be tryin wolf...lessen i were real hungry...real hungry! whew! :shocked2: RC

 

[hornbuilder]

like i said you probaly wouldn't know the difference ( rc)

 

[mikee51848]

Wow! PETA and the other tree-huggers gotta be really ticked off.

 

[wolfram]

My friend,

Not trying to stir up anything, but rather than taking pot shots, why don't you explain your point of view and join the debate? There's nothing wrong if you have an opposing point of view. After all, it's not much of a debate if there's only one point of view. Besides, more people on this board may agree with you than you think.

Are you saying that predator hunters are not sportsmen? Or are you trying to say that people that want to wipe out wolves are not sportsmen?

Personally, I don't think that wolves should be wiped out. They have a role to play in nature, just like any animal. Not to mention that it's cool to hear their howls at night I think it's good that wolf populations have come back, but I do think that they, along with any predator, need to be managed otherwise game populations can suffer. Take a look at California for an example. They don't allow the hunting of mountain lions for any reason. The Sierra Bighorn sheep is close to extinction, yet Cali fish & game can't do anything about it because they can't do anyting about the mountain lion population. Not that mountain lions should be wiped out. Absolutely not, but they do need to be managed to help the Bighorn population. Likewise with wolves. An overpopulation of predators doesn't do any species any good.

 

[wolfram]

Wow! PETA and the other tree-huggers gotta be really ticked off.

I'm sure they are. I'd be very surprised if either PETA or the humane society don't challenge this change in court.

 

[puckertoe]

called one in last winter near three forks montana, and let me tell ya, neatest set-up i've ever had. :grin: i've called in all predators and made kills for myself and clients, but that was the first i had a wolf come in - 75 yards. hardest thing i ever did in my life too was not pull the trigger on that gray beauty. :redface: next time though, i'll have a pelt too use as I please.
the wildlife population has definetly felt the growing population of wolves, so i say keep them in check.

 

[rabbit03]

UHH this is the Hunting section isn't it? If you want to do the protective specie thing there are other forums.

I am a hunter and not a sportsman or at least I don't know what a sportsman is I guess. I have morals if that is what a sportsman is. I don't care if the deer has horns or not or if I am allowed to shoot a wolf or not. If it is there for the hunting I am going to hunt it. Seems like the thing to do to me.

If being a sportsman is enjoying the beauty of all things without killing them then I guess I am not a sportsman. I like to eat em'. I got a friend that eats Bobcats, yep that's right and he gets mad if you don't tell him you killed one and he doesn't get the meat. Go figure!

I am not one to just leave the dang wolf out there if that is what you mean, might take a tale back home with me :blah:

Most likely though I would skin him or her out right there and just tote the pelt out and have it tanned. Why would anyone want to drag the whole thing back to the vehicle or camp, heck just skin it out down to the head and leave the head on for the Taxidermist to do the rest if you don't know how to do the rest.

Who would want to drag the stinkin damn thing out of the woods anyway!

rabbit03 (the other sportsman) :shocked2:

 

[RC]

like i said you probaly wouldn't know the difference ( rc)

WELL, don't be bashful! let's hear the other side,, i wouldn't want to rush to judgement on something i know so little about..educate me... :hmm: cause all this time, hunting within the laws, making quick clean kills,not taking shots that wouldn't result in a clean kill.enjoying nature,teaching ethics and conservation to young hunters hopefully sportsmen..(my description,evidently not yours?)(gee i hope i didn't screw that up :shocked2so tell me your definition of a sportsman or hunter..this time, aim, cause if yer gonna take shots make em count.. :winking: RC

 

[rabbit03]

Your the man!

Get R Done

rabbit03

 

There was a show on PBS the other night dealing with the fact that wolves have destabilized the food chain in every area where they have been introduced.

As a wildlife biologist, I've never seen that written in a single scientific paper. All the professional papers I have seen have shown positive effects from increased top-down control of ungulates by wolves or other predators. Most areas where wolves have come back into have had severe over-use of riparian areas by ungulates (deer, elk, moose, etc.). Papers from the Yellowstone area have demonstrated that riparian vegetation has improved markedly. These areas were prime beaver habitat in the 1820-1840 period and poor ungulate management wiped out the willows on which they feed. Beaver in YNP were rare until wolves were reintroduced. Other papers from the upper Midwest and Canada have shown that deer populations limited populations of an endangered trillium (a broad leaf understory plant) and understory plant production in general. Wolf reintroduction changed that relationship and resulted in increases in both. Much of this is due more to moving ungulates around from year-round hunting pressure more than population reductions. Simply put, undisturbed ungulates will hang in prime grazing or browsing areas until they beat the heck out of them. Drop a few predators in there and they will move into other areas and let the prime ones recover.

Predators are a contentious issue. But with all such issues, beware the person who tries to portray them as simple or black and white on either side.

Sean

 

[RC]

without raisin any hackles, isn't what happens in yellowstone a little different from other places? and did any problems arise from the wolf being there? or surrounding area.. i'm just asking, is there hunting in yellowstone? (i assume not, but) wouldn't lack of hunting cause the overbrowse problem? i do realize predators are a neceesary and good thing,,to a point..they were reintroduced,regained their numbers and are now a huntable animal(a trophy i would say!) can't have both? haven't seen the coyote population dwindle with the hunting seasons..seems it's eiher all or nothin.. "let them all live or kill them all" i don't think their puttin a bounty on them.. sorry but i don't understand the problem with hunting them if they've regained their population to a goal? but i sure do appreciate you explaining the "need" side of wolves....thank you! RC

 

[Blackfoot]

Yep I to can't wait to go and hunt them here in Minnesota.

I know just the spot to go and if my hunch is right when I sit down and start calling I will need a partner to sit leaning against my back (to cover my back) then the lead will fly.

I also think that they would be easily taken from a "bait" as I have them come in on me when I am bear hunting as close as 10 yards, when I tried to scare them away they just turn and look at me and growl,snarl at me while they continued to destroy my bait.

Having them at Bow range is VERY COOL what a rush!

 

[Blackfoot]

I [strike]would[/strike] will eat one once I get to "harvest" one.

Probably just once :shocked2:


I'd bet liver eatin Johnson ate wolf back in the day :grin:

 

[RC]

blackfoot.. "I'd bet liver eatin Johnson ate wolf back in the day " i heerd it was crow he ate???????? :winking: RC

 

fletho, hornbuilder....no explanation or justification for opinions offered? You took cheap and somewhat silly shots and offer up no explanation or justification.

Most guys on this forum are probably more aware of what goes on in the natural world than any other kind of hunter save possibly us traditional bowhunters and/or those of us who trap. It is very much a part of real muzzleloading hunters.

I lived in NW Wyoming for three years and know there are wolf problems there. The wolf multiplied and expanded it's range much more quickly than Interior believed would happen. Imagine that....they have no natural predator, save man, and wolfs make good momma's. They're also an efficient predator and were plopped down in a smorgasboard for wolves. Game herds have been diminished by their predation and I personally know they are causing problems for ranchers. Let someone take a $600.00 bite, (approximate value of a 500 lb. steer), out of your paycheck every week and see if you like it. I don't believe they need to be eradicated again but they certainly need to be managed better than they are and certainly without Federal noses peering over the state game management agencies.

fletho, in response to your "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Three Little Pigs" analogy, another myth is that wolves take only the weak, sick, aged and injured. That's a crock of hooey I have no idea how it got started. Predators take what they can when they can and often kill simply for their sheer joy of killing. I don't know how many times I've discovered livestock and game killed with only small portions eaten. If they catch a flock or herd oftentimes they kill several just because they can. I'm confident others who have spent much time on the farm/ranch and/or in the wilds will back me up on this.

If you have a soft spot in your heart for wolves, fine. Everyone is entitled to that. Just don't blow smoke up the skirts of those who have been there or have to deal with them on a daily basis. You know not whereof you speak.

Last I heard Interior hadn't approved the Wyoming plan for wolf management. Evidently this has been rectified.

 

[rabbit03]

OH :shocked2: :shake: your bad! :thumbsup:

rabbit03

 

[RC]

Sharps4590..... :thumbsup: .. :applause: very well said! (in my opinion!) course the cheap shot bout my skirt was totally uncalled fer! my momma gave me that! okay really do like what ya said about umm?, hunters...uh? sportsman.. guys in the woods (there! got it!) being more aware of their (actually THEIR) surroundings. i'd bet i spend more time in the woods,an not jes huntin, than most who are callin the shots..........probably should've worded that different? the ones makin the rules..maybe i'm in a minority,but only time i seen an official in the woods was a walk to a deer yard....once!..when they was explainin the over population of deer,here in n.y.(over browsing) course he never said a word about the two new houses built in the "yard"... anyways nice when someone has an opinion(still allowed?) and explains why they feel the way they do..always willing to listen an learn! ya jes gotta love this MLF ! :thumbsup: RC

 

[roundball]

i can really tell that there are many more hunters on this list than sportsmen , thats a shame but thats what hunting has turned into,. probably most of you don't even know the difference between a hunter and a sportsmen ,,nuff said

That seems like not only a strange staement but an indictment as well, as I am a hunter and consider myself a sportsman in that pursuit.

So please enlighten us with your detailed views of why you make such a broad brush indictment of us??

 

[PitchyPine]

Good deal, they`er tearing up the deer around here, should be fun. :thumbsup: