Posted on 10/12/2010 11:57:46 AM PDT by epithermal
COEUR D'ALENE -- Deer and pheasant hunting seasons kicked off in North Idaho this last weekend. While wolves were also hunted last season, theyve been put back on the endangered species list and are now officially off limits.
There are two camps at polar opposite ends of the debate over wolf hunting. There are the hunters who believe wolves should be fair game and there are the environmentalists who want wolves left alone.
One of those that was looking forward to wolf hunting this season is William Rutherford, who hoped to land his first wolf tag this season.
I didn't think really that many were shot and I think they're still plenty of them out there. I think it's kinda dumb that they closed it, they should have kept it open," Rutherford said.
After being reintroduced into the region, wolves were taken off the endangered species list in May of 2009 and they were opened to hunting.
Recently a federal judge put the animals back on the endangered species list, which means wolves in both Montana and Idaho are off limits and can't be harvested. Idaho Governor Butch Otter tried to appeal that decision up until late last week.
"I don't think that they should have brought the wolves back in the first place, sportsman Bryce McTavisch said. As a lover of animals and the outdoors, I think everything has its place. The wolves, we got rid of them, they were hunted out and everything. There may have been a reason for that like natural selection."
Idaho Governor Butch Otter tried to appeal that decision up until late last week but over this last weekend confirmed that federal officials turned down Montanas request for a wolf hunt. Idaho had asked for a similar hunt but federal officials rejected the states request.
Liberal kooks love their predators.
have no problem with this.
Nothing better than going through the country seeing wolves, bears, and other wildlife in their habitat.
now I love wolves they are one of my favorite animals. Elegant, ruthless, and perfect pack hunters. However like any predator humans need to hunt them and thin them out. Not only so that they don’t over stress their hunting grounds and starve to death but also so that they don’t see humans as prey and learn to avoid us.
You don’t hunt them and they lose their fear of humans and an unarmed child or even an adult isn’t a match for a pack of hungry wolves.
“have no problem with this.”
I wouldn’t either IF it was based on sound science not politics. Obviously, it isn’t.
I really hope you just forgot the sarcasm tag. The wolves are far past the numbers of sustainable population and are ravaging moose & elk populations in MT & WY.
Yes, I like them myself. I have only seen one once in the wilds when I was working in the westernmost extent of the Brooks Range in Alaska. I was sitting on the banks of a small stream taking a break and watching a cariboo walk across the stream. It got half way across the river and bolted back the way it came from. From out of the brush on the other side of the stream loped a big wolf. He glanced over at me and went right back into the brush. I knew right then I was not the top predator in the area!
No government has the right to stop you from killing a predator in your back yard....
I like wild life too, but people often don’t realize that people in the western USA still make a living off the land and wolves can decimate cattle and sheep herds if not kept in check by some hunting. Too often the population living in other areas consider the western USA to be their own private recreational preserve. For those of us that live here and make our living off the land, we would hope that you consider the impact on the human population as well.
If Mr. Wolf met Mr. Bullet while facing you, you WERE defending your life, weren’t you?
Honest, warden, I was shooting at a buck [or whatever happens to be in season]. That wolf came out of nowhere and took the bullet intended for the deer. I had no idea we were both stalking the same deer.
Bared his teeth...he did!!!
I think he was drooling, too. Rabies was the first thing that came to mind...and a fur collar for my parka...
Do you include Elk in the "other wildlife"?
If you go into Yellowstone you will see a few cow elk, but no calves.
The wolves and grizzlies have really had an impact on elk.
Soon, there will be a huge die off of wolves and grizzlies because they will starve when they finish off all the elk and deer.
I’m a city boy. born and bred. My wife and I spent a vacation in 2007 driving through MT, WY and ID. We spent a few days in Elk City, ID, at the edge of the wilderness. Hanging around the Wilderness VFW post there, we talked with several outfitters and they we really outraged that the Federal Government imported a lot of wolves into that area from Canada. These guys rely on a healthy elk herd for their living, and the wolves chow down on them. One guy said that she-wolves give birth to two pups a year, where the female elk give birth to one calf a year. The numbers are not in the elks’ (or the outfitters) favor.
Exactly. Greenie weenies are always bemoaning "man's interference with nature" forgetting that, especially with their moral-equivalence mindset, we're just as much part of nature as any "other animal". Somehow we end up being the only natural species with no rights.
Times-a-wasting, you environmentalists. Elk and deer season are in full swing in Idaho; wolves are all over the place, and are in great danger from those eeeeevil hunters. Now's the time to get up there and hug those fuzzy puppies for their protection. Come on; put your worthless carcass on the line for the cause.
How many times?
MOLON LABE
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