Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 51
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Double Drip, Idaho
    Posts
    135

    Wolves.....whadya think about 'em?

    It's ramping up to Elk/Deer season around here.....and with that the perennial Wolves vs. Hunter debate is firing up in earnest.

    I'm not a hunter myself, but am an avid outdoorsman and advocate for a diverse ecosystem, in all aspects. I realize the importance of having a keystone predator like the Gray Wolf in the food chain for overall vitality of the system as a whole. I also realize that they do need to be regulated as any other predator would be.

    I say regulated, to differentiate from the resounding sentiment among a large population of demographic here that would rather "extirpate" the Wolves rather than regulate. A large portion of these people tend to be Big Game hunters, and their battle cry is that the wolves are decimating the Elk/Deer populations in the region.

    The reality is that after years of years of their absence, the wolves are bringing the Elk/Deer populations back to a sustainable level in terms of overall ecosystem health.

    Soooooo.......what's your thoughts on the subject? Kill em' or save em'? Have any of you had altercations in the backcountry with wolves?
    Discuss.

    Fats-

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    S-E-A-T-O-W-N
    Posts
    1,792
    [ame=https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113800]huh?? do ya mean woves?[/ame]
    that's all i can think of, but i'm sure there's something else...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    2,133
    Let'em live.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Down In A Hole, Up in the Sky
    Posts
    35,361
    Rednecks iz stoopid, K?
    Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    A wretched hive of scum and villainy
    Posts
    1,958
    The people crowing about them decimating the deer population and wanting to kill 'em all don't know much about ecology. A sustainable population of apex predators is healthy in most cases. That said, they do need to be regulated as they do pose a threat to livestock. Of course, there are also non-lethal methods that can be effective in deterring wolves. The fladry has been used in Europe for a long time, and is seeing increasing use in the states with success.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Eagle County
    Posts
    12,612
    Great responses so far. Wolves are great for the ecosystem.
    ROLL TIDE ROLL

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    写道
    Posts
    13,434
    Quote Originally Posted by flyandski365 View Post
    Of course, there are also non-lethal methods that can be effective in deterring wolves.
    Pee on 'em!
    Daniel Ortega eats here.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    9,696
    Love wolves, but I'm not a rancher losing livestock to them nor do I ever see any here in Va.

    I think they're important apex predators that deserve reasonable protection.
    "You damn colonials and your herds of tax write off dressage ponies". PNWBrit

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Double Drip, Idaho
    Posts
    135
    Have any of you seen a wolf in wild? It's amusing to me that people around here are ranting and raving that the "wolves are taking over" and are "going to start attacking our children and families." Total horseshit.

    I spend A LOT of time in the backcountry, in the heart of wolf country here, and still have yet to hear one, let alone see one.
    You?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Down In A Hole, Up in the Sky
    Posts
    35,361
    I have seen a few, actually. Never, ever once an issue. Wifey was hiking with a friend, both of them with toddlers, up Mud Lake (~1 mile from our house), a wolf was just sitting on a ridgeline watching them, no threat whatsoever. I am more concerned with rabid FS employees...
    Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Eagle County
    Posts
    12,612
    I've seen lots of wolves in the wild...great critters. I lived in Yellowstone for 2 years and in MT for 4.
    ROLL TIDE ROLL

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    2,133
    If I saw a wolf in the wild I would consider my self a lucky guy. I'd like to see them re-introduced in CO, maybe up in RMNP to start. They would surely spread from there.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Down In A Hole, Up in the Sky
    Posts
    35,361
    I vote for re-introduction in Loveland.
    Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    sandy, sl,ut
    Posts
    9,307
    They're pack animals so they're easily trainable, though not as easy going as most dogs, they need their exercise.

    A hyena would be good too, tougher stronger and better fighters than wolves, but wolves have the better endurance, so if you plan to have it ski with you go for a wolf.





    In all seriousness, ranchers that bitch and whine and complain about wolves need to remember that not too long ago ranchers were thought to be tough and didnt have any government help and there were tons of predators.

    I see no reason why they shouldn't be hunted in moderation where there are stable populations. Since wolves like to travel, especially once kicked out of a pack, I really think they are going to be all over the west before too long. People have been saying there are some in colorado for a while now. I'm stoked.

    I saw one lone black wolf in the wild in AK from about 100 yards away. I was not the least bit afraid. Grizzlies and moose scare me, the wolf was just chillin though.
    __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________________
    "We don't need predator control, we need whiner control. Anyone who complains that "the gummint oughta do sumpin" about the wolves and coyotes should be darted, caged, and released in a more suitable habitat for them, like the middle of Manhattan." - Spats

    "I'm constantly doing things I can't do. Thats how I get to do them." - Pablo Picasso

    Cisco and his wife are fragile idiots who breed morons.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Live Free or Die
    Posts
    1,283
    Wyoming's refusal to treat wolves as a trophy species and have a limited season is stupid. They continue to insist on treating wolves as varmint to be shot on site.

    Keep em around, but yeah, regulate em a bit. I've seen one wolf in the wild, despite working 2 summers in the Frank Church.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    crown of the continent
    Posts
    13,947
    Much prefer cougars.
    Something about the wrinkle in your forehead tells me there's a fit about to get thrown
    And I never hear a single word you say when you tell me not to have my fun
    It's the same old shit that I ain't gonna take off anyone.
    and I never had a shortage of people tryin' to warn me about the dangers I pose to myself.

    Patterson Hood of the DBT's

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    the edge of wuss cliff
    Posts
    17,076
    Wolves are rad.

    The only "hunters" who complain about wolves killing all thier game ungulates are lazy puds who are used to dumping a truckbed of apples along the side of a dirt road and plugging some stupid complacent deer the next week.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    MPLS
    Posts
    352
    Wolves are cool but need to be managed using science. They have an unlimited food supply (livestock) and need to be managed so that their numbers do not get out of control. Montana's quota of 75 last year was a joke. They are good for the elk population, put they have thinned the herd well below its carrying capacity, at least in the mountains around Gardiner.
    I love big dumps.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Terra Firma
    Posts
    1,370
    Actually joined Defenders of the Wildlife because they had a program to reimburse cattle ranchers for any livestock that was killed by wolves. There was also a movement to reintroduce wolves into the Idaho-Montana area(Sawtooth Pack) that has been very successful(too successful?).
    Wolf and man have always been competitors for the same food, hence the reason there has always been conflict. I think that they display very similar personality traits as well...

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Uptown
    Posts
    6,208
    You're asking me?
    Living vicariously through myself.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    in the hills
    Posts
    339
    Humans.....whadya think about 'em?
    " have another hit of sweet california sunshine"

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    At the beach
    Posts
    19,067
    ^^^^ I am with Mock. Humans, what a fuckin waste of time.
    But there were already a few threads on this topic that went many pages. Looking at pictures of dead wolves with fucking hunters geeking for a photo gets my blood a boilin. Lucky I am not a fucking vigilante wolf lover, or those cock suckers would be dead.
    edit for drunk grammer
    Quote Originally Posted by leroy jenkins View Post
    I think you'd have an easier time understanding people if you remembered that 80% of them are fucking morons.
    That is why I like dogs, more than most people.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Hilly and snowy place
    Posts
    127
    sounds like more than a few of you have never been horse camping and watched a picketed horse become surrounded by a pack of howling predators with blood in their eyes. innocent, cute, sweet little puppy dogs they are not.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Posts
    15,780
    Quote Originally Posted by powpowpowderwheels View Post
    Wolves are cool but need to be managed using science.
    Unfortunately, very little in the way of natural resources gets managed using science. Emotion, greed, politics, and money are the driving forces behind most natural resource management.

    Quote Originally Posted by mock1 View Post
    Humans.....whadya think about 'em?
    I used to not like them much, but then I got this great recipe.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    A wretched hive of scum and villainy
    Posts
    1,958
    Quote Originally Posted by powpowpowderwheels View Post
    Wolves are cool but need to be managed using science. They have an unlimited food supply (livestock) and need to be managed so that their numbers do not get out of control. Montana's quota of 75 last year was a joke. They are good for the elk population, put they have thinned the herd well below its carrying capacity, at least in the mountains around Gardiner.
    You mean they thinned it to carrying capacity. The lack of these predators creates a situation where the herd exceeds the carrying capacity of the ecosystem = an unhealthy herd. Numbers are artificially high without the wolves, with the wolves it is more of a natural situation.

    What you said about an unlimited food supply is significant though. Without having to deal with the natural cyclical nature of wild game populations, wolves will increase in population at an unnatural rate. They pretty much have to be hunted at this point (or until livestock depredation is no longer a factor) for their own protection as a population.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •