Petersens Wolf Article

[cantgetdrawn]

Just wondering what you "wolf lovers" think of the article.

http://www.petersenshunting.com/2014/02/21/anti-hunters-dead-wrong-about-wolves/

 

[jryoung]

Typical wolf article, whether anti or pro wolf, more sensationalism and cherry picking that substance. What's nice about this is with so many quotes from pro-wolfers, you get to see their sensationalism and cherry picking too.

 

[JLS]

Gee, I wonder why Montana elk license sales tanked in 2012? Maybe it had something to do with a 50% price increase? Aw shit, it must be the wolves......

 

[shoots-straight]

Gee, I wonder why Montana elk license sales tanked in 2012? Maybe it had something to do with a 50% price increase? Aw shit, it must be the wolves......

It was both, and just maybe, we're over booking what the resource can handle.

We're still over objective by 60,000 head according to the EMP. How can we continue a 5 week rifle season, and a 6 week archery season, after reducing the herd that much?

If you want to sell out the tags, put more critters on the ground.

I would expect the total numbers of wolves after this season to be substantially lower than the 1800 number used in the article. That's old.

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/...cle_090d2349-3cda-52c0-a227-110590dc9076.html

http://billingsgazette.com/news/sta...cle_078d3a6b-da74-576b-9a6d-2de47c472e42.html

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/apr/03/idaho-wolf-population-decreased-by-11-percent-in/

Wyoming 170
Montana less than 470
Idaho less than 683

Montana and Idaho's numbers are from last year. Both states have had good wolf harvest so far, and it's continuing.

1323 compared to 1800 is misleading with current facts.

No wonder. As wolf populations have increased, big-game numbers spiraled downward. There is no better example than the elk herd north of the Yellowstone border, the same region Johnson used to hunt. Land that once had 19,000 animals in 1995 now holds less than 4,000.

That number is where they are suppose to be according to our EMP. It's not going up even if you kill off every predator.

For the rest of the article, a wolf can kill 35 a year, but that's misleading because they don't just kill elk.Moose, deer, rodents and carrion make up much of their diet here.

Cow calf ratios seem to be much better overall now that trapping and hunting have taken place.

This seems to add to the hysteria surrounding the wolf these days.

Most sportsman across the county seem to think wolves are growing out of control across the board, and there's not management at all.

Poorly written, and adds to the problem.

 

[Nameless Range]

“Every time we tried cow calling or bugling, we called in wolves. We saw quite a few elk carcasses, and we heard wolves howling around us every night,” recalls Johnson, a Farmville, Virginia, dentist. “We never saw an elk.”

I wish I could have such luck hunting wolves. Over the past two years I've got about ten days in strictly for wolves. No luck yet.

He and his friends moved to a different part of Montana and had a few good years before the wolves eventually caught up to them again. The elk disappeared, so last fall Johnson and his friends booked a hunt with a New Mexico outfitter, a move they plan to make permanent.

Poof. They Disappeared.

“I’m not going back to Montana,” he says.

I feel for those who travel thousands of miles to come hunt in Montana. If I had only one hunting excursion a year and the hunting became more difficult, I'd certainly lean towards whatever increased my probability of success. Such trips would be really expensive and time consuming.

That said, like any hunter any where and someone who hunts where they live, I am interested in Blaze-Orange herd reduction(but only in my hunting spots), and I like these articles portraying Montana's wolves as a cancerous growth on all the big ungulates. They sort of serve the purpose of counterbalancing the affect of Eastman's MRS.

"Nothing to see here guys. Nope. No Elk at all......"

 

[jryoung]

That number is where they are suppose to be according to our EMP. It's not going up even if you kill off every predator.
.

Shoots, is there specific discussion about the Northern Herd and the surrounding units in the EMP?

Would seem to me that piece of info, coupled with the brucellosis and fencing issues would carry some heavy weight if communicated more.

 

[Ben Lamb]

And outfitters wonder why client numbers are down.

 

[MHMT]

Rabble, Rabble, Rabble! Haha, I love the people that get interviewed, but he is right, there are no elk left at all in the southern Gallatin! The wolves are surviving by eating hikers, bikers and hunters! I am joining that guy and going to New Mexico!

 

[shoots-straight]

Shoots, is there specific discussion about the Northern Herd and the surrounding units in the EMP?

Would seem to me that piece of info, coupled with the brucellosis and fencing issues would carry some heavy weight if communicated more.

Part of the problem is they are all grouped together and managed sometimes that way. I think the emphasis is on reducing the herds that are over more so than building up the ones that are under. The EMP calls for a lot of country to be included in the Gallatin, and Northern Yellowstone elk herds.

The objective total, (I could be off a little) for the Gallatin is 18,500 head, the counts today are at 16,963 (2013) total, which is inside the 20% that puts the area AT objective.

Some units are under, some way under, and a very few way over.

I think there could be some harboring going on in the way over areas, and those elk could be left out of the counts. Some of those are most likely in the Brucellosis zones, and as such will be in trouble.

The Norther Yellowstone herd, which is part of the total EMP zone is at 3000 of 4000 so it's below objective by 200. That's the + or - of 20% they use to determine that.

The next area to get over harvested by hunters will be the Rocky MT Front. Those elk are mostly over objective buy really susceptible to harvest.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Well darn. As Top Gun 30-06 would say - better go back to the drawing board.

 

[jryoung]

The Norther Yellowstone heard, which is part of the total EMP zone is at 3000 of 4000 so it's below objective by 200. That's the + or - of 20% they use to determine that.

I think someone needs to make a slide, picture, handout etc. that notes this specifically. Everytime I hear that the heard went from 20k-3k I want to cringe.

What better cover could anti-wildlife advocates ask for though.

 

[mtmuley]

Guess I wasn't the only one that noticed the article in a bad light. Thginking about canceling and subscribing to Western/Elk hunter. mtmuley

 

[drahthaar]

I love how guys say, I'm not going back to Montana. I guess they haven't looked at just this website alone and the freaking load of giant bulls, medium bulls, and small bulls, and cows that have been posted on this site from MT.

 

[mtmuley]

It's easy to blame an unpunched elk tag on wolves. Elk hunting is tough sometimes, tougher with wolves around in some places. Gotta laugh at the "wolves ate em all" crap. But, since I manage to kill an elk in a wolf "infested" area, on some sites, I'm a wolf lover. So be it, I love to kill elk too. mtmuley