YIPPEE! GUESS WHAT HARKIN BANKS & HARKIN BANKS JR. GOT TODAY!

Got these today!


 

License to kill wolves?  Is that anything like a license to kill gophers?

If somebody gets a license for BEARS, I'm OUTA HERE!!!!!

Gonna use Jr for bait?

Surprised there is a big enough population of Grays over there for a hunting season.  Are they given out by unit? 

No drawing necessary for bear license in ID.  So a gathering in ID is probably not in the foreseeable future. 

There isn't. Idaho fears the wolves. It's better to be overrun by deer than accept the company of a competing predator. Killing at the levels they intend will fracture  their group and  family integrity and doom them back into extinction which is their intentions
It's being used to create income for a poorly administrated state.

Of course I put this up here to illicit comments.

Some background....

To be taken off the Endangered Species Act (list), and have the State of Idaho manage them, Idaho had to have a population of around 518 wolves.  This summer, there are approximately 1020 wolves in Idaho, and they have increased their numbers by 20% each year for the past 5 years.  This year, the Idaho Department of Fish & Game has set a quota of 220 wolves to be taken, with more delineated quotas in several "tag zones".  Tags are $11.50 for residents and $187.50 for non-residents.  They are available over the counter to anyone who has a current Idaho hunting license.  Idaho's wolf management plan (approved by the Federal government) has in it that the wolves will be managed to protect undulates (elk, moose, deer).

Idaho offered to "give" wolves away to any state that would take them.  Not one state accepted the offer.

Montana's tags go on sale soon (next week, I think).

Wyoming's still got a ways to go on their plan to get it approved for hunting.  They want to list the wolves as "varmints", the same as coyotes, but the Federal government says "no", that's too relaxed.

Want to see what wolves do to a sheep or cattle herd?  Google it.  They kill for pleasure.

HB Jr. and I Saw 4 wolves last year during elk hunting.  The elk in that area were long gone.  We also saw wolves each of the 2 elk seasons before that.  (Sorry Spikedog, no baiting allowed.)

Carry On.....

The wolves were here long before man started displacing them from their natural habitat.


So does man. See OP.

I can see where this thread is heading.  Lighten up.

Good luck, Harkin.  Should be a challenging hunt.

He did ask for comments.

I'm not anti-hunting. I appreciate when friends give me some elk.

Species need culling sometimes. What I don't like is the 'good for the species' argument as a reason for protecting a private, commercial enterprise from a natural preditor.

MR

I recommend dynamite

 = recipe for disaster

Yes I did ask for comments.  Just sitting back and reading.

No one's going to offend me.  I've been offended by the best of them.

The Idaho Department of Fish & Game thinks that no where near 220 wolves will be taken.

Most, like me, will take a wolf if given the opportunity while we are out elk/deer hunting.  I don't envision going out specifically wolf hunting, just like mountain lion hunting.  I carry a tag for that also.  If the opportunity arises, I'll shoot.

I'm not going to fight on this. I'm not a hunter, I'm not a rancher and I'm not a wildlife expert.

Good luck and enjoy your hunting season.

What attracted me to the thread in the first place was you handle!

MastersRacer,

If you're up this way, I'll have elk steaks on the BarBee for you....

HB:
I ask this question out of ignorance and because like MR above am not a hunter, etc.  Do wolves have natural predators?  What kept them in check in the eco-system prior to man's destruction of them?  I realize that natural balance is long gone and hunting is necessary to keep certain populations in check but this thread just brought that question to mind.  If they have no natural predators what kept them from decimating deer and elk herds in the old days?

I am on vacation in central Oregon right now and just too lazy to try and figure it out for myself.

I'll put that in the memory banks. My sister and her man live north of Driggs, so I may be able to at least say hi on my way to GT.

MR

Gonna hunt with Sarah Palin, eh? 

Anybody got a youtube link to "Huntin' N Killin" from South Park?

"Look out, it's coming right at us!!!"

 

Cougars will kill wolves, but their main balancing factor is starvation.

Was a hunter for a long time, and shot a  couple of wolves (legally from an airplane I'm old) in AK way back.  Wolf hunting period, was outlawed in the early 70s'. 

The Tanana Valley had one of the largest moose populations in the state, amazing country for them.  Within a very few years of the federal ban the on wolf hunting there was nearly a 0 moose calf population.  My friends in Fish and Game claimed the increased number of wolves were getting the calves at birthing.  It took years for any kind of balance to be struck; a lot of starving wolves and calf-less moose cows.  Just not a pretty picture all the way around.  Seeing any species starve is not good.

There is a very real need to have a controlled wolf population.  We have changed natures playing field, stewardship is required.

Had a gorgeous wolf rug on the den floor for years till the Golden Retriever pup ate the nose Children!

Who's culling the herds of deer as we kill their natural predators ? The hunters don't and can't often  hunt where a wolf,coyote or cougar can so it must be our cars that do this job. 

I have never understood the need to feel the pleasure of ending the life of another animal not for sustenance but blood lust. I see hunting as a worthy venture when necessary or useful. Killing an endangered species after reintroduction  speaks of the usual selfishness projected by Republican administrations. Bush removed their protections after pleadings by republican administrators in the west. Since most of these wolves choose to live in Idaho there must be an abundance of game and this speaks for their poor game management efforts. Wolves would actually be helpful in managing the overpopulations of deer

It's all about the dollars they can charge .

Harkin,

How has your season been?

A friend asked me to go hunting with him back in September. He used to live in CO until last year. He has 21 elk in 23 years most, if not all by bow. Unfortunately three years ago on Christmas Day he woke up in an ambulance on his way to Denver after a skiing accident. He has lost the use of his left arm and still has a little trouble walking. Within a year of his accident he had learned to shoot again and was competitive with able bodied archers. He missed hunting season the year after his accident, got an elk last year and wasn't able to get one on his limited trip this season.


Greg's camp; he was able to monitor a wide range from a height of land just up the road.


In the field

He now lives in NY and hunts both archery and rifle seasons and keeps his freezer full. He is alpine skiing a bit, shoe shoeing a lot and doing some XC, too.

Best of luck,

MR

 I don't understand killing for fun.  Never have.

Neither do I, but I like to eat game, so what can I say?

The OP seems pretty happy about getting a tag to kill a wolf.  I doubt that he'll be eating one if he kills it.  I understand the concept of keeping the predators in check, I don't understand making a big deal and bragging about it.

Montana rushed to have a wolf hunt, also.  The Democrats are supporting the hunt since being seen as anti-hunting is a guarenteed way to not get re-elected no matter what your record is or your stances are on other issues.  In both states the wolves are turning out to be an elusive prey with few kills being reported.

Personally, I think its too early to determine what is a sustainable population but the numbers their talking about for getting delisted sound too low to me for maintaining a rich genetic mix.  I also think its too early to determine how many wolves are necessary to get the fauna and flora in our mountains, forests and rangelands back in balance.  The return of the wolf to Yellowstone has brought back thriving populations of beavers, foxes and several willow species that had disappeared since the wolves were removed.  We need to make sure we have enough wolves to get other ecosystems back to a healthy balance.

If we get really, really lucky, he'll do a Dick Cheney, but not miss.

October 15th update....

Me and HB Jr. with my ~325 bull.

6x7

42" wide, 49" long main beams.

Already had elk steak wrapped in bacon cooked over the BBQ.

HB Jr.'s elk hunt starts 10/25.

No wolves seen yet, but we're still looking.

Nice work HB.  I have been learning about hunting since I moved west. They close the schools here for the start of deer season. Its like a local holiday. Seems like a cool sport. And ungulates are certainly tasty.

Don't know how 1000 wolf is too many in a state the size of ID or WY.