Wolf hunting

[Rotorpaul]

     Just take a look around when you see a wolf. If there's no other people in sight ... take care of the problem. Drive on.

[idahopilgrim]

The Canadian Grey Wolf has devastated our Big Game Herds here in Idaho and all thru the other two western states that was also included in the reintroduction of this Wildlife Terrorists. The Moose have almost been completely eliminated and the Elk population is not far behind. We need to quit protecting the Wolf and start protecting our Big Game Herds before that are completely gone. See how these terrorists eat their prey alive!   Copy and paste.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wi0J3CFqiXo" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Wi0J3CFqiXo</a>

Idahopilgrim

[idahopilgrim]

 Try this link: 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wi0J3CFqiXo" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Wi0J3CFqiXo</a>

[ELK_HUN10]

Here we go again, maybe we will get a hunting season now.  Wolves are smart, as soon as they realize that they are being hunted, they will move away from the rural areas and back into the primitive areas where they should be.
Following is the most recent news in this saga:

Associated Press

 Otter says wolf delisting is good for Idaho BOISE -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he is upholding a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and the Great Lakes from the federal endangered list.

Salazar said Friday wolves would remain a protected species in Wyoming because its law and management plans are not strong enough.

He says the Endangered Species Act successfully had kept the wolf from going extinct in the two regions.

Gov. Otter says the Interior Secretary's decision to uphold the removal of gray wolves from the Endangered Species list will benefit Idaho.

Otter told reporters Friday that allowing the state to manage wolves will be a boon to the $35 million hunting and fishing industry.

Ken Salazar's decision gives Idaho and other states the responsibility for managing wolves under plans already approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There are an estimated 850 wolves in Idaho.

Wolves in Montana and Idaho had been removed from the list in January. President Barack Obama stalled the change after his inauguration in order to review all executive orders made before he took office.

Otter said he still wants the first available wolf hunting tag.

[ELK_HUN10]

Idaho is finally going to get a wolf season.  It is too late for many of the elk in Idaho.  Last year they had an unlimited muzzle loader draw in one elk unit (Sawtooth), this year they only had 50 permits.  Hopefully with some wolf control, the elk can re-establish.  I hope it is not too late.  Following is the recent press release on the establishment of a wolf season in Idaho:

Idaho Fish & Game Commission sets wolf hunt limits
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission, Monday, August 17, set harvest limits for Idaho's first public wolf hunting season this fall.
Fish and Game models indicate Idaho now has at least 1,000 wolves. The population increases at a rate of about 20 percent a year, without hunting.
The commissioners adopted a strategy that would help meet the state's wolf population objective, as outlined in the 2008 Idaho Wolf Population Management Plan.
Hunters will be allowed to take up to 220 wolves this fall and winter. Wolf tags go on sale at 10 a.m. August 24, at all license vendors. A resident tag costs $11.75, and a nonresident tag costs $186.
One of the commission's top considerations is retaining state management of Idaho's growing wolf population. Idaho has an approved wolf management plan, developed with public involvement. The plan was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and found acceptable by a federal judge.
The commissioners' decision is consistent with the population goals set out in the plan.
In 1995 and 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service introduced 35 wolves to central Idaho. Since then they have increased in numbers and expanded their distribution.
Fish and Game has a responsibility to manage those wolves in balance with their prey and their habitat - just as the agency manages other fish and wildlife species. As with other species, hunting seasons on wolves would be part of managing the population.
A wolf hunting season gives Idaho Fish and Game an opportunity to learn how public hunting fits into managing wolves. As Fish and Game learns how effective regulated hunting is, seasons can be adjusted in areas where wolves are causing unacceptable problems for big game herds or domestic livestock.
Wolf managers will use the harvest limits the same way already used effectively with other species that Fish and Game manages. When limits are reached, the season ends.
The commissioners set harvest limits for each of the state's 12 wolf management zones. When the limit is reached in a zone, the season would close in that zone.
Commissioners want to manage the wolf population toward the 2005 level of 520 wolves through regulated hunting (five-times higher than the federal recovery goal). The 2005 wolf population figure was used as a target number because wolf conflicts both with wildlife and livestock increased significantly that year.

Wolves in Idaho and Montana were removed from the endangered species list in May and have been managed under state law since then. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's rule delisting wolves, however, faces challenges in federal court. The outcome of those challenges could affect Idaho wolf hunting season.


 

[ELK_HUN10]

Idaho has an open season of wolves for hunting.  This meathod has not controlled the wolves enough.  Since September of last year, they have taken 161 wolves.  This is less a percentage of the population than the birth rate.  The size of the wolf packs have remained about the same.  One of the main problems is that the good wolf hunters have to quit hunting when they take a wolf, as the limit is one per year.  This works in the wolf's favor.  

The following is a recent news release by the Idaho Fish & Game concerning wolves:
 Idaho Fish and Game completes Lolo zone elk survey.

Recently completed aerial surveys show a marked decline in elk numbers in game management units 10 and 12, which comprise the Lolo Elk Management Zone.

Survey results indicate the elk population in the Lolo Zone has declined from 5,110 to 2,178, a 57-percent reduction since 2006. The greatest declines were observed in numbers of elk cows, calves and spike bulls. Overall, bull numbers were down zone-wide, with a shift in bulls to older animals.

"This survey, combined with ongoing research showing wolves are the primary cause of elk mortality today, is further scientific evidence of the impact wolves are having," Fish and Game Director Cal Groen said. "The rate of this decline in just four short years should help people understand there is an urgency to manage for a balance in this area."

Appropriate management options in response to this latest survey data are being explored.

Wolf predation is the major source of mortality on this elk herd and is affecting population size because too few calves are surviving to replace the adults that die each year. Predation is preventing recovery from a decline that began in the late 1980s and a steep decline following the severe winter of 1996-97.

This survey information corroborates ongoing research being conducted in the Lolo Zone that shows survival of radio-collared adult elk and six-month-old calves has been poor. Modeling efforts based on research survival data estimate declines of 11 to 15 percent annually.

I still think they should transpant the wolves back east to help control the coyotes.

[ELK_HUN10]

Count all of the elk.
Count all of the elk.

See how they run.
See how they run.

See how they die.
See how they die.

In some of the areas of Idaho the wolves have killed over one half the elk population.  When the wolves have killed all of the elk they will go after smaller game that is between one hundred and three hundred pounds.

Count all of the people.
Count all of the people.

See how they run.
See how they run.

See how they die.


HELENA, Mont. — A federal judge on Thursday reinstated Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho, saying the government made a political decision in removing the protections from just two of the three states where Rocky Mountain wolves roam.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said in his ruling that the entire Rocky Mountain wolf population either must be listed as an endangered species or removed from the list, but the protections for the same population can't be different for each state.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service turned over wolf management to Montana and Idaho wildlife officials but left federal endangered species protections in place for wolves in Wyoming, where state law is considered hostile to the animals' survival.

"Even if the Service's solution is pragmatic, or even practical, it is at its heart a political solution that does not comply with the ESA," Molloy wrote in his ruling.

Defenders of Wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and other wildlife advocates sued the federal government after the Fish and Wildlife Service decision in April 2009. They argued that the government's decision would have set a precedent allowing the government to arbitrarily choose which animals should be protected and where.

The decision puts a halt to wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho planned for this fall. Montana wildlife regulators last month set the wolf-hunt quota at 186, more than doubling last year's number, with the aim of reducing the state's wolf population.

Gray wolves were listed as endangered in 1974, but following a reintroduction program in the mid-1990s, there are now more than 1,700 in the Northern Rockies.

Doug Honnold, an attorney for EarthJustice representing the plaintiffs, said he was gratified by the ruling, though he is sure there will be another chapter to the story.

"For today, we are celebrating that the approach we thought was flatly illegal has been rejected. The troubling consequences for the Endangered Species Act has been averted and the wolf hunts are blocked," Honnold said.

Count all of the elk.
Count all of the elk.

See how they run.
See how they run.

See how they die.
See how they die.

In some of the areas of Idaho the wolves have killed over one half the elk population.  When the wolves have killed all of the elk they will go after smaller game that is between one hundred and three hundred pounds.

Count all of the people.
Count all of the people.

See how they run.
See how they run.

See how they die.