Would you find another place to hunt if wolves moved in?

[SwampFox]

Sorry but I was just reading some other posts and have to coment again.  If the deer moved out of the area every time wolves moved in then wouldnt the wolves starve to death?  Seriously, I'm amazed at how misinformed some people are.  If the wolves are staying in the area then they are obviously finding plenty to eat.  If the deer left then so would the wolves, then, with the wolves gone, the deer would come back.  Some people just rely to much on childish little red riding hood stories.

[SwampFox]

And as far as "endangering your family", there has never been a recorded case of a healthy wild wolf attacking a human.  It just doesnt happen.

[hookset6969]

SWAMPFOX, How many wolf do you have running around Florida? I hate to tell you but unless you have spent some time in the woods with the wolf you have no idea what your saying. We have coyotes running the streets of Chicago, Why because they are looking for food. If your local store runs out of something you go somewhere else to get it until it returns back to the local store right [8|]. You know if you guys all believe in the system taking care of itself then how in the hell are you defending the wolf because they were brought back by people not the enviornment? Another thing to consider is the dinasour once lived here too why not bring them back also. The bottom line is that people for the most part are not pissed that the wolf is here, They are made because the wolf was put back in these areas artificially and with no regards to how they were going to live. Your right they were here at one time but so weren't the other animals to support their existance such as the Bison, Moose, Elk, And many other small game animals that are not all that plentiful anymore. Before the GOV lets some more go or decides to replenish the lion population they must also take into consideration where they are turning these animals loose because the human population is not going down. These animals are not only leaving in search of food but a place to live also, So unless we start a population control on ourselfs there may not be room for some of these animals. We are already seeing this with the deer in metro areas. But I think it would be safe to say that most people would rather have a deer running around their neighborhood than a hungry wolf [8|] But listen if it's ever legal to hunt them I'll send them all to you.

[msbadger]

I found the pic of that big wolf on the web..shot by a Jim Johnson..

Ok I can't get the pic to copy sooo...if you type ina "Jeff Grimolfson" ...you can view the pic off google

[bowman12]

Wow swampfox, you make it sound like you know so much about the subject but in reality if you haven't spent anytime with them in your woods, watching them and listening to them you're the one acting childishly, like most beurocrats do while protecting them completely. They have little idea about the wolf but are making all the regulations regarding them, it's just mindblowing.

As far as them killing all the deer in an area and not having any food to hunt, guess what, they move to another area. They'll never kill all the deer in an area, but they are very hard on the population and can make the deer left very hard to hunt and also hard to harvest some when they've already harvested so many. Just about every year in early fall they move into our area, a pack of about 8-10, I've heard them howl together several times, seen several of them, and after they've hunted our area for about a month they move to another area. It's really wild listening to them after they've made a kill, very eery sounding.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not for exterminating them. I do think they have a right to be around but they are going unchecked and their population is exploding. The reality of the subject is were competing for the same animal, we're competitors, and if man is managing the deer population as our Department of Natural Resources is doing, we should be able to manage the wolf population too. The MN DNR is for management of the wolf, but it's federally protected so they can't. When they got off the endangered species list the DNR was getting set to issue some tags, but that was shortlived as they got put back on as soon as they came off. 

The photos I got are through email so you can't always be sure on the source, whether the area is true or not it's still amazing. The first one was shot in Alberta, Canada, it's funny because ten miles north of us in Canada they've been hunting them for years, but here in the states they're an endangered species, JUST GOOFY! The second is of a pack in Gros Ventre, WY, 22 total. They're very efficient killers and DON'T only take the weak and the young.

[SHKYBoonie]

Ok, first let me say I have never hunted in an area where wolves are present. With that said, we manage the predator population on our land just as we do the deer. Maybe not to the extent of planting food for them but we do put our deer remains in places that the coyotes and bobcats are known to live. We also kill a number of them per year. I know that these predators probably don't hold a candle to the wolf as far as deer are concerned, but a large pack of coyotes can and will hunt deer. I have seen it with my own eyes. I think the wolves need to be managed just like anything else. If they are allowed to surpass the holding capacity of the land they live on, it's not only bad for them, it's bad for everything that shares that area with them.
 
We had a pack of coyotes living in one section of my land. This pack had built to about 8 grown dogs. I have had them trail me to stand sites before. The deer would NOT go into the area that the coyotes were known to live. When we cooked in camp, they would come into camp after we we in bed and drag the garbage out. They were getting brave! Last year we killed a few of them from that pack. They have receded back to their normal ways and if they see us coming they are in high gear.[:)] Before they would just stand and watch us. Before we took a few of them out we had noticed a change in the way deer where moving through areas of the farm. I am anxious to see if the deer go back to their normal routes now that the coyotes are back to normal numbers.
 
After seeing a coyote family group make such an impact on the wildlife in an area, I can't even imagine what a strong pack of wolves would do.

[NortWoods]

bowman, I completley agree with all of your points.  I also hunt in northern MN and have seen first hand the effect wolves have on the deer population.  Like you, I am not in favor of exterminating every wolf, but there needs to be way of keeping their population in check.