Wolves on a Local Lake

[DrMike]

I thought I'd share this with you all. This picture was taken on Stewart Lake early this spring. This is quite a pack. Armed with a camera, the one taking the picture was ill prepared to secure a couple of pelts. This is not a sight you see very often.

 

[wayno945]

Looks like trouble!

 

[Thankful Otter]

This is a large pack Dr. Mike. We have seen larger packs in the early spring, but this pack will become two packs and possibly even three in another month, depending on the month this picture was taken. We see packs this large with the Arctic wolf more often. The pack in the picture will take down one moose every 5 to 7 days. Nice picture, as you know we do hunt them, but unlike most on this particular forum, we also enjoy seeing, hearing, and co existing with them.

 

[Vince]

In Alaska there is the ability to co exist with wolves.
In the lower 48, not so much. You have the space and quantity of game, unspoiled acres, and least amount of human intrusion to contend with, when compared to the lower 48. You're right, I'm not accepting of co existing with wolves but I'm in the lower 48. My reasoning is based on a couple of things, faulty science, government intrusion/mandate, and love of other species. If the lower 48 was as unpopulated as Alaska, had less roads and barriers to game travel, and less agricultuaral production I would probably feel as you do.
I have always said that I support wolves in Alaska as that is a fitting place for them. The lower 48, not so much.

 

[truck driver]

Love the pics Dr Mike.
We have a problem with Coyotes taking family pets and attacking small children in thier back yards in some western states. I can't imagine having a wolf population in Urban areas.
I love all animals but they have thier place and a wolf belongs in the vast wilderness areas.

 

[DrMike]

Cheyenne,

Good to see you checking in. We do hunt wolves. I can't say I hate them. I'd feel impoverished living in country this big and not hearing them and seeing them from time-t0-time. The only people I've every heard complain about them are farmers in the farming areas. Move a bit farther into the mountains or northward, and the complaints are less frequent and less heated. This was a large pack. My greatest regret is not being there to actually see them. It is, however, quite a neat picture. We don't often witness this grouping in this area as there is enough space that they aren't seen that often.

 

[BeeTee]

....but unlike most on this particular forum, we also enjoy seeing, hearing, and co existing with them.

Here in the lower 48, wolves didn't exist in any real number for more than a century. Except near the national parks here in Montana (with the grizz), game was managed largely without apex predators. A rich culture developed around hunting, wildlife, ranching and the outdoors - without wolves. Organizations formed to preserve and ensure a future for all wildlife, by acquiring wintering grounds and the conservation of natural habitat for the betterment of all. No group contributed more to the preservation of all wildlife than sports men and women.

Then, the environmentalists dropped hundreds of large and aggressive Canadian wolves into our backyards - an invasive wolf species that was never indigenous to the lower 48. They are now decimating the game herds, killing livestock and upending a way of life.

I don't hate the wolves. If I lived in AK or BC or AB, I would want the native wolves to remain. If I grew up around them, I too would enjoy seeing, hearing, and co existing with them. I blame the environmentalists, who without the democratic process, are robbing Montanans of their culture. BT

 

[DeerTracker]

In no way am I trying to spoil this and I apologize but I do not believe that picture was taken this spring. Back when montana was fighting for a wolf season a few years ago this picture was circulating on Facebook and other sights. Either way, I would not be taking pictures of this pack, I'd be shooting!

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forum ... n/2490079/

https://www.google.com/search?q=25+wolv ... 8&bih=928#

 

[DrMike]

You may be correct, DT. I am going on a report from a fellow who insists that it was taken in this area. Regardless, it is pretty impressive.

 

[DeerTracker]

For sure! I was in no way calling you a liar or anything. Just reporting what I had seen in the past. 25 wolves will account for alot of dead partially/half/not eaten game animals that would otherwise fill alot of people's freezers!

 

[Elkman]

I thought the same thing Mike, I saw it elsewhere a few months back. No biggie this happens on the net all of the time.

 

[FOTIS]

There go the elk!

 

[DrMike]

I thought the same thing Mike, I saw it elsewhere a few months back. No biggie this happens on the net all of the time.

It is the wild west out there, with an emphasis on "wild."

 

[sask boy]

I agree with Mike regarding wolves. In our northern forest area we leave them pretty much alone but when they come onto the farm land they are real dangerous especially to the cattle ranchers. Wolves see livestock as dumb & shorter Moose :shock:
On the farmland I would not think twice about letting the air out of them.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[yellow dog]

we have them in Washington and Oregon now. they are protected here as well. but you cant tow a boat in either state with out being stopped every 50 miles for an INVASIVE SPECIES check.

plus you are forced to purchase a permit to use your boat that is called an invasive species permit.

but Canadian wolves who have no known historical range in our area, and where Introduced by man are protected. by this logic wouldn't be illegal to kill a Canadian thistle?

cool picture.

 

[Enough Gun]

I agree with Vince, BeeTee and yellow dog, they have no place in the lower 48 and the sooner they are gone the better.

Yukon Huntress, who by virtue of her log on name is female and probably has a stuffed wolf, she calls wolf y. I wonder if she would be so enthralled with them if she ever encountered them in the wild

 

[DrMike]

Yukon Huntress has likely shot more wolves than most posting on this forum have ever seen. She is quite an accomplished hunter, quite capable of taking care of herself in the wilds of the far north.

 

[pre6422hornet]

Yukon Huntress has likely shot more wolves than most posting on this forum have ever seen. She is quite an accomplished hunter, quite capable of taking care of herself in the wilds of the far north.

Well said Dr. I will even say she has probably seen, hunted, and encountered more wildlife than most of us ever will.

And I personally think that wolves are healthy for the wildlife. But they need to be kept in check like any other predator. I hunted in the UP of Michigan from 2005-2010 as a member of my Father in laws camp. They have been hunting this patch ( if you call a couple hundred thousand acres a patch) of woods since 1982. During those 5 years they all complained about not seeing any deer, and that the wolves were to blame. I say "BS" to that. I hunted hard every day and tracked deer all over those woods. I hardly ever went a day without seeing a deer, and more times than not I saw double digit sightings. I heard wolves almost every night while walking a couple miles back to the truck, but never saw a track or hair of one.

My educated guess on why they didn't see any deer? Maybe it was the mounds of corn and sugar beets they hunted over..... Deer aren't stupid. Back in the 80's when these guys were in there 30's they shot deer every year and nice bucks at that. When they stared hunting out of blinds and over bait, the bucks started getting smaller and smaller, then the deer sightings less and less. I think there might be a correlation there.

 

[alaska100]

Pat, I am probably in about the same place as you are in regards to the Wolf. I certainly do sympathize with the fellows who have seen lower amounts of game in their area, as well as the ranchers who have lost cattle.

When we lived in Texas a lot of people disliked the cougars, and we had many of them there, with no bag limit and they could be hunted year round. Now we are in Alaska and the wolf is part of the landscape and there is a very generous bag limit on hunting them. Like Mike and Sask boy said, the complaints we heard in both states depended on where we heard them. In the cities, nobody liked the cougar or the wolf. In the country, especially the vast area of West Texas and Alaska, the cougar and wolf are accepted and I dare say even enjoyed.

Pat, Dr. Mike, you gentlemen are spot on in regards to Cheyenne. Her job lets her stay in the wild for weeks and months at a time. I have a teenage daughter who is hoping for a job that will let her do the same thing when she graduates from college.

 

[c. schutte]

Cheyenne,

There is one in every crowd.............. :>)