A real wolf article

[Sierra Hunter]

An honest take on the impact of wolves in CA. Makes you really feel for these ranchers.

https://archive.ph/2025.04.21-180514/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-21/california-wolves-eating-cattle-can-ranchers-shoot-them

 

[atmat]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[RockAndSage]

I hope Jack Dolan is independently wealthy, because the level of honesty and reality he conveyed in his article is going to get him fired and cancelled. Very refreshing to see this side of the story covered. Good share.

 

[displacedtexan]

"one of the state's last cowboys"?

Well that's nonsense, not journalism.

 

[gbflyer]

Rather see a wolf than a cow on public land any day of the week.

#fockbeef

Can’t disagree with that. Unfortunately wolves don’t respect signs and fences.

 

[OMF]

Rather see a wolf in downtown LA than a (fill in the blank).

 

[Beendare]

It's mind boggling that with the info available to the CA DFG they released these wolves anyway.

Then the typical wolf hugger response; You can use non lethal means to deter them like driving a 4 wheeler at them or shooting into the air. My god, what a bunch of idiots.

 

[atmat]

or shooting into the air.

This is the part that got me. Who thought that was a good idea?

 

[butcherboy]

I would rather see beef than wolves. The only problem I have with beef is the overgrazing. I’ve called in plenty of elk right in the middle of a herd of beef.

 

[atmat]

I would rather see beef than wolves. The only problem I have with beef is the overgrazing. I’ve called in plenty of elk right in the middle of a herd of beef.

I wish we had neither.

 

[butcherboy]

I wish we had neither.

I’m glad we have beef considering that’s how I make my living.

 

[Jimmy]

I don't mind the cattle where I hunt. They do a good job of not overgrazing.

 

[atmat]

I’m glad we have beef considering that’s how I make my living.

I just meant grazing on my public land. It doesn’t drive me nuts, but I’d prefer not.

 

[Mish-pop]

I have nothing wrong with cattle either as wildlife move in and around them. Just need fewer in areas or moved more frequently to share the land with the wildlife

 

[RockAndSage]

For you guys wanting to see wolves on public lands, keep in mind the key thing you have to watch out for: That it is a trojan horse to ban hunting.

Follow the bouncing ball here:

1) The underlying ideology and root, implicit assumption of the left in general is this: "The only good land is 'intact' ecosystems that are untouched by human hands". If this state doesn't exist, they see the state of the land and ecology as wrong and molested.

2) The natural extension of this is that it is critical for them, as good people, to "restore" it to an "intact" state.

3) Re-introduction of wolves and other apex predators is part of making that ecosystem "intact" again. Watch out for this key-word, especially in scientific papers. "Intact", like "re-wilding", is dog-whistle code for banning hunting and all human activity not on-foot.

4) Re-introduction of wolves (and banning mountain lion hunting) dramatically reduces big-game populations available for human hunting. The mandate of state wildlife biologists is NOT protecting game for human hunting - it is maintaining "healthy herds". The more "natural predation", the less human hunting opportunity. It is that simple, and it is categorically unavoidable in every way on public lands.

5) By the very laws of nature, the predator-prey cycle over years means predators will reach population points that exceed the carrying capacity of the land of their prey species, resulting in over-predation, then starvation, sickness, and death of those predators, after which prey populations rebound, and the cycle continues. But once that tipping point is hit, human hunting of those game animals WILL be halted. It will start with pauses for a season or two on hunting game animals in specific zones "to maintain the health of the herds". Re-introduction of apex predators and bans on hunting them "naturally" sets a precedent of reducing human hunting opportunity, leading to complete halts in it.

6) Once "natural predation" hits hard enough, do you really think the "public" will want a bunch of hunters out killing wolves and mountain lions that are just doing what is natural? Do you think that the "public" will want humans killing off wolves so we can selfishly hunt deer and elk for ourselves?

7) What happens when "the long march through the institutions" (google it) leads to state game agencies being taken over by people whose ideology is anti-hunting general? Will there be any support by these "neutral experts" in these agencies for the "public" to hunt? Idaho and Wyoming's game agencies may still be populated by people who value hunting, but can the same be said by those in charge of California's, Oregon's, Washington's, or even Colorado's?

This is exactly where bans on hunting apex predators and re-introduction of them leads. It's literally a force of nature pushing out human opportunity, magnified by anti-hunting ideology.

 

[NCTrees]

I wish we had neither.

What it seems like it’s being missed here, and recognizing the article doesn’t do a great job of pointing this out, is that a significant portion of these kills are occurring on private property. This, in my humble opinion, is an uncompensated taking of private property. I’m not going to advocate for going back to the days of poisoning wolves, but treating them as any other public trust resource with strategic hunting to keep them at reasonable populations, and to provide a concrete disincentive against attacking cattle and people’s livelihoods, seems reasonable to me. Unfortunately, that’ll never happen in California, heavy urban populations and ballot box biology will ensure this problem worsens.

 

[Azone]

California could be a paradise if it was not ran by idiots and lunatics. I feel bad for the ranchers but unless they take matters into their own hands nothing will change. The fruit loops in charge don’t care one bit about some cows being killed by their precious fur babies that are back from the brink of extinction. That state is completely ****** any more. The tree huggers are probably secretly rejoicing that the wolves are eating the cattle.
Less cattle on the landscape and more reason to limit hunting opportunity. It’s a win, win for anti crowd.

 

[NCTrees]

For you guys wanting to see wolves on public lands, keep in mind the key thing you have to watch out for: That it is a trojan horse to ban hunting.

Follow the bouncing ball here:

1) The underlying ideology and root, implicit assumption of the left in general is this: "The only good land is 'intact' ecosystems that are untouched by human hands". If this state doesn't exist, they see the state of the land and ecology as wrong and molested.

Great points. We’re now seeing the outfall of deep ecology / environmental extremism metastasizing into agency action. Folks like Dave Foreman being viewed with esteem rather than what they are (were), sociopaths. And, this ideology that “nature” somehow exists in vacuum absent of humans is so idiotic in premise that’s it makes me further lose faith in our species. Hell there is still reasonable conjecture that Clovis populations caused mass extinctions. Unfortunately, I suspect that with heavy urban populations and ballot box biology California is perpetually screwed. All I can say is that if you still live in a state that respects the rule of law and a reasonable model of resource management, do what you can to get involved and protect your rights as a hunter. Digitization and urbanization aren’t helping anything anywhere.

 

[RockAndSage]

California could be a paradise if it was not ran by idiots and lunatics. I feel bad for the ranchers but unless they take matters into their own hands nothing will change. The fruit loops in charge don’t care one bit about some cows being killed by their precious fur babies that are back from the brink of extinction. That state is completely ****** any more. The tree huggers are probably secretly rejoicing that the wolves are eating the cattle.
Less cattle on the landscape and more reason to limit hunting opportunity. It’s a win, win for anti crowd.

My dad grew up over there - it was a hunter's paradise until the about the late 80s to early 1990s. First really big hit was the ban on mountain lion hunting. Over the course of about 8 years, he went from being drawn for X-zone tags about once every year to two years, to once every 4 or 5. And that was for X zones he knew well, but weren't the really popular ones.

 

[Azone]

My dad grew up over there - it was a hunter's paradise until the about the late 80s to early 1990s. First really big hit was the ban on mountain lion hunting. Over the course of about 8 years, he went from being drawn for X-zone tags about once every year to two years, to once every 4 or 5. And that was for X zones he knew well, but weren't the really popular ones.

Between the lions and the wolves I would only assume herds will be trending downwards in the X zones. I have California deer points I’m probably gonna burn this year but I’m more excited for other states than California if I’m being honest. Maybe the wolves will get a taste for wild horses instead over the next few years.