Colorado releases first 5 wolves

[Crowmangler]

It's a fair enough stance but what are they expected to do? If they took a stand and resigned I'm sure there's a line of applicants a mile long that would be happy to replace them and uncage some wolves on TV.

Unlike the police thing where a given officer could just choose to ignore the maskless kid, it's not like these CPW agents can just choose to look the other way and ignore the wolves. They're doing what the voters told them to do and it's unfortunately unavoidable.

What can they be expected to do? Well maybe just not participate? You can turn on the TV every day for the last 3+ years & see thousands of border patrol, DHS, customs agents, etc. who totally disregard their oath & the constitution by facilitating an invasion of illegal aliens. around 10 million of them to be exact.
These agents could give people access to their location & all kinds of stuff to sabotage this effort that everyone knows will be a huge mistake in the coming years.
Why is it that our side always has to follow the damn rules while the commies laugh at us for being a bunch of spineless pu**ies?

 

[GreyBeck]

When will all this “science” determine there are just too many people. Reintroducing apex predators to a region where wildlife is confined to smaller and smaller areas because of human expansion will result in decimation of the wildlife and more encounters with humans as wildlife flees predators and predators follow. We have altered the ecosystem to where the natural management and the balance of predator and prey will not work. Perhaps they put this plan together prior to 2020 with the expectation that COVID would have done a better job. The same can be said for the number of sharks now when fishing. Some days you can’t get a fish past the sharks - and wolves are much smarter.

 

[BowtechStew]

What amazes me is that voters " emotions" or " feelings" are allowed to get on a ballot regarding actions on wildlife management!
Any one of us who have enough sense, experience and research in our impact as conservationist hunters knows only science data evidence and logic belongs in wildlife management, not emotions and feeling by the non hunting/non contributing public opinion!

We all know the impact that predators( Coyotes, bears, cougars and wolves) have on fawns, lambs and calves not to mention on grown deer, elk, sheep etc. If predators aren't kept in check by hunting seasons balancing their numbers, the game animals decline much quicker than the general public has any idea of.

Now you also have ranchers who have livestock in the mix. How does a rancher justify not protecting his livestock from predatory animals? The amount of money those ranchers lose on each animal killed by predators is annual income loss to him! How do hunters not form a coalition and fight these tree hugging general public emotion/feelings voters who believe their opinions should justify rediculous wildlife practices?

I honestly don't have an answer for you hunters out on Colorado but you have my sincerest support here from the northeast. This is nonsensical to me at it's best! States are losing enough wild open land to development and urban encroachment so as a result, wildlife needs to relocate or adjust so as to have the free range they're used to. Now the feds want to add fuel to the fire by pacifying the "emotional voters" on the left who only know what social media places into their heads. Lord I wish folks would just use science, data, logic and experience as the sources for wildlife management and conservation!
Good luck to all you hunters out there in CO. Shoot straight and make it count!

 

[HuntGolf]

Crazy

 

[teamwhitebelly]

should of neutered and spayed them b4 release. best for all.

 

[wirehead]

One more.

Only 14 red wolves remain in SC wild, and US agency won't say what they're doing about it

The wild red wolf might be dying off. Federal endangered species managers are being sued in a fight to find out why.

www.postandcourier.com

This happened here.

Wildlife official outlines red wolf recovery program history | Coastal Review

Speaking Saturday at the Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival, Pete Benjamin with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said he was optimistic about the success of the long-controversial recovery effort.

coastalreview.org

“And they eat a lot of deer. They really like deer,” Benjamin said.

Red wolf conservation is the biggest sham job in the history of wildlife management... ok maybe 2nd to the "re" introduction of the timber wolf. It is beyond laughable.

 

[intunegp]

What can they be expected to do? Well maybe just not participate? You can turn on the TV every day for the last 3+ years & see thousands of border patrol, DHS, customs agents, etc. who totally disregard their oath & the constitution by facilitating an invasion of illegal aliens. around 10 million of them to be exact.
These agents could give people access to their location & all kinds of stuff to sabotage this effort that everyone knows will be a huge mistake in the coming years.
Why is it that our side always has to follow the damn rules while the commies laugh at us for being a bunch of spineless pu**ies?

Again, anyone who chose not to participate would be replaced with someone who would. Then CPW would be completely made up of those people. They could sabotage the effort, lose their jobs for it, and be replaced with more wolf supporters. Probably be indicted with federal charges and also implicate whoever they leaked the data to.

I don't understand how anyone thinks individual CPW agents were supposed to stop a ballot measure. Once the vote passed it was always going to happen and I don't blame people for not becoming criminals or losing their jobs over it whether they like it or not.

Since you're all about taking care of it vigilante style I hope you have some flights booked to come do your fair share...or do you just expect other people to take the risk?

 

[MaybelNellie]

I feel we have no one to blame but ourselves, which is sad. Not sad because we lost this one battle, just sad that we have to fight this war in the first place. As Randy Newberg says, we need to stop squabbling about minor hunt regs, archery crowding, season dates and the like and unite to protect the simple right to hunt. It is not a privilege as CPW defines. Next is the Mtn Lion/Bobcat ballot initiative. We MUST hit this head-on. I feel conservation to protect what we have, stewardship to grow our hunting base and all means necessary to preserve this right needs to our trifecta at every CPW, RMEF, RMBS, WSF, Bass Pro/Hornady/Midway corp board meeting/convention. We are never going to change the minds of the ultra liberal anti-hunting public. It's the middle ground people we can appease to and we can project our good intentions and image to. Anyone that says the wolf intro is anything but a attack on our way of life as hunters and ag producers is ignoring the facts. Talk to any experienced G&F officer or biologist in Wyo, Wisc, ID, MN, MI or MT where wolf populations have exploded and they will agree. And, we need to accept that there will never be a hunting season in this state decided on by some future commission because we will never have a republican governor again who will appoint the commissioners needed to enact this. Sorry to be so negative, but we need to move on from wolf battle and fight the war to protect our RIGHT to hunt. It starts with the Lion vote next November.

 

[MaybelNellie]

If we want to find two silver linings, I know from Wyo that the wolves will move some of the large herds off private ground from time to time and probably mix up the genetics to eventually grow a better age class of bulls. Flip side is the millions of dollars and man hours invested in moose restoration. They will be the first animal gone. Period. And, can't ignore the death spiral of the wolves eating the one thing that really funds CPW and that is elk tag sales to us residents as well as non-residents. If you think the res hunter desire to reduce non-resident hunt opportunity is going to happen now, you have another thing coming! We already commented that our herds are hurting from last winter. Anyway, Merry Christmas!

 

[Alder_]

Probably mix up the genetics to eventually grow a better age class of bulls? That's quite the thought.

Usually, age class of elk is dependent on recruitment of the previous age class (ie: can't shoot 80% of the 1-2-3 year old bulls and expect to have lots of 8-9 year old bulls years later), not due to genetics altering age class amongst the male component of the herd.

Generally, if elk are pushed off of private and onto public its not about genetics, it's about opportunity to the average hunter on public land that doesn't have to pay to play.

I'm not connecting the dots you are.

 

[MaybelNellie]

These two are points from a Wyoming paper I read some years ago. Do note that Wyoming had a surge in bull quality a few years after the wolves hit. Moving elk off private is also a positive point from Montana. Not sure of the science and obviously don't live there, just reporting what I read. Just trying to see some light in all this. Flipside is I also heard from outfitters outside Cody where I do have experience who believe while bull quality is up post-wolf, the herds have moved to entirely different areas/drainages and out of places where they have historically always been, There is no doubt predation moves elk herds around.

Don't get me wrong, it is my opinion wolves have no place in any western state without sound mgmt (in my mind aggressive mgmt...keep them in the park which was the original plan right?). And, not trying to be negative again, but I don't feel after seeing many of these wolf public mtgs that we will ever have any mgmt whatsoever on wolf numbers in Colo.

 

[mjh]

Didn't see that before posting because I figured conservation was a more appropriate place for this topic than general discussion so I only checked here. What's the Vegas line that it doesn't matter?

Delete the posting as it wasn't conservation minded. But really how much of this wolf release is really conservation minded. Wildlife management via ballot initiative voting doesn't look like sound science conservation to me. I have interests in Colorado and while I didn't watch the ballot process, for those folks in Colorado how much peer review science was put into the initiative process?

I live in a state with a healthy wolf population. I'd wager to argue that management decisions are not being made with sound science as a solid backing of choices being made.

 

[Customweld]

If we want to find two silver linings, I know from Wyo that the wolves will move some of the large herds off private ground from time to time and probably mix up the genetics to eventually grow a better age class of bulls. Flip side is the millions of dollars and man hours invested in moose restoration. They will be the first animal gone. Period. And, can't ignore the death spiral of the wolves eating the one thing that really funds CPW and that is elk tag sales to us residents as well as non-residents. If you think the res hunter desire to reduce non-resident hunt opportunity is going to happen now, you have another thing coming! We already commented that our herds are hurting from last winter. Anyway, Merry Christmas!

I hope you are right that the elk might be pushed off private ground. It was completely opposite in Idaho. Merry Christmas to you as well!

 

[intunegp]

Delete the posting as it wasn't conservation minded. But really how much of this wolf release is really conservation minded. Wildlife management via ballot initiative voting doesn't look like sound science conservation to me. I have interests in Colorado and while I didn't watch the ballot process, for those folks in Colorado how much peer review science was put into the initiative process?

I live in a state with a healthy wolf population. I'd wager to argue that management decisions are not being made with sound science as a solid backing of choices being made.

All the discussion about Colorado wolf reintroduction has been in the conservation section until that post popped up in general. That doesn't mean anyone agrees with the basis behind the reintroduction or feel it is based in science and what is truly best for the environment. With all the posts on Rokslide that pop up in multiple sections or unarguably the wrong section I don't know why this one is an issue for people.

Anyway, to get back on topic...

No need to worry folks, the wolves are just here to reduce CWD!

CSU has some predictive model that wolves may prey on CWD positive deer and elk and reduce transmission, but there's no field testing to prove this. While it does make sense that they may attack the easiest targets when presented, it's not like they'll be seeking out sick elk or deer at dinner time. Personally I don't think there's any value in that proposition...CWD will continue to spread and be an issue for elk and deer populations in addition to getting eaten.

 

[mjh]

Interesting concept put out by the CSU folks. I wonder if they will follow up with any observational work and data collection at kill sites. Predictive modeling doesn't always work out in the real world.

In MN several CWD zones overlap with wolf areas. I have no idea if the MNDNR or any of the Universities or Colleges have any studies going on in regards to the two.

Would certainly be interesting information--maybe a PhD thesis?

My mother in law has a seasonal cabin in one of the CWD zones. I don't deer hunt there as I cannot take carcasses/meat out of the zone until tested and I don't have a way to preserve or freeze--no electric at the cabin. However, I do hunt a bit in a WMA that is literally across the road from the CWD zone. If I killed a deer there--technically out of the zone--I could transport back home to process. The WMA if pretty far from the center of the CWD zone and the known locations. I'd likely not get the deer tested at this point.

Many of us have always been taught that wolves will take the old the, young, the sick and so forth. But we also know wolves will take what they can. Wolves are going to do what they do, kill and eat other creatures that they can catch.

And if wolves are going to be eating all these piron infected deer and elk, what's going to happen to the wolves? More PhD's to be awarded.....

 

[EDS]

Hopefully this I s appropriate being a new guy first posting ive made on anything and anywhere on the web not very savy with this sruff. Being a Routt County resident, rumor has it that the pack of 5 wolfs were spotted headed north across one of the Yampa Valley ranches this morning. Glad they are not staying hopefully in the 15 unit our local cpw officers have been working hard to get a better deer heard. In 15,35 and surrounding units. Not to be negative but hope they make it to Wyoming to a zone with no restrictions on their locals to put them down. I feel after the winter northern Colorado had last year and all the winter kill it was bad timing to bring wolf's into this or any part of Colorado. Hope you all have a good holiday season

 

[hjg_wy]

Ive got to say I am surprised by how much people on here really hate wolves. I get that they can be problematic, at best. I live in Wyoming. But good grief, we are supposed to be conservationists! To me that means if we removed an animal from the landscape than we ought to put it back wherever possible.

I am willing to pay a few extra bucks in taxes to pay for depredation and to otherwise support ranchers needing to deal with the extra challenge of wolves. I also am willing to have elk herds decrease a bit... they are over target density in big chunks of the Rockies now. hell, here in Wyoming people are talking about crazy measures to reduce the herd size (google around some). I care first and foremost about the animals and the land, if having wolves on the land means I have to hunt a bit harder, so be it.

Just think about anti-hunting people reading a thread like this... we lose all credibility as 'conservationists'.

I know yall are gonna really dislike this post. I dont want to intentionally irritate folks, but I felt the need to say this... because I think we need to think a lot about our stance on these issues, and give some ground, if we want to keep our hunting traditions alive.

Consider the counterfactual of hunters leading the charge of predator recovery, it would give us a ton of ammunition for keeping hunting rights and improving our status in the court of public opinion.

 

[*zap*]

I really hate wolves....smart folks exterminated them once already.

 

[drdrop]

I imagine some savvy wildlife researchers are drooling at the thought of a study leveraging the northern state line as a management variable. To the north - low wolf density, to the south- higher density wolf predation. The ecosystems are the same, though hunting management differs some. Who should fund that?

 

[Ross]

Only good wolf is a dead wolf, love seeing sterling extreme videos on his wolf kills they are epic