I'm torn on Colorado prop 114.

[Flatgo]

I do not live in Colorado, but spend a week hunting NW Montana, and you will realize how bad wolves are... some of the most beautiful country and hardly any animals left. plus wolves will put you into an endless string of lawsuits, and it is likely that CPW will never actually manage wolves.

 

[ODB]

I’d say your position on wolves is not the crux of the issue. Wildlife management should not be a ballot issue. This is how you lost almost all of your good bear hunting. This is how you will lose wolf hunting, hunting with hounds, lion hunting, and eventually the erosion of any hunting privilege you hold dear. Wildlife management should be conducted by science, which inherently should be nonpartisan and based on facts, not ignorance and politics - which is how this ballot measure is being decided.

Yes. It’s the initiative process itself that is utterly flawed and allows this nonsense. Initiatives are rife with agendas supported by well-meaning but completely ignorant people. I watched it happen in Washington on ivory / other animal parts and guns.

 

[sndmn11]

I don't even look at the issue through the lens of being a hunter. I choose to think about how my friends in NW Colorado who are working ranchers will be poo-ed on daily. It makes zero sense to me to spend money, personnel, and time to introduce a species, then further invest when there are issues, and then further invest in litigation, and then further invest to manage.

There is no objective reason to vote yes.

 

[5MilesBack]

There's no need to "reintroduce" something to the state, that we already have.

 

[87TT]

There isn't a "management " plan that works. That's the problem. They could be listed as a varmint and allowed to be shot on sight and still be a problem.

 

[LostArra]

There isn't a "management " plan that works. That's the problem. They could be listed as a varmint and allowed to be shot on sight and still be a problem.

Agree.
I've never seen any evidence that hunters in general are successful enough to manage wolf populations.

If Colorado is a good place for wolves then they will come on their own. There is no barrier keeping them from entering the state.

 

[IdahoElk]

I'm going to open this can of worms. I'm very torn about voting yes or no on Colorado's prop 114 which would direct CPW to develop and implement a plan to reintroduce the gray wolf to Colorado by 2023. Here's why:

On the one hand, I like wildlife. All of the creatures great and small. The more types of animals, in more places, in greater numbers, the better is where I stand a personal level. If we could all live in giant, condensed, futuristic cities with vertical farms built in glass and steel to heights as tall as the empire state building and let all the agricultural and suburban land return to wilderness that would be a sci-fi dream. Hunt the millions of bison and elk and whatever else you have a tag for in that futuristic world would be so cool. That's my personal, emotional, stance. More animals in Colorado, even the wolf is a tiny step towards that vision of a 200 year future. BUT.

On the other, America is pretty divided right now. I don't get a sense that much of the Front Range voter base knows or cares about the nuances of conservation, ag production, or who and how conservation is funded in our state. I also feel that a vote yes would be a vote to place the true burden of life with wolves on the livelihoods of people living on the western slope. I don't live in that part of Colorado. The consequences wouldn't really impact me beyond me having to switch up some elk hunting tactics in the fall. Additionally, with most of CPW being funded by hunters, prop 114 seems like it would effectively be asking hunters to pay for this reintroduction. If a californi-fied Front Range had a greater understanding and gratitude for what we do for conservation I would feel a lot better about footing the bill, as someone who has put thousands and thousands of dollars in over the years. However, I don't get the sense that there is that appreciation or understanding yet. And to be humble, it's my fault. It's our fault as hunters for not reaching out and telling our story to the urban crowd...

And so I'm torn.

Any other Colorado Roksliders feeling conflicted? How are you navigating your decision making process on this?

I wish we could give you our wolves.

 

[alpinewanderer]

I wish we could give you our wolves.

You are. Slowly.

 

[alpinewanderer]

this is an initiative brought about by an advocacy group that probably paid signature gathereARs outside of grocery stores to get enough signatures to get a item on the ballot that 95% of people do not understand and will vote yes or no at the same time they are probably hearing about it for the first time. Close?

Yup. You got it. Spot on.

 

[FLAK]

I'm ok with managed Wolves.
And a Wolf tag in my pocket.
Same thing with Grizzlies.

 

[BBob]

I'm not in CO but if I were I'd be a firm no. Until wolves get de-listed and the states are free to manage them and have a way to fund that management I'm not a fan. We already have wolves in AZ and NM and even though the population is still small it's growing at ~10% a year. One of these days I think it could become a problem.

 

[Lawnboi]

They want to introduce an apex predator, fight tooth and nail to not let them be managed. Vote NO! I’m in wi, there are wolves in my back yard. I wouldn’t be so anti if we could manage them, but we cannot and it’s ridiculous.

 

[Winnie]

Judging by where most of northern Minnesota is at it will go like this. The ungulate population will crash when wolves come into a localized area. Slowly, after years, the population will rebound to barely huntable numbers and stay there. In certain localized areas, the wolves will not invade and the ungulate population will stay healthy. This will lead the pro-wolfers to say, "look, wolves didnt crash this area!!". Then a year or two later the wolves will crash that area too. I live and hunt on the fringe of wolf area. I want nothing to do with them. Neat critters, sure, but if you want to see them, go to Yellowstone. I know countless people who were on the fence and now hate them. But once the genie is out of the bottle, you ain't getter her back in!

 

[Ratbeetle]

It could be, but I see it as a trade. People need to get more psyched about living in cities or in a few hundred years we'll all be living in some sort of suburbia. Hell I already do. So if I change my mind and move to the western slope, which I'd love to, and build a nice place on a plot of land how will that change things? Imagine that process going on over and over and over for hundreds of years. That sounds awful to me.

Or we could stop incentivising people to breed like rabbits through welfare and tax breaks. We need to get it out of our collective heads that growth in perpetuity is sustainable.

But that's a topic for another thread. Back to the wolves. It's a hard NO from me.

 

[the_bowhunter]

Yeah, that’s a big NO from this guy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[alpinewanderer]

"Or we could stop incentivising people to breed like rabbits through welfare and tax breaks. We need to get it out of our collective heads that growth in perpetuity is sustainable."

I'm with you there, brother.

 

[RyanT26]

I hope It gets voted down. Unless you’re going to re-introduce them to downtown Denver and Colorado springs first maybe that’ll help clean up the homeless problem.
while you’re at it can you re-introduce a few grizzlies down there as well.

 

[Lawnboi]

I hope It gets voted down. Unless you’re going to re-introduce them to downtown Denver and Colorado springs first maybe that’ll help clean up the homeless problem.
while you’re at it can you re-introduce a few grizzlies down there as well.

No shit, people might care more if these animals were in their back yards where their family plays.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I'm going to open this can of worms. I'm very torn about voting yes or no on Colorado's prop 114 which would direct CPW to develop and implement a plan to reintroduce the gray wolf to Colorado by 2023. Here's why:

On the one hand, I like wildlife. All of the creatures great and small. The more types of animals, in more places, in greater numbers, the better is where I stand a personal level. If we could all live in giant, condensed, futuristic cities with vertical farms built in glass and steel to heights as tall as the empire state building and let all the agricultural and suburban land return to wilderness that would be a sci-fi dream. Hunt the millions of bison and elk and whatever else you have a tag for in that futuristic world would be so cool. That's my personal, emotional, stance. More animals in Colorado, even the wolf is a tiny step towards that vision of a 200 year future. BUT.

On the other, America is pretty divided right now. I don't get a sense that much of the Front Range voter base knows or cares about the nuances of conservation, ag production, or who and how conservation is funded in our state. I also feel that a vote yes would be a vote to place the true burden of life with wolves on the livelihoods of people living on the western slope. I don't live in that part of Colorado. The consequences wouldn't really impact me beyond me having to switch up some elk hunting tactics in the fall. Additionally, with most of CPW being funded by hunters, prop 114 seems like it would effectively be asking hunters to pay for this reintroduction. If a californi-fied Front Range had a greater understanding and gratitude for what we do for conservation I would feel a lot better about footing the bill, as someone who has put thousands and thousands of dollars in over the years. However, I don't get the sense that there is that appreciation or understanding yet. And to be humble, it's my fault. It's our fault as hunters for not reaching out and telling our story to the urban crowd...

And so I'm torn.

Any other Colorado Roksliders feeling conflicted? How are you navigating your decision making process on this?

I’m not torn. Any hunter that wants wolves and lives in Colorado needs his head examined. If you think this is a good thing then I’ll just keep my thoughts about your ability to critical think to myself. Flame away...


oh and if you think you’ll ever have a chance to hunt wolves prior to them decimating the herds you’re delusional. But then again you think you want wolves so you probably already are...

 

[RyanT26]

Colorado is turning into Calirado faster then most people thought would happen. It really is unfortunate. Hopefully everyone in your state listens to F&G. I doubt it though. I wouldn’t be surprised at all of the passes.