[quote author=Marine link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=0#msg207157 date=1068253729]
As for eating what you kill, that can be taken to the far side as well. I am all for eating big game, but you can bet that I won't eat the 400 gophers I shoot in a day.

Mike
[/quote]

I use a 22-250 loaded with 50g ballistic tips. Doesn't ever seem to be enough left to eat even if you wanted to

 

Yummy... Gopher pot pie :P
I don't hold contempt for anyone who does shoot gophers, wolfs, grizzly, etc. It is just something *I* generally would not go out of my way to do.

 

Westcoaster-
Your last post was good at explaining that you are not against people shooting/hunting/fishing animals that are not used for food. Your first one made it sound like you were.

Mike

 

Hmmm... Point taken.

 

I don't have any problem shooting as many Groundhogs as I possibly can. Getting them to stand still long enough for me to paint Jane Fondas face on em first.......Thats another story ;D

 

Jane Fonda = YUK!

Back to the wolves...the re-intro of them in the central Idaho area has really begun to take the toll on the elk/deer herds. From my years I spent huntin' up there I can tell ya things have changed for the worse. The herds act different and stay in tight packs. I hunt the Yellow Jacket and Frank Church regions and know them like the back of my hand. I have seen too many wolves for my comfort and too much predation of large game. The deer were already hurtin' from hard winters...the wolves just add that much more pressure.

This past week a group of guys left camp in the middle of the 3rd night...the reason was to get away from the wolves..they were being watched by them all night long. None of them could take the constant sneaking around and stalking frm the wolves. They were basically worn down by them staying just out of eyesight in the dark and waiting for their opportunity night after night. Creepy. For the guys who have never actually seen a wolf up close...I can tell ya..they are not small and they do not give a warm and fuzzy feeling when your close to one. They are not like a big dog. Not at all. Lots of guys in the 'Church" live by the motto: shoot, shovel, and shut up

I had a run in with a mountain lion 3 years ago hunting near the Idaho/Utah border for Mule Deer in the early morning snow. I walked across a ridge in the heavy wind and snow. After a few minutes the tracks would cover back in and over with fresh snowfall. A few hours later I walked across the ridge again and the snow was blowing very hard, the visibility was low... I turned back to move back to the area I had just come from and was holding my head low and had my hood on to keep from freezing to death. I was looking at my footprints in the snow and noticing the further I walked, the harder they were to see...and then I saw the mountain lion tracks right inside of my track I had made maybe 90 seconds earlier. I stood there for maybe a few seconds and the brain was reeling wondering *** to do next and then raised my head to see the biggest lion I have ever seen looking right at me. I was reaching for the 7 mag over my shoulder when the lion began to move very fast and luckily away from me.

Later that season I heard the fish and game checked that canyon for lions because too many hunters had reported them and the deer were just plain gone. F&G found 16 lions in that single canyon alone This was just South of the Malad Idaho area. The spud farmers in that area later told me and others that the big cats have basically moved in and were seen daily.

I guess it was my year for running into big lions..cuz a few days later we moved up to the Church area to begin the elk season and we went to an area that has an old mining cabin from the 1930's down in a canyon and I like to visit it every year. I was yappin to friend and not really paying much attention when I was just about scared half to death. My skin still crawls from this part. I was right at the front door of the cabin and looking behind me at my friend as I reached for it. I had just opened the door and begun to swing it when a big lion jumped outta that cabin like a rocket and ran smack into my leg trying to get away. At the time I did not think he was tryin' to get away but, trying to get me!! My buddy said I screamed like a was missing a leg when that lion hit me. I will never forget how freaked I was. A lion from the Church is usually so big you cant even pick one up alone and to have one hit my leg dead on was enough to knock me over. Two lions in the same week was weird. I got the nickname of Lion King the entire weekend. :


Don~

 

[quote author=02DSLDOG link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=0#msg207178 date=1068256408]
[quote author=spots link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=0#msg206888 date=1068204323]
[quote author=spots link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=0#msg206463 date=1068131629]
[/quote]

What he said. Too darn many two leggers on this planet.
I like a good debate as well as any one else but sleddog your original post was biased right from the first key stroke. Sounds like you are just looking for a battle. Yes I did read your disclaimer. I have no problem killing for consumption. I have raised them, worked in a slaughterhouse, and I eat them. Beef, chicken, wild boar, deer, rabbit all in my freezer right now. I'd like to see an independent study done on this problem and then I will make an informed decision. Gov't study is equal to bunk, tree huggers is the same. Get someone in the middle.
Westcoaster had the most sensible post yet.
[/quote]

Care to explain? First my nic is not sleddog, it is dsldog (diesel dog). And no I am not looking for a battle or a fight. I do agree that the two legged animals have done the damage, but now that it is done there needs to be a "balance", but reaching that balance in nature will never happen. I am not infavor of wipping out the whole clan, but they do need to be "thinned out" a bit. They are coming into peoples yards and snatching pets off of there cable runs, confronting people, killing large game and moving on to kill some more. I find quite a few "whole carcasses" that wolves have killed and not touched! And as for you can't eat them? You are right, but you can sell the hides for a nice little chunk of change. I do not shoot anything that I can not use or eat. We have to many wolves, not enough moose or caribou. Thin out the wolves and restrict hunting to bring back the balance.
You may pick my post apart and show me where I am being biased. I am not a writter and a very sloppy speller and sometimes getting my point across comes out wrong.

Not looking for a fight. 8)
[/quote]

Sorry about the name mix-up. Just glance at your "handle" and figured since you live up in the land of igloos that you must have sled dogs. What else to do up there???? Kidding of course. But you can see how I got sled dog outa it?
Again I apologize about the mix-up.

 

There were 2-3 wolves killed around the Garrison MT area this last year. The FW&P didn't even know there was a pack of wolves in the area. If I remember correctly, they were part of the Yellowstone bunch that migrated about 200 miles as the crow flies. How many more are out there that no one knows about? I think they should open wolves back up in MT. It does take a toll on big game populations.

Mike

 

I am from the Northwest, where the bunny huggers are winning, and endangering the lives of not only big game but our children as well. In Oregon and Washington they have outlawed hunting the lions and bears with dogs. This has led to an increase in both their populations. This increase has come with sightings of both the lions and bears in urban areas. Predator control is an integral part of balancing the wildlife populations. Myself, I have come across Mountain lion tracks following those of myself and some family members while hiking in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Luckily I don't take too many chances and am generally armed when hiking. We need to balance the populations of all creatures, especially predators. I just hope that children don't have to be snatched from backyards for the bunny hugger do-gooders to get the point. :-

 

Wait till the wolves make their way to your state. Im tellin you guys, until you have seen a wolf up close. It is hard to explain the feeling and the efficiency of them.

The re-intro in Central Idaho was not really a re-intro just a booster shot. The wolves were always there but controlled by hunters and ranchers using the SSS method. I laughed when the Fish and Wildlife service told the ranchers they would be compensated for the killing of their livestock. Yeah!

Some of those drainages had the best Elk/Deer hunting a guy could want in the mid to late 80's. After the hard winters and the wolves.. the pickins are slim. Chamberlain basin comes to mind.

Don~

Don~

 

Sorry about the name mix-up. Just glance at your "handle" and figured since you live up in the land of igloos that you must have sled dogs. What else to do up there???? Kidding of course. But you can see how I got sled dog outa it?
Again I apologize about the mix-up.
No offence taken, as far as what else do we do up here? Well the weather warmed up and my igloo is now leaking, the wife is upset so I have to rent a snow maker and make repairs before it melt's! ..... No worries. 8)

 

[quote author=Voss link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=15#msg207354 date=1068314510]
We need to balance the populations of all creatures, especially predators. [/quote]

Exactly. Who's on top of the food chain???

 

[quote author=spots link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=15#msg207423 date=1068329524]
[quote author=Voss link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=15#msg207354 date=1068314510]
We need to balance the populations of all creatures, especially predators. [/quote]

Exactly. Who's on top of the food chain???
[/quote]

Rosie O'Donnel? ???

 

[quote author=Shovelhead link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=15#msg207424 date=1068329649]
[quote author=spots link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=15#msg207423 date=1068329524]
[quote author=Voss link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=15#msg207354 date=1068314510]
We need to balance the populations of all creatures, especially predators. [/quote]

Exactly. Who's on top of the food chain???
[/quote]

Rosie O'Donnel? ???
[/quote]

(need the vomit smilie) ;D

 

[quote author=Don M link=board=10;threadid=22054;start=15#msg207362 date=1068318708]
Wait till the wolves make their way to your state. Im tellin you guys, until you have seen a wolf up close. It is hard to explain the feeling and the efficiency of them.

The re-intro in Central Idaho was not really a re-intro just a booster shot. The wolves were always there but controlled by hunters and ranchers using the SSS method. I laughed when the Fish and Wildlife service told the ranchers they would be compensated for the killing of their livestock. Yeah!

Some of those drainages had the best Elk/Deer hunting a guy could want in the mid to late 80's. After the hard winters and the wolves.. the pickins are slim. Chamberlain basin comes to mind.

Don~

Don~
[/quote]

Been there, seen them and don't like 'em. S-S-S is the only effective way of dealing with 'em! Latest story on the WY wolves that killed a calf out near where I used to live:
http://www.powelltribune.com/News1.html