Pretty disturbing

[nodog]

Not sure how it works now, but I do know that the fed dollar comes from me as well. A million for what? the printing of tags?

[royden]

There gonna be hard to hunt ... they must expect to spend the million trying to find how many we really have and collar 'em. that much dough means they won't be easy to find.

[nodog]

royden said:

There gonna be hard to hunt ... they must expect to spend the million trying to find how many we really have and collar 'em. that much dough means they won't be easy to find.

Just follow the blood trail. lol

[royden]

I saw some wolf tracks today ... from yesterday morning maybe ... no blood trail .... no wolf.

[nodog]

royden said:

I saw some wolf tracks today ... from yesterday morning maybe ... no blood trail .... no wolf.

Well if they aren't feeding, they are most likely breeding.

[nodog]

royden said:

I saw some wolf tracks today ... from yesterday morning maybe ... no blood trail .... no wolf.

The more I think about it the more questions I have. Seems like just an innocent statement until you try and put the picture together.

The wolf delisting is 3 states, many who oppose it claim that there are way too few of them to even think about it yet you saw tracks, what are the odds of that? Another thing said about them is that they stay in remote places except for a few. Where did you see them?

There's supposedly somewhere around 1500 of them now covering 3 states and you saw tracks. That's darned odd. We have over 650,000 deer in the state of Ohio and I can go a month or more here without seeing a track and I live in one of the small woodlots that dot the landscape in an agricultural environment.

Many moons ago when Ohio was still struggling to have a deer heard we were thrilled to see a deer track, we had about 250,000 then.

Seeing a wolf track out there should be extremely rare if what is said about them is true. Darned odd.

[mtshooter]

That's part of the issue. They can't know how many there really are. They don't have have a collar on each one.

[nodog]

mtshooter said:

That's part of the issue. They can't know how many there really are. They don't have have a collar on each one.

Another thing that doesn't add up is the number they've killed already. According to what I read they've killed half the total population and speculate as many have been pouched.

They don't need a collar on each one. How is it they have numbers for almost every other animal out there?

To see a the track of one of fifteen hundred animals covering 3 states is some very long odds and I'd also say proof that there's many thousands more than being reported.

I've read some equally disturbing comments by wolf lovers these past few days since the news came out. They really do hate hunters. They don't care about the game both are after, just that the hunter doesn't get to have them. Why O don't know. The hunter kills much more quickly and humanly. We don't tear live things apart.

[royden]

Sorry to leave you hanging nodog ... got busy and didn't check in.

Area I saw these tracks is a low elevation 2900' (our lowest elev here is 2700') half mile from a hgwy 37 in an area we have been building a 20' wide county road into for two months. This should be a deer wintering area (low elev, south and west slopes, good graze and browse, little snow pack) but at the most we have 20 deer hanging around us. I'm feeding them by cutting down trees and brush in the road right-of-way - normally I would literaly be surrounded by deer (50-200 is more what I would have expected). wether the low deer count is due to wolves, lions, extra doe tags given (1200) the last two years or disease I don't know. Fish and game reportedly claimed the deer where back in the high country... at 2' of snow above 3000' and 8' + above 5000' I find that statement very doubtfull - the deer should be in the low country and valley bottoms.

As far as the odd's ... I don't know. I'm always watching for tracks in the snow. The deer should be congretating around us while we work - so the predators will too. In the Local area (lets say 20miles south 10 miles east, 20 miles west, 10 miles north (900 square miles) I personally know of, can find and validate if need be 4 different wolf packs. I also suspect 2 more packs. I'm sure we have one of the higher densities of wolves in the state outside of the greater yellowstone basin. Most people would consider this area remote so that has to be considered. The NW corner here is heavily timbered (check out google earth ); has three major highways spanning an area of 5400 miles with roughly 4 people per mile.

I've seen one wolf in '87 (well before they were introduced). I have seen many, many, many tracks since; but never been lucky enough to see 'em again. Heard them howl, even trailed them or the critters running away from 'em ... but haven't seen another one.

In a way it's kind of funny but a local rancher summers his cows on the forest range up in the head end of pinkham creek. That is high elevation, remote, with a wolf pack. He lost 7 cows - two wolves were shot while in the act of having steak and burger. He decided to move his cows down where we are working (about 15 miles away from the current location.) The first place a wolf was seen around here is .... right where we are working I'm sure there are more than 1500 wolves out there: that is why I believe the state plans on spending a million on the wolves. Probably trying to trap and collar a wolf per pack. Last year it was reported that the packs had split into smaller satellite packs. That means twice as many wolf pups - only the alpha pair will breed.

[nodog]

Pretty cool life ya have there!

How do you stop a wolf from breeding if only certain ones will? Just can't see it. If one's in heat one with male equipment isn't going to stand by and restrain it's self. Most likely just like deer, the males being pushed out by the mother while she's still the boss. I just can't see why people don't know how fast and many these things can pump out. Everyones pretty much had a dog or cat in their life and seen the process. Unchecked it would quickly become a problem.

Just had some people around here that were charge with animal cruelty. They had 80+ dogs in their house with about 20 cats and more outside.

How many litters can one have? 3 a year? They've been protected for years. Got to be tens of thousands out there and like most claim look for an easy lunch. If they only pick on the weak and young, that pretty much somes up farm raised and people.

One of the responses I read to the delisting said that the wolf only needs the deer and elk, if it wasn't for hunters they wouldn't be a problem, and then she said maybe hunters should be delisted. Talk like that leds to actions. There's more than the one kind of predator out there to be concerned about. Hard not to look at anyone I see in the woods anymore without thinking they could be out there hunting me.