royden
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Post by royden on Feb 24, 2008 11:39:15 GMT -5
I guess I don't KNOW that only the alpha pair will breed. However that is what the biologists say, and plain 'ol wolf lore. In a way it does make sense. They are a pack animal with a hierarchy - can't have two familys in one pack. 2-5 pups per litter; 1 litter per year normally, but in good times could have two litters I believe. If a younger wolf gets ants in his pants he could steal off one of the females and start a new pack. In an area like this there is plenty of room and prey so I would think the packs would split every 3-5 years.
I believe wolves will eat most any kind of prey. The healthy bulls would be likely prey because of their trait to go solitaire after the rut is over. Moose are a prey also (I've been seeing fewer cows and calves the last two years). Deer would seem less likely to me because of their tendency to move to lower country and escape the snow (right into the lions). One thing I noticed and heard from other hunters time and aain this year was the amount of elk hair in the bear scat. Bears probably don't kill elk; however they will certainly clean up a kill if they find it - I believe the wolves were killing more than normal numbers of elk this year and the bears were having a feast.
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Greg Krause
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Post by Greg Krause on Feb 24, 2008 11:42:58 GMT -5
A buddy of mine went Elk hunting last fall and said that he heard almost no bugleing. every time a bull started wolves just started howling and the elk would shut up. Said he saw more wolf sign than elk sign
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smj
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Post by smj on Feb 24, 2008 11:53:13 GMT -5
A buddy of mine went Elk hunting last fall and said that he heard almost no bugleing. every time a bull started wolves just started howling and the elk would shut up. Said he saw more wolf sign than elk sign What state was he in?
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smj
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Post by smj on Feb 24, 2008 12:03:05 GMT -5
Those who wanted wolves out there maintain that once the numbers of animals decrease, so will the wolves. I believe this to be very wrong - the wolves just break up the pack and move in to new hunting lands, leaving behind a reduced number of animals perhaps, but seeding an ever growing population that spreads wide and far. This may seem correct in some place like Yellowstone, but just because the packs there don't grow or drop to a fewer number of animals does not mean that the excess animals are not spreading over in to areas where we didn't want the number of big game animals reduced. I think that a hunting season on the wolf will not control the numbers good enough to maintain the big game herd numbers we want as hunters. wolves.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/montana-approves-wolf-hunting-season/news.aol.com/story/_a/gray-wolves-no-longer-endangered/20080221163609990001
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nodog
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Post by nodog on Feb 24, 2008 18:37:44 GMT -5
A buddy of mine went Elk hunting last fall and said that he heard almost no bugleing. every time a bull started wolves just started howling and the elk would shut up. Said he saw more wolf sign than elk sign Stuff like that makes me think of the size of area the 3 states cover and the chances of one hunter hearing some of the 1500 wolves. It's incredible. there's no way they can't know the approximate size of the wolf herd. Some buddy should turn them on to a device called trail camera's.
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smj
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Post by smj on Feb 24, 2008 19:19:39 GMT -5
A buddy of mine went Elk hunting last fall and said that he heard almost no bugleing. every time a bull started wolves just started howling and the elk would shut up. Said he saw more wolf sign than elk sign Stuff like that makes me think of the size of area the 3 states cover and the chances of one hunter hearing some of the 1500 wolves. It's incredible. there's no way they can't know the approximate size of the wolf herd. Some buddy should turn them on to a device called trail camera's. It is not just three states that have wolves in them... blogs.denverpost.com/coloradojournal/2008/01/31/wolf-at-the-door/www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=83292Plus, I know where a pack summered here in Colorado. Just over the hill from my buddies cabin.
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nodog
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Post by nodog on Feb 25, 2008 13:19:03 GMT -5
There's more. We have them here in the midwest, but the hubbub has been about the 3 states out west that have recently delisted them. Just talk to a local guy here in a shop who told be of the yote problem we have here, and getting worse. Said he had a bunch of piglets taken right out of his barn by them. Killed 9 in the past 2 weeks. I saw 2 last year not 25 ft. from my door that i could swear but for the color they were wolves they were that big. Didn't show a lick of fear over me. Fortunetly Ohio has had the good judgement to allow those with concealed carry to leagaly protect themselves while hunting. Guys down in southern Ohio have seen some unusual scat in the past few years. There's no reason to not think wolves are even in Ohio. The man I talked to this morning said the deer around his place haven't been near as plentiful in the past 3 years. Said he hasn't seen them back by his woods in that long. Used to see them every night. I just statrted the conversation with hello, he provided the rest. Had no clue who I was or even if I hunted. Totally of his own doing that he spoke of these things as he told me he also said he shouldn't even be alive with the kind of heart he has. Said the Good Lord must have something else for him hear. I thought one of them maybe just to talk to me.
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nodog
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Post by nodog on Feb 25, 2008 13:23:38 GMT -5
"I think it's very exciting," said Fred Wendland, the founder of a wolf sanctuary in Larimer County. "I think it's good for Colorado, I think it's good for the wildlife, and ultimately, I think it's going to be good for humans to appreciate the value that the animals really have."
"Wolves don't want to be anywhere around where humans are," he said.
What an idiot! And he can save that human line. Deer don't either but they live in urban area's. The yotes have adapted well! That guy I talked to said today they aren't afraid of people at all. Went right into his barn.
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Post by BT on Feb 25, 2008 14:16:23 GMT -5
Idiot. Do these people ever have credentials?
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Post by Doegirl on Feb 26, 2008 21:46:31 GMT -5
There won't be any true "management" until TRAPPING of wolves is permitted. Allowing a hunting season is a step in the right direction. But, as stated, sport hunting probably is not going to be too effective in making a dent in wolf populations. I know the pro-wolf pinkos will absolutely scream. And that in itself may keep trapping out of the equation for wolf control.
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