Okanagan Wolf Kill

[Kahanamoku]

I've tracked wolf tracks very close to city limits, an area close to town with large population of residents, where development is currently being pushed higher and higher. To say they aren't a threat and will never find them in populated areas in naive and ignorant.

Wolves reproduce at astounding rates, a Gray wolf will start reproducing at about 2 years old, with average litters of 5-6 pups. Packs can triple, even quadruple in only a couple of years and take out an alarming amount of wildlife, leaving herds of Moose/Elk and deer absolutely decimated until they move on to the next area and continue. Just ask any Rancher and Cattlemen up in the Cariboo/Thompson region.

The hunt is a sustainability hunt, as is every other legal hunt, put in place by the MoE after years of research, counts, evidence and written letters by people effected by the rise in population in the Valley.

[tazmandew]

Rwede.....

I kinda figured you were a hunter by the way you were responding to the posts. I have no need to watch your video. I've watched many episodes of the nature channel thanks. Like I said animals have no choice but to kill that way. The only inhumane thing about all of this is that wolves aren't being killed because people want or need the food. They are being killed because people are being told that their MIGHT be an overpopulation of wolves although they don't really know cause they have no way of counting them all. Inhumane is not letting mother nature take care of the population but to have guns and people do the job. People like you who defend it all. Who are you to decide what animal deserves to die?! Inhumane....has human in it! Go figure!

[tazmandew]

This hunt is about as wise as those who support it.
Thinking they're part of conserving and wildlife management.
Thanks very much you psychopathic vultures, but I'm sure if the likes of you and your week minded bretheren would stop trying to tweak your way out of the mess you've created, Mother Nature would find balance just fine on her own...without your stupid-arse gun happy mushminds stomping about with loaded weapons.

I can say this with honesty:
If my dog ever were to be mistaken and shot...or trapped in a con-trap set to violently torture wolves...the owner of the offending gun or trap would be much more sorry if I get to them before I'm stopped.

You are totally so right!!! Amen to you!

[KL3-Something]

I wouldn't sweat it too much there folks. The bag limit for wolves all over the province has always been 3. I have spent a lot of time in the woods over the years, including hunting, and have only ever seen four wolves. From very far distances. And they didn't stick around for long. In the last few years, however, I have seen a significant increase in evidence of wolf activities. It isn't like every hunter is now going to go out and spend the winter hunting wolves. Opening up the hunt for them is not going to put the population at risk. Like the article said, the last reported wolf killed in this area (and there are mandatory reporting requirements) was in 1993. They could remove the bag limit altogether in this area and the population will not be at risk.

The only effective way to reduce wolf populations is with poison bait. If the province announces that they are going to take that approach I'll find a reason to get my back up. As it stands now I'm not too worried.

[dogspoiler]

Agreed KL

[Gone_Fishin]

Agree with KL, Rwede, Veovis, and a few others who actually understand this issue from a scientific rather than emotional viewpoint. There's a dramatic increase in wolves in this area over the past 5 years, and all the hunting in the world isn't going to stop that. Only poisoning and helicopter gunning could ever make a dent in the population, as that 80% kill factor for several years posted above is teh only way to reduce the population. I've found a couple of areas around Kelowna where wolves have hammered the ungulates, and this season will help to keep the wolves on the move and taking just a few prey animals from each area, which is much more sustainable for the ungulates. It will also help keep the wolves from wiping out local herds and then turning to livestock and pets for food, so it is actually helping wolf conservation.

There is a big picture here that many don't know about. It's far more complex than what emotional viewpoints will ever give you. I trust our professional biologists to make the right decisions.

[miss_sterious]

Having a large population of a predator reduce the population of their prey is nature's way. When the population of prey is minimized, the predator (wolf) population will go down. In turn, the population of prey (deer) will go up, and so the cycle continues. Humans don't need to interfere with this natural cycle.

[Rwede]

Having a large population of a predator reduce the population of their prey is nature's way. When the population of prey is minimized, the predator (wolf) population will go down. In turn, the population of prey (deer) will go up, and so the cycle continues. Humans don't need to interfere with this natural cycle.

Put 10,000 cattle in the mountains of the Okanagan, and your theory is blown out the door. That's reality, so it must be dealt with as it exists, not as how the story books tell us it should be.

And whether people want to admit it or not, humans are a part of nature and play an important role in natural balance. Your eyes are in the front of your head so you can spot and kill prey, not so you can spot and catch a tomato before it runs away.

[Piecemaker]

Having a large population of a predator reduce the population of their prey is nature's way. When the population of prey is minimized, the predator (wolf) population will go down. In turn, the population of prey (deer) will go up, and so the cycle continues. Humans don't need to interfere with this natural cycle.

Not if the predator adapts and turns to other food sources that were historically unavailable. BTW, it is far more humane to cull some of the population than to have animals starve to death...which is "nature's way". By keeping wildlife in balance, all animals (and humans with domestic animals) fare better.

[JackBauer24]

Wolves are smart you don't see them much, no matter how hard you hunt them. Usually just a glimpse from a distance on the run. That is just a fact of life and the way they are.

[Otter]

From what I remember from the courses I took back in my college days, wolf populations tend to get larger when the prey population gets larger. It's one of the ways that nature controls the animals that eat the vegetation so that ALL of the animals don’t starve to death.

When the deer, etc population lessens, then the predator births lessen as well,
creating a NATURAL balance.

When man interferes in this natural control then things get out of whack. If humans kill off all the predators, then the “prey” population explodes and disease, starvation, and deformities start to show up thus weakening the herds.

And FYI: wolfs are more likely to eat small prey such as mice, voles, etc than take down numerous deer. It takes far less energy for the wolves as one wolf can nicely feed itself and it’s litter with such small prey than it takes most of a pack to take down one full-grown deer.

Humans are a far greater threat to the “prey” population than are the wolves and other “natural” predators. How many dead dear have you seen along the highway after they’ve been stuck by a truck? How many deer are hunters allowed to kill each year? (How many are poached each year?) How many rodents do humans kill each year with poisons, traps, or just simply invading their habitats?

Yes, occasionally it becomes necessary to kill animals such as wolves, coyotes, or cougars, but usually because it’s US that have invaded their territory and gotten in their way, not the other way around. Most of the predator animals that man “must” kill are ill or injured by something we humans have done to them or their habitat. Think about that the next time you pull out your rifle with its high-powered scope to go off and kill Bambi’s Mommy.

[Rwede]

Think about that the next time you pull out your rifle with its high-powered scope to go off and kill Bambi’s Mommy.

And that's why you have no credibility. Your whole argument is based on a Walt Disney cartoon, as are many of the anti crowd. Reality is far removed from deer and wolves and Thumper the rabbit playing together in flower-covered meadows.


Natural balance includes humans. Get used to the idea, it's been that way forever. We play a role in prey and predator populations.

Deer and other ungulate populations are largely unaffected by human harvest year-over-year. Seasons are set, taking all other factors such as road kill and poaching incidents into account, to ensure that herds have sufficient sperm supply and brood stock to have enough fawn/calf recruitment to replenish the herd.

Man's a rather inefficient predator though and seasons are very conservative, and we consistently under-harvest ungulates, resulting in growing populations. Moose have doubled in the Okanagan in the past 7 years! Whitetailed deer seasons have expanded to include a general open season on does to try to get their numbers in balance before they eat themselves out of house and home. Habitat, weather, and predators have a far greater effect on ungulates than humans ever do.

People need to spend some time understanding population dynamics. Those of us who are involved in conservation projects do spend a lot of time with professional biologists and reading wildlife studies to get the REAL picture. I wish others would too, so that they can understand the science behind game management before they cry emotionally about "Bambi's mother", usually just before they fry a beef steak from Safeway.

[nextimeround]

Kind of typical people thinking they can do a better job than nature. On one hand we have hunters (I assume hunters) supporting this because we need to control the population and keep them moving. Well I guess shooting and killing things will keep them hopping alright. Then we have others saying that the hunting will not affect the population.

So it would seem to me that this is really all about the sport (and I use the term loosely) for a handful of hunters that want to shoot wolves. I assume they'll stuff them or use the hides or some such thing.

I guess I just don't understand this type of hunter's mentality. I get the hunt for food, hunt for furs to stay warm through the winter or even hunt to stay alive (i.e. hunt or be hunted) mentality. But hunting for trophies is about as primitive as it gets and I don't support that.

As for the thought that if we don't hunt them then we'll have an overpopulation of wolves, it never ceases to amaze me how we humans really believe we can do a better job managing nature than nature itself. I mean we've done such a good job so far right!

For all you trophy hunters out there... you want to impress us and really feel proud, how about if you put down your rifle, chase the wolf down on foot, wrestle him to the ground and knock him out with your bare hands. If you can do that then you deserve a trophy.

[Rwede]

Kind of typical people thinking they can do a better job than nature. On one hand we have hunters (I assume hunters) supporting this because we need to control the population and keep them moving. Well I guess shooting and killing things will keep them hopping alright. Then we have others saying that the hunting will not affect the population.

So it would seem to me that this is really all about the sport (and I use the term loosely) for a handful of hunters that want to shoot wolves. I assume they'll stuff them or use the hides or some such thing.

I guess I just don't understand this type of hunter's mentality. I get the hunt for food, hunt for furs to stay warm through the winter or even hunt to stay alive (i.e. hunt or be hunted) mentality. But hunting for trophies is about as primitive as it gets and I don't support that.

As for the thought that if we don't hunt them then we'll have an overpopulation of wolves, it never ceases to amaze me how we humans really believe we can do a better job managing nature than nature itself. I mean we've done such a good job so far right!

For all you trophy hunters out there... you want to impress us and really feel proud, how about if you put down your rifle, chase the wolf down on foot, wrestle him to the ground and knock him out with your bare hands. If you can do that then you deserve a trophy.

Only 3% of the hunters in BC are trophy hunters. The other 97% hunt for other reasons. Try a valid argument next time.

And yes, we've done a great job (we being hunters) of managing game populations. Our millions of dollars in licensing goes to pay for all the game protection and conservation in this province. What have you done in that regard?

[rutland1]

If hunters were doing such a good job we would not need limits and hunting zones. ^^^^^^^^^^^