Okanagan Wolf Kill

[Fancy]

Most hunters? Might want to rethink generalizations. Any hunter I know uses the meat - they don't give it all away. I don't like to see the carnage wolves cause either and ranchers don't like it either. It's not "acceptable losses". Let's keep this in perspective. A hundred wolves were killed in all of 2011 in the province from what I understand - some were problem animals.

[Triple 6]

Keep it on topic please. The rants are getting personal. Off topic comments will be deleted.

[brendal]

This is not a wolf kill,it is a wolf season,I'm not going to wolf hunting,I don't think anyone will, all it means is that there's a healthy wolf population in the valley,good.

[logman]

After 20 years in the woods eveyday, I saw three wolves a few weeks ago. I also saw elk for the first time in the Okanagan. 3 elk this morning actually quite close to town. Things are changing in the woods.

[JJH]

A natural Wild Life Management Strategy, Mother Nature at the helm, consists of peaks and valleys with in the wild animal populations. The prey animals build up and the predators follow suit. The predators clean out the prey species then starve to death.The whole idea behind wildlife management is maintaining a balance within the populations both predator and prey animals, it is referred to as A Responsible Wildlife Management Strategy. The checks and balances needed to maintain this strategy are not perfect but they are the best we have. The people who make uniformed decisions based on ignorance and emotion who all of a sudden upon seeing the result of leaving a species unchecked will say....."I NEVER REALIZED". The wolf population is part of this Responsible Wildlife Management Strategy and if left unchecked will reek havoc on prey species which dwell within the forests of our region. No one from the Ministry ever talked about wiping the wolves out they talked about controlling their numbers. Just this morning I read a letter to the editor in the Penticton Herald regarding the wolf hunt and suggesting the wolf was a good way of controlling the deer population with in the city limits. Deer are being born , live out their lives and die with in our city limits. Am I to assume that people are in favor of having a wolf pack roam the streets of our city?

[wcasako]

We have a perfect example of the results of managing some species while concurrently taking a hands off approach to another. Research how this strategy worked in Yellowstone and surrounding states following the relocation of wolves from Canada to Yellowstone. The arguments presented in this thread from the anti hunt crowd are the exact same as those presented by this group in Yellowstone. They now have experienced the negative result of myopic thinking and planning and are now having to undo the emotion based plan and implement a strategy using facts and science. The negative outcomes of the original plan for wild ungulates and the economy will now be seen for decades. The taxpayers foot the bill for the blunder.

[Fancy]

Research how this strategy worked in Yellowstone and surrounding states following the relocation of wolves from Canada to Yellowstone. The arguments presented in this thread from the anti hunt crowd are the exact same as those presented by this group in Yellowstone. They now have experienced the negative result of myopic thinking and planning and are now having to undo the emotion based plan and implement a strategy using facts and science. The negative outcomes of the original plan for wild ungulates and the economy will now be seen for decades. The taxpayers foot the bill for the blunder.

I'm not sure what the Druid pack (who have reclaimed their territory in Yellowstone) has to do with this particular wolf hunt.

[james-d]

Why this has to do with the Yellowstone issue is that the same type of thinking (bambism) that allowed wolves back into yellowstone,We do hope does not prevail here. man has manipulated the wildlife situation for a long time here. Why? because he can. Now lets allow him to fix it. The bambi lovers in BC convinced the govt a few years ago that we had to allow a lot more wolves to frolick in the forests of BC because they are nice lookin and resemble their fuzzy little doggy pets.The wolves have to go. There away too many of them and they have decimated the herds of moose,elk deer and soon the cattle,in places like the Christian Valley. When this happens, in any given area, The hunters do poorly and then don't bother going. Thats real nice , however let's see if the Bambi lovers are willing to pump those millions of dollars back into the local economies.It's too bad they think with their hearts, And not their heads. And by the way the animals that died a horrible death in the jaws of a wolf, May have supplied someone with some really good meat, Away better then the absolute crap you buy in a store. Oh and one more thing, Before you bleeding hearts cry that we want the wolves gone so hunters can kill more..... Well that may be so but it is their millions of dollars that contribute to good wildlife management, How much did the wolves contribute, So the non-hunters can go in the woods and watch Bambi???? The wolf will eat bambi alive in a heart beat! there, My opinion.

[janalta]

Why this has to do with the Yellowstone issue is that the same type of thinking (bambism) that allowed wolves back into yellowstone,We do hope does not prevail here. man has manipulated the wildlife situation for a long time here. Why? because he can. Now lets allow him to fix it. The bambi lovers in BC convinced the govt a few years ago that we had to allow a lot more wolves to frolick in the forests of BC because they are nice lookin and resemble their fuzzy little doggy pets.The wolves have to go. There away too many of them and they have decimated the herds of moose,elk deer and soon the cattle,in places like the Christian Valley. When this happens, in any given area, The hunters do poorly and then don't bother going. Thats real nice , however let's see if the Bambi lovers are willing to pump those millions of dollars back into the local economies.It's too bad they think with their hearts, And not their heads. And by the way the animals that died a horrible death in the jaws of a wolf, May have supplied someone with some really good meat, Away better then the absolute crap you buy in a store. Oh and one more thing, Before you bleeding hearts cry that we want the wolves gone so hunters can kill more..... Well that may be so but it is their millions of dollars that contribute to good wildlife management, How much did the wolves contribute, So the non-hunters can go in the woods and watch Bambi???? The wolf will eat bambi alive in a heart beat! there, My opinion.

Allowed back in to Yellowstone?
You seem to have opted to leave out the part where the wolves were completely exterminated from the area by humans.
And I hate to burst your bubble....but deer, caribou, moose and elk were not placed there for the sole purpose of providing humans with a sport and something to eat. It's called nature...and the way nature works is that such prey animals are hunted by predators for survival...because wolves don;t actually have the ability to head down to the butcher shop to buy that crap you don't care for. ( which by most people is referred to as beef, chicken and pork )

[zzontar]

The wolf population isn't going to be eliminated. Hunting is considered a sport and there are laws and requirements to be adhered to.

I've always thought any sport where you can have a huge gut, drink beer, and smoke shouldn't be considered a sport any more than those participating shouldn't be called athletes!

[Fancy]

Hunting is a sport amongst a lot of other activities. That's the way it is. Still doesn't mean the wolves are going to be eradicated around here.

Kelowna Daily Courier:

Friday, 11 January 2013 02:00 Kelowna Daily Courier


.
Wolves beware: Okanagan hunters are searching for you. However, no one should feel sorry for the wolves, rather the hunters looking in vain for them.
Jeff Morgan, a manager with the provincial fish and wildlife branch, said Thursday the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Resource Operations doesn't conduct a wolf count "because they are just too difficult to actually detect."
Wolves are very often nocturnal; they often stick to areas of heavy cover; and like many species, when they hear a ministry helicopter approach, they immediately hide, he said.
Ministry wildlife biologist Brian Harris estimates 75 to 100 wolves live in the Okanagan, enough to sustain a legal hunt. The number of wolf packs has grown in the decades since they were almost wiped out.
The ministry estimates the number based on the density of prey, from information gathered in the field, from reports of wolf sightings and attacks mainly involving cattle.
"Wolves are distributed throughout most of the Okanagan at this point with densities most probably higher in the northern portion of the region," said Morgan.
"Wolves are highly opportunistic predators that can prey on things that range from mice and voles to big horn sheep and mountain goats to moose and mountain cariboo. But primarily, they focus on larger mammals like deer, elk and moose."
The populations of those species are considered to be healthy at this time, he said. "The deer and moose are far more widespread. Elk occur in more limited areas."
The Okanagan region is the last in the province to allow wolf hunting. In the valley, the bag limit is three and the season is Sept. 10, 2012, to June 15, 2013. In the North Thompson, by comparison, there is no limit.
Successful hunting is primarily tracked through a random hunter sample. Trapping success is monitored through fur auctions. Guided hunts are monitored through guide declaration forms submitted to the ministry. And those killed by conservation officers are counted.

[Rwede]

Hunting isn't a sport. It's a traditional way of life that is part of our heritage.

[Fancy]

Okay, I'll buy that. Guess I'm used to reading the Western Sportsman magazine.

[zzontar]

Hunting isn't a sport. It's a traditional way of life that is part of our heritage.

Hunting is considered a sport. Hunting for food is a traditional part of our heritage, killing just for "sport" was only introduced with the invention of the rifle.

[Rwede]

Hunting is considered a sport. Hunting for food is a traditional part of our heritage, killing just for "sport" was only introduced with the invention of the rifle.

Really. Just making something up doesn't mean it is so.

Rifles are the choice of the majority of hunters, including natives, for gathering food for families in traditional manners.

Hunting is a traditional way of life that is part of our heritage. The method (bow, spear, rifle, muzzleloader, etc) does not change what hunting is.