CPW's December release of 10 collared gray wolves from Oregon was just the first phase of the agency's voter-mandated plan to put viable populations of wolves back on the Colorado landscape. "We've completed our goal for this season and then we're going to start another reintroduction in December of 2024," he says. "The overall plan is to introduced 30 to 50 wolves over the next three to five years."
We can find enough mitochondrial DNA from the extinct Haast’s Eagle to resurrect it, using the closely related Little Eagle. Once we get a few breeding pairs, establish them in Denver, in close proximity to some homeless camp, and let the 33 pound birds go to work. They killed and ate 510 pound Moas, homeless drug addicts should be a snap.
I am not very happy about this, or any wildlife management via the ballot box. We have Biologists and a host of others within our Parks and Wildlife dept that are far better suited to make these decisions. I'm not so sure the Wolves would not have established themselves anyway, we had recently documented pups born in CO with no human help, they have been seen here for years. I would not be surprised at all if they are documented in Boulder County this summer, they are currently just on the other side of the divide.
This is the same way Spring bear hunting and hunting Bears with dogs was banned, no science just Disney at the ballot box. Fast forward 20 plus years and we now have way too many Bears.
I don't know, but I was guessing that this was a collar exercise. It's a feel good wildlife story, but might be intended to help prosecute "criminals", who were protecting their stock.
I hunt east of Meeker, CO. When we were visiting with the rancher, he told us, as it stands right now, you better not shoot a wolf even it is causing livestock loss. Once the wolves get into the steep valleys, it will be a long time to eliminate them. Another bad decision done by ballot and not common sense or science.
The GA DNR has reintroduced red wolves to an area of N. Georgia. I have no hopes that they will thrive and expand their range, however strongly I wish that they would. My coyotes could use some help controlling the plague of deer here.
If I could get my hands on some CWD in a bottle and release it here, and not get caught, I would. "Hunting deer" here is a joke. Our limit is 10 deer a season. Anyone who cannot kill 10 deer here during the season should take up playing checkers with Ray Charles. But, the problem is, they won't. All they want to shoot is a "trophy buck".
Stan, is this a new release or an old one? There was a pocket of red wolves in SW GA, but the stock has probably been diluted via interbreeding with coyotes. The red wolf is not as large as the grey. Gil
Stan, is this a new release or an old one? There was a pocket of red wolves in SW GA, but the stock has probably been diluted via interbreeding with coyotes. The red wolf is not as large as the grey. Gil
It's the older one, Gil. I just learned of it last year, however.
If I could get my hands on some CWD in a bottle and release it here, and not get caught, I would.
I know you said this out of frustration but dying from CWD is a horrible way to go out for a deer (or cow, sheep, or human that has contracted similar prion diseases).
I am not very happy about this, or any wildlife management via the ballot box. We have Biologists and a host of others within our Parks and Wildlife dept that are far better suited to make these decisions. I'm not so sure the Wolves would not have established themselves anyway, we had recently documented pups born in CO with no human help, they have been seen here for years. I would not be surprised at all if they are documented in Boulder County this summer, they are currently just on the other side of the divide.
This is the same way Spring bear hunting and hunting Bears with dogs was banned, no science just Disney at the ballot box. Fast forward 20 plus years and we now have way too many Bears.
The irony of a Liberal who supports and votes for Liberal Democrats, then complaining about being negatively impacted by Liberal Left policies... is just too precious!
A true sign of mental illness is any gun owner who would vote for an Anti-Gunner like Joe Biden.
If I could get my hands on some CWD in a bottle and release it here, and not get caught, I would.
I know you said this out of frustration but dying from CWD is a horrible way to go out for a deer (or cow, sheep, or human that has contracted similar prion diseases).
People dying from a car collision with a deer is not a good way to go either, Bluestem. What's more important, people and their food, or deer? I know of numerous cases of that in my area. My crop damage is but a part of my frustrations with deer here. You would not believe the property damage to vehicles in our part of the world. Deer hit them, manage to make it into the woods and die a slow death. People die from the collisions. Body shops are making out like bandits, to the point that you cannot get any of them to do a whole vehicle paint job for you. They are making too much money from deer collisions. And who's paying for those repairs? Not the insurance companies. Yeah, they pay the shop bill, but their actuaries make sure we all pay enough in premiums that the insurance companies are still making lots of profits.
Yes, I said it out of frustration, but I meant it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We desperately get depradation permits during the crops' growing season to kill deer. Ten to a permit. The DNR says "When you fill that one call back and we'll issue another." They know they're largely to blame for managing the seasons and bag limits to maximize the carrying capacity of the land in terms of deer numbers. Now they're holding hearings to hear what the farmers and other residents have to say about the numbers of deer. What needs to happen is a class action lawsuit brought by citizens, against the DNR, who have lost untold millions due to crop and vehicle damage. Would I unleash CWD on the deer here if I could? In a skinny minute.
Imagine, when you "put the lights out" on a doe, that you are standing in the surf dipping water into a 55 gallon drum with a thimble. That's the effect killing them (on permits) have on the overall population. Difference is that you can dip water out of the ocean in the daytime.......... you have to stay up late to shoot deer during the night, then have to work 10-12 hours the next day. It sounds like fun, but it ain't.
I've had three vehicles hit by deer; one totaled my F-150. I have no issues with culling excess deer. Stack them like cordwood if you like. But I wouldn't wish this type of disease on any of God's creatures:
I think it's fine to have differing opinions, but pest control and predator policy would do well without an emotional component. What if it's against the law to stack 'em like cord wood, or any other provocative wording. Then, what?
Stan I feel your deer pain. For those who lease my land to hunt, they are given a quota of deer they must kill. The farmer who rents it for farming and I both got tired of the hunters waiting for the "big" buck and passing on multiple lesser bucks and taking no does at all. The smallest farm has a 20 deer quota and the largest farm has a 60 deer quota. Show me the tags for deer checked in and a photo. Most hunters have learned to thin out the does early and donate them to the food bank. But I do not care how many they take more will just move in. You still need to try.
About 20 years ago we had a deer drive that killed 53 deer in one morning on the larger farm and there were many, many more deer left that we never moved from one last section of woods. The deer eat everything they can reach in the Winter. What they can do to a row of beans would make you think the planter was stopped up, only it was not. They are so bad that the outside rows of beans and corn will be almost completely harvested by them long before the farmer gets a chance. The number of crop depredation permits that these farms have, which allow you to shoot deer anytime, is a number I will not share. People think you get joy from using them but honestly you just get sick of it. The heard would be much healthier if you just reduced their number by 50% and allowed them to build back slowly. Right now they are at or in most years over the carrying capacity of the land.
We have had hot spots of deer die off, near me, where every deer in a mile or more radius died almost all at once. Talking 50-75 deer, of all ages and conditions, all just die. And the next year the numbers were exactly the same. If the wolves would just eat deer and leave the other livestock alone I'd be happy for their help. But things never seem to work out that easy. And about the second calf I lost might get me in the mood to act poorly. Again nothing works perfectly.
I apologize if I sounded excessively cruel, or inhumane. I never enjoy seeing suffering. But, make no mistake, I do NOT equate the "suffering" of animals with human suffering, as do so many of the animal rights activists who place the importance of a cat or dog's life right up there with that of a person's. To me, "suffering" implies that the entity has the realization that it IS suffering. Animals cannot reason to the extent that they can do this, humans can. Animals can feel pain, and we hate to see them linger in severe pain for any length of time. But, they cannot have a realization that they may die from whatever is causing the pain, as humans can.
If any animal on God's earth can approximate the love and empathy of humans, it is a dog. I believe with all my heart He endowed many of them with a special ability to bond with people.
Stan I would love to come out and help with the deer problem.
Count me in on that - I spent a whole week hunting in northern Maine last November. While I saw some sign, I saw no deer. I'd be happy to help Georgia's problem. Likewise with KY Jon's.
I guess it's going on 30 years ago now - I was working for a lawyer who had his office on his farm, in a nicely converted garage. This was in Central Jersey. There would be 50 or 60 deer in the pasture around dusk. Driving out in the evening in the fall there'd be a couple buck fights going on at the same time with the does watching. Headlights sweeping and cars passing didn't bother them a bit.
The one year the neighboring farmer got a depredation permit and killed something like 100 deer. Buried them - there was no "hunters for the hungry" or food bank to take them. Knocked the herd back, but 2 or 3 years later the numbers were almost back to where they'd been.
Like I said: I'd be happy working to supply the food bank and maybe take a little venison home with me.
Well sort of Ed, Introduce wolves. The only viable option to kill deer. They will indeed kill the mess out of them. Along with the much slower and more naive calves/cows that come along. Very few Moose left in the north of MN too. They are relatively slow and not that sharp, ornery though! Do a search on Moose calf depredation in MN. The DNR there would just LOVE to regulate the wolf population. So much so that Sen. Amy Klobechar (DEM) brought this to then Pres. Trump. Who Immediately delisted the Wolf. That did not last long, you do the research it's easy.
Chief
P.S. Stanton I live fairly close, I'd take a couple deers!
Wolves were reintroduced into the Pyrenees in France (and now extending across into Spain). There are now 540 (estimated) in 80 packs. 12,000 sheep have been lost - the French government pays compensation. Interesting article here in English by a UK gentlemen since Parliament was considering reintroducing wolves to Great Britain.
P.S. Stanton I live fairly close, I'd take a couple deers!
Once the crops are planted we will be getting depredation permits and shooting them at night. We have to list no more than three shooters on each permit. The shooters have to work alone .... they can have no one with them to assist by driving, holding a light, etc. We, by necessity, have to use friends who live close enough to be available several nights a week, in order to be efficient.
No fun gutting and processing deer at night in the summer heat, but you're welcome to all of the dead ones you want. It's just not an easy thing to arrange. But, thanks for all the offers to help.
Originally Posted by ed good
if you are fortunate enough to have an excess of deer, then increase the competing predators in order to reduce the herd...
Competition for the resource here isn't getting any lighter. With the price of real food (i.e, protein) seemingly spiraling ever higher, every semi-competent individual in the region that owns a rifle seems to be wrangling for a tag and a place to use it. Moreover, Colorado had a bad winter-kill in 2022/2023, combine that with these newly-introduced wolves and the recovery of the now badly-decimated deer & elk herds is even further threatened. One of the ranchers we know west of Craig photographed wolf tracks in the snow very near his home and it made the local paper, so they are becoming a factor already. Public land hunting here hasn't been all that viable for some time now (compared to what it once was) and this nearly "perfect-storm" of foolish wildlife management, weather challenges, and crowded conditions has me and the folks I go with considering sitting things out this coming year. When you think about all of the now-expensive moving parts, it's unlikely to be worth going this year or even the next few. As creatures of habit, we still might, but our expectations will be tightly controlled.
Competition and the price of protein...Believe it or not, there is a waiting list for unclaimed roadkill in my neighborhood. The fire department will call you when one is available. I don't participate. Not hard to give away deer here. But mulies are way better eating than whitetails, IMO, maybe that has something to do with it.
The neighbor games they law. A tag is an easy draw here but there's hardly anywhere to hunt because it's so population dense and all private. He's got about a few thousand square feet of land (out of +/- 6 acres) where he can technically legally shoot without being too close to an occupied building. It's kind of funny and maybe unethical but, he's in his 90"s so whatever.
Good for your neighbor Ryan! I'm not entirely sure I care to see 90, so if I do I hope I could secure game at that stage.
An admission as to deer hunting. I am, at best a luke warm participant. Just does not light my fire. The social aspect of group hunting, family and friends was great! That for me is sadly, mostly gone. That said I grew up eating them and really like to do that yet. I've shot several in the past, a couple decent bucks in there. Much more interested in the meat.
Which brings me to Stanton's offer. Sure, I'll take a couple dead ones! I can fillet 90% of the useful meat in about 15 min. with a pruning saw and a good knife! Providing that Georgia does not frown on that?
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