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Politics Of Hunting & Guns (NOT General Politics)
RMEF Turns Up Heat on Pro-Wolf Groups
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<blockquote data-quote="jmden" data-source="post: 385589" data-attributes="member: 1742"><p>Exactly. It's about time. Although I've been an RMEF member for years and appreciate greatly what they do, I can't help but wonder which motivator or set of motivators <em>finally</em> spawned a response like this from RMEF, because it's been along time coming and it needs to continue and be heard and understood by a very large audience.</p><p> </p><p>I think one thing that has caused a great deal of confusion on the issue, in terms of the RMEF and many hunters even, has been because we've been told that overall, elk numbers seem to be staying steady even with rising wolf populations. Which then begs the questions and should of begged the questions from many of us, including the RMEF, many years ago: "How are the counts accomplished?", and "Are those elk counting methods valid or declining in validity with increasing wolf populations?" I think many are starting to just now to realize that the counting methods used for decades before Canadian Gray Wolf introduction (NOT reintroduction) are not valid and become less and less valid as wolf pops increase. </p><p> </p><p>When the rising wolf population forces elk behavioral changes, the most pertinent to this particular issue being the behavioral change of herding up and forcing elk out of the woods and to spend much more time that would otherwise be the case in open areas...and it is the elk out in the open that are counted and estimates made for the rest that can't be seen...well, you can see where this goes. There appears to be the same number of elk out in the open as there used to be because they are being forced out into the open more and more often as a defense mechanism to be able to see the predators coming. As the wolf pops rise, more elk spend more time in the open until a much greater percentage of the remaing elk population is out in the open than there used to be. All the while the same formula is being used to estimate the number of elk that can't be seen, while this number that can't be seen is actually being drastically reduced in many areas. </p><p> </p><p>The old counting methods don't work anymore and I think the numbers they've gotten for the last several years are skewed and have placated many that shouldn't be. </p><p> </p><p>This is just one issue of many rolled up in this debate, but an important one. </p><p> </p><p>But now in some areas with wolf populations, calf recruitment especially is many times lower (many elk calves are aborted over the winter as the cows are getting run around much more than they used to by the wolves) and overall population numbers are recently seeing decline--even with the old counting methods. This indicated that some elk populations have reached critical mass or critical 'no mass'. </p><p> </p><p>This is now coming back to the hunter in the way of reduced harvest opportunities . (The very folks that largely paid for this abuse of the ESA in the first place through excise taxes from Pittman-Robertson and the Dingle bill, license fees, etc., etc., are the ones most likely to suffer from the wolf introduction...hmm... Who would've approved a move like that? Using hunter's tax money to introduce a non-native species (not the wolf sub species that was there to begine with) that kill huge amounts of elk and deer that otherwise would've been potentially available for hunters.) Just this year, for the first time, in an area where I shot my first elk in Montana several years ago, the anterless permits for that GMU went from 200 to 25--a nearly 10X reduction. Wolf activity is very high there. This is just one example. Less elk/deer meat on the table. This kind of thing is being played out in a growing number of areas as the invalid couting methods are finally starting to give indicators of what is going on. </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2008/04/04/wolf-reintroduction-still-rankles/" target="_blank">Wolf 'reintroduction' still rankles Wildlife and People</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Jon</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jmden, post: 385589, member: 1742"] Exactly. It's about time. Although I've been an RMEF member for years and appreciate greatly what they do, I can't help but wonder which motivator or set of motivators [I]finally[/I] spawned a response like this from RMEF, because it's been along time coming and it needs to continue and be heard and understood by a very large audience. I think one thing that has caused a great deal of confusion on the issue, in terms of the RMEF and many hunters even, has been because we've been told that overall, elk numbers seem to be staying steady even with rising wolf populations. Which then begs the questions and should of begged the questions from many of us, including the RMEF, many years ago: "How are the counts accomplished?", and "Are those elk counting methods valid or declining in validity with increasing wolf populations?" I think many are starting to just now to realize that the counting methods used for decades before Canadian Gray Wolf introduction (NOT reintroduction) are not valid and become less and less valid as wolf pops increase. When the rising wolf population forces elk behavioral changes, the most pertinent to this particular issue being the behavioral change of herding up and forcing elk out of the woods and to spend much more time that would otherwise be the case in open areas...and it is the elk out in the open that are counted and estimates made for the rest that can't be seen...well, you can see where this goes. There appears to be the same number of elk out in the open as there used to be because they are being forced out into the open more and more often as a defense mechanism to be able to see the predators coming. As the wolf pops rise, more elk spend more time in the open until a much greater percentage of the remaing elk population is out in the open than there used to be. All the while the same formula is being used to estimate the number of elk that can't be seen, while this number that can't be seen is actually being drastically reduced in many areas. The old counting methods don't work anymore and I think the numbers they've gotten for the last several years are skewed and have placated many that shouldn't be. This is just one issue of many rolled up in this debate, but an important one. But now in some areas with wolf populations, calf recruitment especially is many times lower (many elk calves are aborted over the winter as the cows are getting run around much more than they used to by the wolves) and overall population numbers are recently seeing decline--even with the old counting methods. This indicated that some elk populations have reached critical mass or critical 'no mass'. This is now coming back to the hunter in the way of reduced harvest opportunities . (The very folks that largely paid for this abuse of the ESA in the first place through excise taxes from Pittman-Robertson and the Dingle bill, license fees, etc., etc., are the ones most likely to suffer from the wolf introduction...hmm... Who would've approved a move like that? Using hunter's tax money to introduce a non-native species (not the wolf sub species that was there to begine with) that kill huge amounts of elk and deer that otherwise would've been potentially available for hunters.) Just this year, for the first time, in an area where I shot my first elk in Montana several years ago, the anterless permits for that GMU went from 200 to 25--a nearly 10X reduction. Wolf activity is very high there. This is just one example. Less elk/deer meat on the table. This kind of thing is being played out in a growing number of areas as the invalid couting methods are finally starting to give indicators of what is going on. [URL="http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2008/04/04/wolf-reintroduction-still-rankles/"]Wolf ‘reintroduction’ still rankles Wildlife and People[/URL] Jon [/QUOTE]
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