Washington State wolves and the future of hunting

[Copper Basin]

In Washington State, Hunters May No Longer Be "Necessary to Manage Wildlife"

An emerging wildlife war has its first skirmish this week in Spokane where a reformist group is looking to deprioritize hunting and hunters.

www.outdoorlife.com

Has anyone looked into this? Not sure if this a new battleground against all hunting or maybe I got suckered into a headline. Any info would be enlightening.

Thanks for any input.

 

[WapitiBob]

When you have governors appointing commission members this is a possible outcome. Not much different than a president stacking scotus. A good thing or bad thing depends on the side you're on.

 

[bearcat2]

No, that has been a plan and an argument of the antis for years. It was the reason they pushed for the reintroduction of wolves back in the 90s. The plan being if we have wolves they will manage the ungulates and make hunting unnecessary.

 

[Copper Basin]

Agreed. Just amazing how this has come along so far without much resistance. All the conservation groups that preserve habitat yet won't take much of a political stand may face the same problems as hunters.

 

[Ua26fitter]

With what they did with sprimg bear season I'm expecting WA to be the first state to ban hunting. It won't be long

Kris

 

[wats338]

Close to 20yrs ago I had this dirty hippie explain to me that the data will show that wildlife management can be from hunters or natural predators, but not both. Aside from his dirty, greasy looks, he was a Ph.D. and highly respected biologist that worked for the fish and game. I've heard similar theories before, but the way he explained it with such certainty, and given the context of the company he was likely to hear and spout that message, I believe that it will impact hunting at some point.

What's funny is there's never been a shortage of Canadian wolves, but never let truth hold up an agenda.

 

[Ua26fitter]

In Washington State, Hunters May No Longer Be "Necessary to Manage Wildlife"

An emerging wildlife war has its first skirmish this week in Spokane where a reformist group is looking to deprioritize hunting and hunters.

www.outdoorlife.com

This pretty much says it all. People better wake up in other states and get ahead of their agenda while they can.

Kris

 

[Unionsparky46]

I can’t stand to read that article. My family has been hunting the hills of Washington for over 100 years throughout the generations. Seen a couple of wolves up in the NE corner few years back. Seen the deer herds decline too. Heard of wolves spotted in western wa too. Can’t wait til I can get out of this state.