Today’s blog post comes from Mark Holyoak, director of public relations for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation located in Missoula, Montana.
Wolves are among the most elusive species on the landscape. They are notoriously sly with sharp senses which make them extremely difficult to hunt. And now, hunters are gearing up for the challenge with inaugural wolf seasons this fall in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, plus continuing hunts in Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Canada.
More successful wolf hunters mean better balance in areas where undermanaged predator populations have a more significant impact on elk and other wildlife. In some parts of the northern Rockies, growing numbers of wolves, bears and lions compound habitat issues, all contributing to lower elk calf survival rates and fewer adult elk to sustain herds for the future. “Elk are the inspiration behind our organization’s six million-plus acres of habitat conservation,” said Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation President and CEO David Allen. “No conservation group has a membership more invested in elk country, more affected by wolves or more passionate about achieving balance.” RMEF continues to conserve habitat while advocating clearing the way for wolf management via approved state-based management practices.
Doctor David Mech is a senior research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, founder of the International Wolf Center and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota. He spent the last 53 years studying wolves. It is his life work. While addressing a Minnesota legislative committee this past January, Mech praised the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for its approach to use hunting and trapping to manage the state’s estimated population of 3,000 wolves with a quota of 400. He said “trapping and snaring would be the most effective” way to take a wolf. He continued to say “It is difficult to hunt wolves, not impossible. There will be some people who learn how to do it.”
That’s the catch. Trapping aside, just how do you do it? Thousands of sportsmen and women spent decades successfully seeking and harvesting elk and deer, but wolf hunting is a whole new ballgame.
Mech says the best way to find wolves is to start by finding the animals they prey upon—deer and elk. But even then it’s difficult because wolf packs are extremely mobile. Wolves in Minnesota alone cover 13 to 15 miles a day within a 60 to 80 square mile territory.
Of more than 700 RMEF members who responded to a questionnaire about wolf hunting in Idaho and Montana, less than seven percent killed an animal. Other interesting questionnaire statistics:
- 60 percent of respondents report wolf sign was plentiful
- 47 percent actually saw wolves
- 27 percent saw tracks, scat or head calls
- Of successful wolf hunters, 20 percent credit a coincidental encounter
Some of their tips include locate howling packs well before sunrise, concentrate on bad weather days, be smart and patient, be in good shape, and enjoy the experience.
Dozens of ideas and observations from RMEF members on wolf hunting are posted here:
http://www.rmef.org/NewsandMedia/NewsReleases/2012/rmefwolfhunttips.htm
Maybe instead of showing a picture of the dead wolf which cause big fights and shows you actual thoughts on conservation, we as spostman have a hard enough time with activisit shooting at us for large game and you channel put something like this on the facebook page what were your guys thinking the web address above should be some of what you show or watchers and let them know we are not just killers but a protector of species for our childrens children. So if things like this are show again I will discontinue watching The Sportmen Channel, because the act of killing a wolf and it not in the protect of it like deer or others its just killing to have something to do
my opinion and stance on wolf hunting i have to admit is biased. i am a huge fan of wolves and think they are amazing animals so me personally i would never choose to go and hunt wolf, that and i wont eat wolf so i go by my value of i wont kill anything i wont eat. as far as supporting other hunters to hunt wolves, it saddens part of me because of how much i like them and because of how the population of wolves has struggled over the years; however, as far as hunting with a quota for population control in order to help other species and of course not damage and jeopardize their own population and species in a negative way.
Like those above, I also started hniutng at young age with my family. I have had many amazing rifle hunts with my dad and in 2007 we were both fortunate enough to harvest awsome bulls in Colorado. I have also been able to start archery hniutng in the past few years with my husband and in 2005 harvested my first archery deer. (He wasn’t a monster, but you won’t hear me complian!!) It is an indescribable feeling to be in the woods and could only hope that more women, children and men alike can share in this experince in the future. Hunt hard, shoot straight.
Brian – thank you for your concerns. You brought up a great point and We’ll definitely take that into consideration next time we post about a topic like this. We deal with anti-hunters on a daily basis and continue to stress the importance of sportsmen and their role in conservation. Thanks again – Sportsman Channel Staff
I’d agree with David Mech the founder of the International Wolf Center and preeminent wolf researcher. Trapping is probably going to end up being about the only way to get a handle on population control. With a 1% success rate in Montana I just can’t imagine many people with an interest hunting a species we in the US don’t eat.
I’m glad the Sportsman’s Channel and the RMEF are making an attempt to generate interest and I’m grateful to all the conservationist/hunters of Montana, but I think at the end of the day we will have to go to bounties or Wildlife Services.
this is a cool videa last year when we were there we saw a huge grey wolf in the road in yellowstone about 2 miles away from lamar vaelly it was huge and it was very early in the morning so no one was around
me about a month ago. My wife told me that she would like to go Pheasant Hunting with me to see our Hunting Dog in action. I wrote about the first time my wife and I hung out here, so you can see how far she has