Wolves Shadow Wisconsin Bowhunter

[smoke1953]

To be more accurate, the DNR has requested the USDA, Wildlife Services to trap them.  I think they're sending them up to you Orion.

[Jim Rocole]

I do a lot of grouse hunting with my brittany's in the Nicolet National Forest in Oconto and Forest Counties. I always have a sidearm with me. I have encoutered them both grouse hunting and bowhunting. Nothing happened but in my mind why take the chance and not be prepared. I also carry one with me when I am bowhunting area's that I know a wolf pack is in. As it was stated you can look at the DNR website for their locations but I doubt they have them all tracked.

[HATCHCHASER]

There are more laws to protect animals than there are to protect honest humans.  I am all for conservation, but not at the expense of me or my family's safety.  Most of the laws made to protect animals should be viewed as protecting the fat cats wallets.    

  I want my son to be able to hunt and fish like me. We are still the APEX PREDATOR. Other animals were put here for our use.  We mess up when we try to control what God has put in place.

 If I ever had a pack of wolves follow me I would set out to kill them all by whatever means necessary.  I bet a hundred dollars to a donut those wolves were looking for a meal and not just "being curious".

 I hope your son is safe hunting.

[Steve D]

Doesn't surprise many of us that live in  areas where the wolves have been present,what do you expect when the DNR handles the pups in their dens and gives them shots  to protect them from disease etc,ha and gives pet like names to them, result: an OVERPROTECTED wild animal that has little or no fear of man.Things are going to messy unless immediate changes are implemented in the management of wolves.

[PAPA BEAR]

if you live in wolf country and make calls mimicking the wolves prey you can pretty much expect to be checked out.just like cougars do here.you need to be prepared to kill if needed.dont wait for them to leave,make them leave by shooting them.you have the right to protect yourself from any threat be it a burglar or a wolf.any wolf i see checking me out is getting the air let out of him period.

[IndianaBowman]

Statistics say anything you want them to! It's all about the population and sample size you elect to compare. As stated above, if you live in wolf country you have a much greater probability of being attacked by a wolf. If we group all the sample populations together and normalize to all of us then you are right the odds are slim at best. That just doesn't apply to the guy being followed by a pack of wolves.

I've been attacked by wild dogs 4 times, trailed out by a pack of coyotes just last weekend, and shoot any canine that so much as snarls at me. The neighbor's dog bit my daughter ONCE in our yard! I love all animals and respect them as much or more than most. As soon as they disrespect me or my family, they get to find out who is really at the top of the food chain!

[PAPA BEAR]

the anti's have us right where they want us,they know they cannot stop hunting in its entirity so they approached it in a different manner.they get the wolf reintroduced into areas of heavy human presence and game rich areas.the wolf population will explode then the game we hunt will be depleted down to a meager few of what it was,that in turn will inspire less and less people to hunt which is exactly what they have been trying to accomplish the entire time.i'll say this and i dont care one bit who i piss off...I SEE A WOLF IT DIES.  

[cacciatore]

Larry,to me you speak like a printed book.LOL.

[PAPA BEAR]

theres wolves in the eaglecaps felix.i am sure we will see some next september.

[lpcjon2]

Thats crazy!! If your son can't carry a firearm in bow season,then he should get that bear spray or a can air horn just in case it happens again.Maybe it will scare them off.

[PAPA BEAR]

you have the right to protect yourself from all percieved threats.excersize your right to bear arms.the so called laws that prohibit you from carrying a sidearm during bow season are in fact not even a law.challenge it in a court of law and you will prevail.happened here in oregon then washington shortly after that.your fish and game officials cannot make a law they only make up rules that are not a law at all.i am not against laws just getting sick of seeing peoples rights get trampled on at every whim by some government employee who thinks they have the last word.

[cacciatore]

I have seen wolves 3 years ago Est of the Yellowstone,they where chasing elk then.A herd of 15 cows took my trail and passed by at 10 yards very scared,never seen the bull and this is strange in September,the wolves were some 300 yards,maybe they already had what they were looking for.

I wonder if there was deer lure scent involved with this. It could be that these wolves may have learned that bowhunters can equal dead deer and gut piles.  There was a large coyote where we used to hunt.  One day I shot a large buck with my Super K, when we were dragging out the deer, the coyote met us in the field.  We passed 30 yards, stopped and stared at each other, I told  him "go ahead the gut pile is yours" and he trotted to our back trail and headed for the gut pile.  
I do not think you would need to pack a side arm because of the wolves.  You could shoot one with your bow that would pretty much get them off your back.  Now if it was animals that actually have a history of attacking humans like cougars or grizzlies, I would feel better with a ten gauge pump shotgun.  Wolf numbers need to be managed in the unnatural balance that occurs because of parks and agriculture, but they are not a man eating crazed preditor that we need to get all mystical about.  They will certainly do a number on any local deer population, mostly just because they will chase the deer out of the area.

[Killdeer]

The game laws ARE laws, and require a trip to the courthouse to rectify any infractions. That being said, the right to keep and bear, permitted (yeesh!   :rolleyes: ) through a concealed carry permit, trump the game laws.

I will not use the CCW permit to poach, but only for its intended use.

Killdeer

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

I had a pack of 11 come to my elk calls a few years back. I shot the 1st one but didn't recover it...kinda rushed the shot as I was prepared to climb a tree.

My buddy was rifle hunting for moose this fall and heard a snap behind him.....turned to see 2 wolves coming at him. He killed the 1st one...(a small white one)

They definitely are up in numbers here to the point that the elk won't call when stationary (only on the move) and all species run for the water when you jump them. Points to a wolf issue if you ask me!

[PAPA BEAR]

oregons game law for carrying a firearm during archery season was not a law thats why it was overturned.this was done by one person who challenged its merit.a game law that has no merit other than some fish and game officials saying it should be a law is in my opinion stepping on my right to bear arms.my right to bear arms trumps any game law.imho that is.  

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Michigan is a "Shall Issue" state....get a concealed carry permit, and carry always. I have for years. There are a heck of a lot worse things in the woods than wolves....2 legged animals scare me more....It is the rare moment when I'm not armed.

[PAPA BEAR]

here ya go:
"[T]he people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and their own state, or the United States, or the purpose of killing game; and no law shall be passed for disarming the people or any of them, unless for crimes committed..."[30]

In commentary written by Justice Cummings in United States v. Emerson, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concluded in 2001 that:[31]

there are numerous instances of the phrase 'bear arms' being used to describe a civilian's carrying of arms. Early constitutional provisions or declarations of rights in at least some ten different states speak of the right of the 'people' [or 'citizen' or 'citizens'] "to bear arms in defense of themselves [or 'himself'] and the state,' or equivalent words, thus indisputably reflecting that under common usage 'bear arms' was in no sense restricted to bearing arms in military service. See Bliss v. Commonwealth, 13 Am. Dec. 251, 12 Ky. 90 (Ky. 1822).[32]
Similarly, in a released Senate report on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, states:

They argue that the Second Amendment's words "right of the people" mean "a right of the state" — apparently overlooking the impact of those same words when used in the First and Fourth Amendments. The "right of the people" to assemble or to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures is not contested as an individual guarantee. Still they ignore consistency and claim that the right to "bear arms" relates only to military uses. This not only violates a consistent constitutional reading of "right of the people" but also ignores that the second amendment protects a right to "keep" arms. "When our ancestors forged a land "conceived in liberty", they did so with musket and rifle. When they reacted to attempts to dissolve their free institutions, and established their identity as a free nation, they did so as a nation of armed freemen. When they sought to record forever a guarantee of their rights, they devoted one full amendment out of ten to nothing but the protection of their right to keep and bear arms against governmental interference. Under my chairmanship the Subcommittee on the Constitution will concern itself with a proper recognition of, and respect for, this right most of all.

[NBK]

I do most of my bowhunting in the public lands around the Willow Flowage in northern Wisconsin and anyone familiar with that area knows just how many wolves there are.  I'm not anti-wolf, however I do spend alot of time with my three young daughters (7, 4 and 16mo.) scouting and hiking the area.  The odds of a wolf attacking us?  Maybe one in a million.  The odds of any wolf actually getting close enough to them... my 10mm Glock 20 on my hip is my answer to that.  The girls call it "dad's little gun".  Hearing a wolf howl at dusk as your climbing down from your tree and a mile from the truck is an interesting feeling.  On one hand you can't help but whisper "brother I know how you feel", and on the other hand you're wondering if you have any fresh undies back at camp!

[Hud]

Within the past couple of years, the Idaho pack has spread into eastern Oregon, and Washington. They spread quickly, and I feel they will eventually be found in most of the Western USA.  It won't be necessary to introduce them by planting, because the packs in ID, Montana and Wyo are well established, the number of breeding pairs is multiplying, and they are looking for new territory and travel great distances in search of a mate and territory. They have no natural enemies, and the only control is hunting, where it is allowed.

The ban on using dogs to hunt Cougar and Bear in some states, has resulted in more encounters in populated areas, because they are loosing their fear of man. It is only a matter of time before it happens with Wolves, in the lower 48, given the fact that Wolves are responsible for the death of a jogger in Alaska, and a surveyor in Canada.

I recently read an article about elk moving into towns in the panhandle of ID., and the game dept. said, it was the result of wolf pressure on the herds.

Obviously, if you are a bowhunter and you have an animal down, and the Wolves beat you to it, there isn't much you can do, because they are under Federal Protection. But if you become the prey, you will need something stronger than pepper spray.

The RMEF (Feb. 2010) recently took isssue with the facts and figures being presented by the Defenders of Wildlife, and others, as proof that Wolves are good for elk herds, because Elk are expanding into new areas of the Rocky Mountains. In stead it looks as though Elk are being driven into areas they would not normally be found, and it may not be good for the Elk, or other species.

So, in my mind to say the Wolves are good for Elk herds, deer or other animals just can not be supported.

Obviously, Wolves are here and there are going to be a lot more of them in the comming years and it is important to get behind groups like RMEF, because they have the resources to represent sportsman, and that means us.

Someone took exception to Wolves killing livestock in Eastern OR and killed a Wolf with a collar. They quickly offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the parties responsible. Unfortunately, the reimbursement for the loss of livestock, isn't very much and people are unhappy with the way the Feds are handling the situation. Regardless of the reason, killing them is not legal in most areas.