Wolves In Our Backyard

We love to tell hunting and fishing stories around a campfire on a lazy fall night. Sometimes our stories are of past hunts, sometimes they are of what’s good and right about hunting. Sometimes, our stories are fears, or maybe concerns is the better word, for the wild animals we so valiantly try to manage through conservation. Perhaps the biggest story, at least in the Western United States, right now is about wolves. Wolves are the hot topic here in Idaho as we try and sort through the good and bad, and the myths versus reality. My personal opinion may best be left unsaid, but I’ll just go ahead and state that I don’t care for these giant predators. They seem to have had their way with elk and moose populations in Idaho, but I’m no expert on the subject. Cruising the local newspaper, I like to read Mathew Neal’s Notes From the Field, and I came across his very interesting article about wolves - wolves near my new home in Weiser, Idaho. Weiser is a desert area located at about 2,000 feet. Wolves have been well documented in the mountains surrounding us, but to see them down in the valley is something we’ve not noticed before. I don’t have all the answers about wolves and how to control their devastating habits - I’ve certainly got opinions - but I do hope that this issue can be resolved soon.

Idaho continues to try and get control from the federal government to manage wolves, and this is one political event I’ll pay close attention to. As I understand it, February 28th or 29th we’ll know whether the federal government will accept Idaho’s management plan. From there, it becomes an issue of jumping through the multiple lawsuits that are sure to follow. From there, it would open some sort of a season on wolves - which is like saying, “Congraulations, hunters, you now have permission to hunt an animal that is rarely seen - now go thin the population by 1500 wolves.” In talking with someone working in close relation to this case he said to me, “We’ll consider it a very good year to have 100-125 of them killed. It isn’t like a person will just go out and think ‘well, I’m going to go kill a wolf, today.’”

I imagine most of the wolves killed will be killed by hunters hunting for something else, or ranchers checking on their livestock. Anyway we look at it, wolves are not going anywhere - they’re here to stay, and we’d best learn how to at least control them, and unfortunately, live with them.

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