wolf » Wildlife Callers

No Wolf Season This Year, Now What?

Posted August 11, 2010 By Marc Reindell and has 1 comment.

Since last week’s ruling on re-listing the Wolf to endangered species status, we’ve been asked what can be done going forward and to restore wolf hunting.

Based on a legal technicality regarding ESA (endangered species act) stating that de-listing of a species cannot be done on a state by state basis, the management of the species by Montana and Idaho were shot down. Wyoming did not propose a wolf management plan based on the fact that Wyoming does not classify the wolf as a big game species. Wyoming lists the wolf as a predator and allows for the trapping and killing on sight of wolves throughout most of the state. As a result, wolves were not de-listed in Wyoming last year and Wyoming did not propose anything different for this year either.

This is a very good article written by Keith McCafferty for Field and Stream magazine on what can be done to try to possibly reverse this ruling in the future: Who’s to Blame for Wolf Reinstatement(and What You Can Do About It)

We encourage our readers to write to the appropriate people in Wyoming (and other states that have Wolf populations, however minor) mentioned in the article and encourage them to change their way of thinking.

We don’t want to see the SSS (shoot, shovel and shut up) mentality take over, our sport, and hunting in general is already being attacked. This would only give the “anti-hunter” people even more fuel to attack our right to hunt and our ability to pass traditions along to our children.

We will continue to pass along any information about this subject as we get it.

Thank you again for reading, subscribing is easy, just fill in the info below:

Good hunting!

Marc Reindell

marc@wildlifecallers.com

Categories: News & Media, Predator calling, wolf

Tags: Arizona predator hunting, electronic predator calling, Hunting, Idaho hunting, predator callers, Predator calling, predator hunting, wildlife callers, wolf hunting, wolf hunts

Federal Judge Donald W. Molloy Stops Wolf Hunting in Idaho and Montana

Posted August 7, 2010 By Mark Healy and has 4 comments.

Judge Donald Molloy, a Clinton appointee, said Thursday that he ruled specifically on the law, stating:

“The Endangered Species Act does not allow the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to list only part of a ‘species’ as endangered, or to protect a listed distinct population segment only in part as the Final Rule here does”

Grey Wolf - US Fish and Wildlife Service

The Idaho Fish and Game Deputy Director reacted quickly to the action by the Federal Government, stating “We’re frustrated; we’re angry; we’re disappointed.” “We’ve played by the rules, but his decision allows procedural technicalities to overcome sound science and common sense.” Governor Butch Otter and his Democratic opponent, Keith Allred, both echoed that sentiment, saying the State of Idaho should have the right to manage it’s wolf population.

With the current administration seeking a much larger footprint for the federal government, that might be asking a lot.

Read more here: Idaho Statesman Article

There were quick calls for an appeal by Gov. Butch Otter who sees the assumed numbers of wolves needed for “population sustainability” being conveniently increaseed by radical environmental groups. In our last blog post on Idaho wolf hunting we feared that continuous efforts with lawsuits could achieve this setback. However, we at Wildlife Callers remain confident that the need for Idaho, Montana, and other states, to manage wolves on locally based field science and declining populations of elk, deer, moose, and other prey mammals will eventually win out in the court system. We’ll keep you informed of this court case as it proceeds.

We are also keenly aware of the millions of private and taxpayer dollars being spent to keep the wolves from being de-listed and completely untouchable. How small must the ungulate herds get before the groups claiming to care about the environment allow hunters to balance the wolf population against the deer, elk, and moose populations?

A Shiras Moose tag in Idaho is already a “once in a lifetime” tag–on par with hunting a Bighorn Sheep in Arizona (currently being eaten to extinction by cougars with the help of “environmentalists”). The environmentalists keep telling us that the wolf is a national treasure–we contend the Shiras population in the US is too. Why must one be completely decimated so the other’s population numbers can satisfy a good feeling about wolves grounded in raw emotion and anti-hunting sentiment?

For a good article about large wolf populations in the US and Canada (wolves ignore borders), wolf control efforts in Canada, funding for the wolf introduction program, impact to the Yellowstone elk herd, and more click here: Has The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Become A Rogue Agency?

Anti-Hunting Ideology… (more…)

Categories: News & Media, Predator calling, wolf

Tags: digital wildlife calling, electronic game callers, electronic predator calling, electronic wildlife caller, Hunting, Idaho hunting, Mighty Atom, Predator calling, predator hunting, wildlife callers, wildlife technologies, wolf calling, wolf hunting, wolf hunts

It’s Official! Electronic Calls Legal for Idaho Wolf Hunts.

Posted July 13, 2010 By Mark Healy and has 6 comments.

Idaho wildlife officials announced this past Wednesday evening that electronic game calls and trapping will be legal methods of take during their 2010 wolf hunting season.

Wolf - Courtesy of the US Fish & Wildlife Service/Tracy Brooks

With Idaho elk herds in a steady decline and no reasonable recovery in sight, the game commissioners found it a reasonable step to include electronic calls as a wolf hunting method to help reach 2010 wolf harvest objectives. Remember that any action favoring wolf hunting or wolf hunters will face immediate opposition and legal challenges from well funded anti-hunting organizations. We are, however, optimistic that Idaho’s wildlife managers will prevail in moving forward this need based, well documented, biologically sound, action plan for better wolf control in their state.

For more details and commentary, see the article in the Idaho Statesman: Electronic Calls Fair Game in Idaho Wolf Hunts

After taking dozens of phone calls last season from hunters very interested in calling an Idaho wolf (that’s you California hunters!) we’re looking forward to actually being able to deliver them a Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom caller. Last season we had to turn ‘em down — not so this wolf season! (more…)

Categories: Predator calling, electronic callers, wildlife technologies, wolf

Tags: electronic game callers, electronic predator calling, electronic wildlife caller, hunters, Hunting, Idaho hunting, predator callers, Predator calling, predator calls, wildlife callers, wildlife technologies, wolf hunting, wolf hunts

RMEF Turns Up Heat On Pro-Wolf Groups

Posted April 12, 2010 By Marc Reindell and has 4 comments.

The first legal wolf hunting season has come to a close in the Northern Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana for the year, but the controversy that surrounds the legality of the wolf hunt is still a hot topic.

We posted stories early on this past season’s wolf hunts and we want to keep you up to date on what else is going on regarding this highly debated subject.

Successful Idaho Wolf Hunter Robert Millage

As a member and supporter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, I received an e-mail from them with information on this highly contested issue. I’d like to share with our readers the RMEF’s involvement with this issue as it relates to the work they do maintaining sustainable elk herds in the rocky mountain west. We know that many of our readers would love the opportunity to call & hunt a wolf, an apex predator. If some of the so-called “conservation” groups have their way, not only will this opportunity go away, but the ability of states to manage wildlife within their borders will be diminished.

Below is an excerpt of a response written by David Allen, President and CEO of RMEF, to a letter written by Defenders Of Wildlife and Western Wildlife Conservancy. I think you will find this interesting.

“We would be happy to meet with you to discuss conservation issues and the destruction of specific herds of elk in North America. We believe; however, that your organizations and others are contributing greatly to perhaps one of the worst wildlife management disasters since the destruction of bison herds in the 19th century. Until the lawsuit relative to re-listing the wolves is settled or until you withdraw your support for such, there really isn’t much need to meet as we continue to be at opposite ends of this issue.

Once again, I will state that elk are not flourishing where wolves are present. Contrary to what you have suggested many times to claim otherwise is disingenuous and “cherry picking” data. Elk populations are being exploited at a high rate by predators, primarily wolves and somewhat by grizzly bears. However, since the introduction of the Canadian gray wolf into Yellowstone this exploitation has become worse for elk numbers in the same areas. Yet, you would have the public believe otherwise.”

To read both letters, click on the following links: letter from Defenders of Wildlife, and the response letter from RMEF

RMEF has a good understanding of the role hunting and hunters play in proper wildlife management, they also see the motivation these so called wildlife “conservation” groups have in halting or stopping hunting and hunters in this role.

If you would like to read more on the work the RMEF does or become a supporting member, please visit them at www.rmef.org

We urge you to stay informed regarding the wolf hunts, this is going to go on for some time. The chance to call & shoot a wolf in North America could be short lived. Thanks to organizations such as RMEF, that possibility is being contested vigorously.

Your comments on this are appreciated, let us know what you think!

Thank you,

Marc Reindell

marc@wildlifecallers.com

Categories: News & Media, Predator calling, wolf

Tags: Idaho hunting, Predator calling, predator hunting, RMEF, wildlife callers, wolf hunting, wolf hunts

Wolf Hunting Proving Difficult-Another Update

Posted September 10, 2009 By Marc Reindell and has no comments yet.

As predator hunters and wildlife photographers already know, it’s difficult finding and tracking the intended prey. We know this at Wildlife Callers as we focus on mountain lion hunting, it seems the wolf is proving to be hard to find as well.

An article from today in the NewYork Times goes into some of the difficulties Idaho hunters are having in their pursuit of the Wolf.

Marv Hagedorn, an Idaho state representative and hunter, hunting for wolves in the Boise Mountains with his son, John.

Mr. Rachael, the state wildlife manager, said he thought it was unlikely that hunters would reach the quota of 220 wolves that Idaho game officials have said can be killed this season. (Montana has set a limit of 75 for a season that begins Sept. 15.) He recalled talking to hunters who recently called looking for advice after spending a couple of days in futile pursuit: “You know,” the hunters confessed, “we don’t know how to hunt wolves.”

(more…)

Categories: Predator Scouting, Predator calling, wolf

Tags: Hunting, Idaho hunting, predator callers, predator hunting, wildlife callers, wolf hunting