County seeks to reduce deer population

[Bonny]

There is a problem with the wolves though. Wolves kill to eat, wolves kill to teach their young how to hunt, wolves kill for recreation. Out West outfitters are having to deal with the wolves brought into Yellowstone. Mainly the elk & mule deer population is suffering. The wolves chase the elk kill the young for all of the above. The cows slip their calves from being chased. There are to many packs & it is out of control. It is like farmers here dealing with coyotes killing calves. I have seen sickly deer over the last couple of years so maybe that will be the thing to thin them out?

[Karen]

That's why I said "were there not human beings" ...

[Bonny]

Thats the problem. There are humans everywhere. The only place I know of where it isn't so populated would be up above the Arctic Circle, Siberia, Northwest Territories.

[Karen]

Thats the problem. There are humans everywhere. The only place I know of where it isn't so populated would be up above the Arctic Circle, Siberia, Northwest Territories.

Which is why the "deer population problem" is really a human problem. Human beings need to accept responsibility and come up with a solution. If that means permitting hunting, and forbidding people from feeding the wild deer, some people will be upset by that, but will have to learn to adjust.

[Twisterdog]

There is a problem with the wolves though. Wolves kill to eat, wolves kill to teach their young how to hunt, wolves kill for recreation. Out West outfitters are having to deal with the wolves brought into Yellowstone. Mainly the elk & mule deer population is suffering. The wolves chase the elk kill the young for all of the above. The cows slip their calves from being chased. There are to many packs & it is out of control. It is like farmers here dealing with coyotes killing calves. I have seen sickly deer over the last couple of years so maybe that will be the thing to thin them out?

With all due respect, that's not true at all. As a Wyoming resident, where 90% of release-based wolf packs reside, I could provide facts to refute every point you made, but that's not the topic of this thread, so I won't hijack. I have no idea where you got this information, but it's one-sided, exaggarated rhetoric.

[Bonny]

With all due respect, that's not true at all. As a Wyoming resident, where 90% of release-based wolf packs reside, I could provide facts to refute every point you made, but that's not the topic of this thread, so I won't hijack. I have no idea where you got this information, but it's one-sided, exaggarated rhetoric.

I know outfitters in Dubois, & Cody that will tell you differently along with Salmon, Idaho your next door neighbor. I have seen wolves in action. A huge wolf chased a young elk right through our camp & the wolf didn't bat an eye. I heard & saw the fear of the baby elk while it was being chased down. There have been documentaries about the wolfs of Yellowstone & ranchers trying to make a living while their livestock are being killed by wolves. There is a saying out in the Yellowstone area shot & shovel.

[Karen]

Bonny, you keep dragging this thread into an anti-wolf thing. That's not what the thread is about. It is about the deer overpopulation problem. If you want so badly to debate wolves, there are other places on the Internet to do that. Not here, not this thread. I only mentioned their near extinction as one of the reasons for the deer overpopulation problem.

[Twisterdog]

I know outfitters in Dubois, & Cody that will tell you differently along with Salmon, Idaho your next door neighbor. I have seen wolves in action. A huge wolf chased a young elk right through our camp & the wolf didn't bat an eye. I heard & saw the fear of the baby elk while it was being chased down. There have been documentaries about the wolfs of Yellowstone & ranchers trying to make a living while their livestock are being killed by wolves. There is a saying out in the Yellowstone area shot & shovel.

Oh, I'm sure outfitters WILL tell you that. Doesn't make it a scientific fact. And I'm sure an elk DID chase a baby elk, and that it WAS afraid. Elk are wolves natural prey, of course they kill and eat them. Elk and wolves co-existed in a natural, balanced eco system long before humans showed up here. Wolves aren't the problem, people are.

There is always more than one side to a story, any story. There are plenty of elk and deer in Wyoming, and more than enough cows ... for which ranchers are compensated NICELY for, if one is even suspected of being a wolf kill. Not proven, just suspected. Cows are not a native species, they were put on our public lands because it's a cheap way for ranchers to feed them. Wolves are a native species, in a wilderness area ... but now they are a problem, because of someone's cows? Hmmmm ..... But let's not let the facts confuse us.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

blah blah blah wolf, blah blah blah wolf.... whatever! Let's get back to how tasty deer are and how they're easier to cook and eat when they're dead.

[moosmom]

Elk and wolves co-existed in a natural, balanced eco system long before humans showed up here. Wolves aren't the problem, people are.

I couldn't have said it better, Twisterdog!!!

[Bonny]

Oh, I'm sure outfitters WILL tell you that. Doesn't make it a scientific fact. And I'm sure an elk DID chase a baby elk, and that it WAS afraid. Elk are wolves natural prey, of course they kill and eat them. Elk and wolves co-existed in a natural, balanced eco system long before humans showed up here. Wolves aren't the problem, people are.

There is always more than one side to a story, any story. There are plenty of elk and deer in Wyoming, and more than enough cows ... for which ranchers are compensated NICELY for, if one is even suspected of being a wolf kill. Not proven, just suspected. Cows are not a native species, they were put on our public lands because it's a cheap way for ranchers to feed them. Wolves are a native species, in a wilderness area ... but now they are a problem, because of someone's cows? Hmmmm ..... But let's not let the facts confuse us.

Think like a rancher. A $800.00 cow, with a $500.00 calf running at its side, along with a fetus inside the cow worth $300.00 when it is born. Then you have the wolves outside the park chasing the cattle & the rancher is hoping to make his money on the cattle grazing on the grasses but that isn't happening because the wolfs are doing a number on them. It would be like throwing 10 per cent of your pay check out the window. PBS has done many documentaries on the wolfs, & people that live outside the Yellowstone area. I actually saw a huge wolf run right by me chasing a baby elk. It made me sick. Maybe there are to many wolf packs. I know the ranchers,& some of the outfitters are working on it.

As for the deer if you want to come to our area to hunt you can have up to as many as 5 tasty deer per person. The DNR is controlling the deer population & they basically have the say so. What humans are you pertaining to? The ones that control the population or the ones that run into the deer with their cars, own the deer populated lands? There are LESS HUNTERS now & that is part of the problem & there are some hunters people won't allow on their land because they are very careless. We have at least three groups come onto our land to hunt. Some of our neighbors won't allow anyone on their land to hunt. There is a private land owner that lives in town & hunts on his own property but doesn't allow anyone else to hunt on his land. We have another neighbor that has opened up his property to hunters, actually his neighbor next door. It has a lot to do with government control as far as what will happen to the deer? They are the ones that call the shots more then anyone & we have to live with it.