There really is no game in the mountains!

[NCC]

Originally Posted by raab

So what would your solution be?

There's only one solution; reduce the predator numbers. Bring back the grizzly bear hunt so that the efficient calf killers (the large mature boars that most hunters seek) are reduced in numbers and control the wolf numbers with trapping, poison or heli-hunting.

If you don't believe me, read some of Jim Rearden's work. He was a biologist from Alaska.

Anyone who thinks that the wolves, bears and ungulates will harmoniously exist together in great numbers has read too many Farley Mowat books. Wolves and bears don't just eat the old and sick, they eat the calves and bred cows. Without interference from humans, the numbers will balance out with very few ungulates and very few predators, and none of us will live long enough to see herds of elk in the mountains again.

If it's the fault of man that wolves are living in the old growth forests where they have not historically existed, shouldn't we also be responsible for removing those wolves before they kill all of the caribou?

If human interference and industry are truly to blame for the demise of the ungulates in Alberta, why are elk thriving in the Saddle Hills, moose thriving on the prairie farmland, and why are there more caribou on the Cold Lake Air Weapons range that in the Willmore and national parks?

I would also remove the licensing requirements to shoot wolves and the requirement to salvage the hide. many wolf hides have no value, and even the good ones are barely worth skinning and fleshing. It makes me think twice about shooting a wolf knowing that I have to pack it out of the bush.