Wolf Problems in Alberta

[Djm2u]

I have been in the wild with wolves they rarely will attack a human. But there are triggers like having a pet being near fresh kill ect....

I love how most UN-knowlegeable people want them all killed instead of managed. And others think we should save them all. Managed = hunters and photographers being able to shoot them for years to come.

My comment is general not calling out or referring to anyone on the forum.

[Djm2u]

I will be out looking to shoot them all on Saturday. Its legal for me with my Nikon Gun

[7magtime]

Originally Posted by Djm2u

I will be out looking to shoot them all on Saturday. Its legal for me with my Nikon Gun

Djm2u,
Agree with your management statement, if there are too many there will be problems. As for getting pics on Saturday-it may be tough with moose/elk rifle draws starting on Saturday, it'll be busy out there....

[dwiterodtka]

Originally Posted by Djm2u

I have been in the wild with wolves they rarely will attack a human. But there are triggers like having a pet being near fresh kill ect....

I love how most UN-knowlegeable people want them all killed instead of managed. And others think we should save them all. Managed = hunters and photographers being able to shoot them for years to come.

My comment is general not calling out or referring to anyone on the forum.

I'm curious. Apart from isolated packs like this one how do you manage wolves? To me that means increase or decrease their numbers.

[Djm2u]

Originally Posted by dwiterodtka

To me that means increase or decrease their numbers.

You are correct it means to increase or de-crease. I didn't write this but it covers the meaning of what I ment....

Wildlife management attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best available science. Wildlife management can include game keeping, wildlife conservation and pest control. Wildlife management draws on disciplines such as mathematics, chemistry, biology, ecology, climatology and geography to gain the best results.

Wildlife conservation aims to halt the loss in the Earth's biodiversity by taking into consideration ecological principles such as carrying capacity, disturbance and succession and environmental conditions such as physical geography, pedology and hydrology with the aim of balancing the needs of wildlife with the needs of people. Most wildlife biologists are concerned with the preservation and improvement of habitats although rewilding is increasingly being used. Techniques can include reforestation, pest control, nitrification and denitrification, irrigation, coppicing and hedge laying.

Game keeping is the management or control of wildlife for the well being of game and may include killing other animals which share the same niche or predators to maintain a high population of the more profitable species, such as pheasants introduced into woodland. In his 1933 book Game Management, Aldo Leopold, one of the pioneers of wildlife management as a science, defined it as "the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use".

Pest control is the control of real or perceived pests and can be for the benefit of wildlife, farmers, game keepers or safety reasons. Wildlife management practices are often implemented by a governmental agency to uphold a law. Many wildlife managers are employed by Fish and Wildlife Service and by government.

Great Alberta paper to read here:
http://esrd.alberta.ca/forms-maps-se...Management.pdf

[dwiterodtka]

Thanks....I guess the trick I was wondering about is the practical application of the thesis you quoted. I don't see that anything we are or could do would significantly impact their general numbers, except of course for this isolated group. This will be very interesting to watch as it plays out.

[Marty S]

Wildlife management... what a wonderful ideal we have in our province.

But there's way too much "pretend wildlife management" versus "real wildlife management"

With real wildlife management the province would NOT allow wildlife populations to explode beyond comprehension, ie ravens, Suffield elk, grizzly bear, wolf.

Far too much pretending happening in the past several decades.

[Djm2u]

Originally Posted by Marty S

Wildlife management... what a wonderful ideal we have in our province.

But there's way too much "pretend wildlife management" versus "real wildlife management"

With real wildlife management the province would NOT allow wildlife populations to explode beyond comprehension, ie ravens, Suffield elk, grizzly bear, wolf.

Far too much pretending happening in the past several decades.

I agree the system is a mess. The opposite is true as well way to may guys that just love to shoot wolves, coyotes and anything that moves for fun just because they can. (Not referring to anyone on the forum but we all know they are out there)

Like i have always said im not anti hunting. But I am against senseless slaughtering of all species just for fun.

[sjd]

You are not going to get the answer to this issue from a text book though. Most wildlife management is really about competing human values.

There's no evidence there are 'too many' wolves in the Blackfoot since we are talking about predators returning to a provincial and national park where they've probably been absent for 100 years.

Sure this creates conflicts with grazers on public lands but maybe in 2014 having a healthy wolf population for photographers and hunters might be a preferred management objective. In this instance more wolves and fewer elk and deer (and cows) might be desirable to many.

Just saying we all have our own biases about what mix of species and at what populations we want to say we need to actively manage wildlife is a crock. Actively manage to maximize our own preferred interest perhaps!

[dwiterodtka]

Originally Posted by sjd

You are not going to get the answer to this issue from a text book though. Most wildlife management is really about competing human values.

There's no evidence there are 'too many' wolves in the Blackfoot since we are talking about predators returning to a provincial and national park where they've probably been absent for 100 years.

Sure this creates conflicts with grazers on public lands but maybe in 2014 having a healthy wolf population for photographers and hunters might be a preferred management objective. In this instance more wolves and fewer elk and deer (and cows) might be desirable to many.

Just saying we all have our own biases about what mix of species and at what populations we want to say we need to actively manage wildlife is a crock. Actively manage to maximize our own preferred interest perhaps!

I agree with your first three paragraphs but may not understand your third. I think most people recognize the necessity to have a balanced integration of species including grazing. According to the news coverage cattlemen are not though. They are claiming a $200,000 loss but unless they are different than other cattle producers they will be compensated 100% for their loss and are still complaining. Hunters are paying the loss not general revenue, and should be outraged, but not a peep from them

[dwiterodtka]

Originally Posted by Marty S

Wildlife management... what a wonderful ideal we have in our province.

But there's way too much "pretend wildlife management" versus "real wildlife management"

With real wildlife management the province would NOT allow wildlife populations to explode beyond comprehension, ie ravens, Suffield elk, grizzly bear, wolf.

Far too much pretending happening in the past several decades.

I sense your frustration but how would you suggest the government manage {reduce} the numbers of ravens and wolves. I think the elk and grizz are doable.

[chuck-the-chimp]

interesting bits of information i've gleaned over the last few days of marching around in 936.

The wolves are sure as hell not staying just in the park. There are holes in the outer fence every several hundred meters where they are clearly crossing periodically.

I also bumped into a land owner who owns bordering land on the east side. Apparently some number of wolves frequent the outside of the park on a regular basis There are a pile of trail cams outside the fence to watch for this.

The wolves appear to be a good deal more successful at bringing down elk. I've counted 5 elk carcases and only one cow.

[Speckle55]

If they are coming out then do like I do just call them in and shoot

its just that easy

here is a couple post this year on how I do it
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=230820
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=231443

have fun outside the park

David

Originally Posted by chuck-the-chimp

interesting bits of information i've gleaned over the last few days of marching around in 936.

The wolves are sure as hell not staying just in the park. There are holes in the outer fence every several hundred meters where they are clearly crossing periodically.

I also bumped into a land owner who owns bordering land on the east side. Apparently some number of wolves frequent the outside of the park on a regular basis There are a pile of trail cams outside the fence to watch for this.

The wolves appear to be a good deal more successful at bringing down elk. I've counted 5 elk carcases and only one cow.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by Marty S

Wildlife management... what a wonderful ideal we have in our province.

But there's way too much "pretend wildlife management" versus "real wildlife management"

With real wildlife management the province would NOT allow wildlife populations to explode beyond comprehension, ie ravens, Suffield elk, grizzly bear, wolf.

Far too much pretending happening in the past several decades.

You mean, like bringing Bison into Banff National Park ?

Grizz

[chuck-the-chimp]

Spoke with one of the rangers in there yesterday. Apparently, in addition to the tags they issued to the grazing lease fellas, they also issued 40 tags to various folks coming in for discharge permits end of October.
I'll bet that getting shot at that often smartens them up quickly..... or pushes them out of the park, which ought to do about the same thing....