Another one bites the dust: dead transplanted wolf in Colorado

[BuzzH]

Buzz reads in pictures so I better show him an elk or two…. There’s a couple in this stash that were killed in wolf/grizz country
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Nice bulls, but you complained about "smashing raghorns"???

Funny.

 

[The_Coloradoboy]

Nice bulls, but you complained about "smashing raghorns"???

Funny.

We both mix it up form big bulls to rags. Sometimes a rag horn is a hard earned bull in a tough unit. Razzing you as always

 

[The_Coloradoboy]

I thought killing elk in wolf country was impossible. mtmuley

Tougher but not impossible obviously. I don’t hate wolves, I strongly dislike the narrative the people whom are pushing them through via ballots with a bigger agenda in regards to future of hunting in mind

 

[mtmuley]

Tougher but not impossible obviously.

Yeah I know. Had wolves in my hunting area since the 90's. mtmuley

 

[The_Coloradoboy]

Yeah I know. Had wolves in my hunting area since the 90's. mtmuley

Sounds like you already knew the answer. It it is what it is, just make the best of it at this point

 

[birmingham485]

As @nrpate05 notes, there are far greater issues for big game than predators. Habitat loss, development, CWD, hunting pressure, grazing, extractive industries, motorized and hiking recreation in calving areas, expanding road and trail networks into habitat, shrinking riparian and wetlands. Plus, wolves are an opportunity for hunters in many states.

Per AI: Yes, predators like wolves and mountain lions can help fight Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) by selectively hunting sick animals, reducing the duration of infectiousness, and potentially destroying prions during digestion, though they also pose a risk of spreading prions through their feces and carcasses. Predators can slow CWD's spread and lower its prevalence by removing infected individuals and reducing overall deer/elk density, acting as "CWD border guards".

Wolves aren't all bad or all good, just predators that evolved in an environment people are rapidly compromising. Most biologist equate the health of wild ecosystems to the presence of animal predators. My opposition to CO wolf reintro is much more about putting wolves in a state that won't tolerate them for political, not biological reasons, than about how many elk an artificially maintained population of 100 wolves will deprive hunters of in CO. IMO, those wolves could mostly make their living scavenging game wounded and unrecovered by hunters. Of course they won't when sheep and beef calves are readily available. Should we first damage wildlife when trying to solve problems people create? Emphatically, no.

well said!