Hazards wolves face when hunting

Ithaca 37

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I wonder if this will also apply to elk in the Western states as they learn to deal with wolves?

"Killing a moose with a gun is one thing. Killing it with your teeth is another.

Taking down a healthy adult moose is a dangerous challenge for a pack of wolves. Wolves will take adult moose they catch at a disadvantage - in deep snow or on ice - but healthy adults put up a serious fight. For that reason, wolves take the most vulnerable members of a population, often the young, the weak and the sick.

"Most of the moose in a given population are relatively invulnerable to wolf predation," said state wildlife biologist Mark McNay."

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/041303/out_wolves.shtml
 
I wonder if the save the wolf foundation will hunt the elk or moose down and do with them as they would a human for the same atrocity....LOL!!!!
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2 years ago I saw a coyote get his ass kicked by a javelina, it was really cool. The herd had about 5-6 reds/squeelers and the 3 biggest pigs stayed outside the herd chasing off the coyote. Finally the herd took off down a wash when the coyote started following one of the big sows came out and just went nuts on him. Was kind of a reality check for my buddy who wants to kill every predator in the world. They do not just go around killing and eating everything they want. They have to work way harder to catch their prey than we do.
 
I watched a program on public television about the relationship between the wolves and the buffalo in Wood-Buffalo National Park in Canada. The symbiotic relationship between those buffalo and wolves has operated uninterrupted since the begiining of time. Apparently those wolves have evolved to be the the largest in the world because they hunt such large game. But the pack still has a hard time bringing down a healthy adolescent and a healthy adult is out of reach for them.

BTW wolves are compensatory breeders but not to the extent of coyotes who may have three litters in a year if the first two litters die. Wolves can have only one litter in a year but the the number of pups may vary depending on available resources.

KC
 
Wolves typically prey upon the young first because they're easier to catch. Coyotes are the same in this practise.

Portions of South Dakota and Wyoming lose over half of the antelope fawns each Summer due to predators. This info comes from the Campbell County Game Biologist.

Increase wolves and protect them-watch game populations diminish. A predictable result.
Jack
 
Jack- Could there be fewer predators with wolves? Wolves are territorial and will not allow other packs or coyotes (been documented in Yellowstone) to exist in their territories. Thus, it could be possible that by having wolves you'd have a whole lot less coyotes and more total number of predators.
 
I read somewhere that a pack of eight wolves will fill the same habitat and consume about 20% as much biomass as 100 coyotes and they will exclude/kill the coyotes in the process. Ranchers don't like this scenario because wolves can kill larger animals such as yearlings, adolescents and weakened adults, where coyotes are limited to attacking just the youngest animals. Coyotes eat smaller things like rodents, insects, birds, frogs, etc.
 
Just a side note: non-resident wolf tags are only $35 and you can take up to 5 of them. So if any of you guys come up to hunt something else consider picking up a wolf tag or two.
 
Eril in AK:

I was just reading the Alaska Hunting Regulations and the guide requirements for nonresidents hunting wolves, are ambiguous. In one place it indicates that non-res must have a guide for wolves. But elsewhere that requirement is not mentioned. What's the skinny?

KC
 
KC,
on page 10 under GUIDE INFORMATION it states
"A non-resident(U.S. citizen) who hunts brown/grizzly bear, Dall sheep or mountain goat must be accompanied in the field by an Alaska licensed guide or be accompanied by an Alaska resident 19 years old or older and within second degree of kindred...."

Non-resident alien hunters (not U.S. citizens) have to hire a guide to hunt any big game species.

Where is this reference and I'll try and clarify
 
Erik in AK:

On that same page there is a schedule of license fees. Some species have an asterisk (*) indicating that nonresidents must be accompnied by a guide. Wolf is one of the ones with an asterisk. The contradiction is the sentence that you referenced.

Maybe the asterisk just referrs to the fact that in a few areas nonresidents don't need a license to hunt wolves?

KC
 
KC,
You might have a typo in your copy but to be sure, are you looking in Nonresident Tag Fees (left column) or the Non-resident Alien Tag Fees (right column). All species are marked by an asterisk for Nonresident Aliens.

I called F&G to clarify and they confirmed no guide required to hunt wolves for nonresidents (U.S. citizens)

cheers
 
If I didn't know better, I'd think this was a PETA site. The way you guys seem to admire wolves and feel sorry for a some poor old wolf that got kicked by a moose is disturbing.
KC, if you think that coyotes only eat bugs and frogs, you are really one misinformed individual. I could introduce you to homeowners who watched 2 coyotes tear down an adult deer in their front yard this year. Or maybe a ranch hand who caught a coyote eating the face off a calf that was still in the process of being born or a sheep rancher who went out of business because of the hundreds of ewes and lambs the coyotes he lost one spring.
Wolves can and do kill any size animal they want from sick little calves to Boone & Crockett bulls as well.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 05-16-2003 13:09: Message edited by: blueticker ]</font>
 
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