Hunting conspiracy theories

[MTGomer]

I suppose these are more ‘myths’ than conspiracy theories;

You can shoot your way to a CWD cure. The only reason Montana has CWD showing up is that they haven’t killed enough deer and must kill more to stop it.

FWP manages deer and elk using biology and best available science.

Outfitters know where every legal ram is in the unlimiteds and kill them at sunrise on opener, ending the season, in every unit every year.

Coues are superior to mule deer.

It’s possible to be a flatlander and a good elk hunter

Woofs weight 200#

It’s not just that democrats are the lesser of two evils, but that they are the obvious choice of and an advocate for hunters, hunter interests and scientific game management.

There is such a thing as a WILD horse in North America.

Did I mention how much woofs can weigh?

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Greentree saw a grizzly in Colorado

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I pack out over 120lbs in one load.

 

[beginnerhunter]

'Round here we blame any bad duck hunting year on Missouri. Basically, the MDC bought thousands of heaters to keep water from freezing all over the state so ducks won't migrate into Arkansas. Or something like that. Also DU has tricked the game and fish into reducing timber flooding so duck populations will increase in northern states somehow.

With mountain lions our game and fish denied they were here until they reviewed solid game camera evidence and then they accepted it openly. Which makes sense, you can't base management decisions on random anecdotal sightings. But people still think there is a coverup because they haven't found evidence of a breeding population.

 

[beginnerhunter]

I'd like another thread where we talk about conspiracy theories we kinda sorta believe but are a little ashamed to admit...
Although a lot of them probably have a kernel of truth that is taken to the extreme.

 

[JTHOMP]

Get between a 400 lb sow and her 2 day old litter of piglets and then tell me how afraid hogs are of people. Still have the scars from that one.

I'm more skeptical of a 400lbs sow running in the woods. Even most "200lbs boars" I see people kill I'm can probably throw over my shoulder. Based on more encounters than I can count I would lean on side that they run away every time and leave the piglets, but I absolutely would like to hear your story. I'm sure my days are numbered until I have an unpleasant encounter.



Did yall know that just this past year LDWF released panthers into the Florida Parishes (area between New Orleans and Mississippi)? Oh and these aren't the fake black panthers, they are actual tan colored panthers. And the reason it's true is because my brother's crazy in laws saw them going around with antennas tracking them. Heck since they are collared they aren't even trying to hide the fact they released them. It was even on the news.

 

[Panda Bear]

Greenpeace dropped sonar devices into the sea to scare off the bowhead whale and seals, so we could not hunt them.

That 20000 sled dogs were killed by the Govt in 1950-1970 in an effort to force inuits to move to the city

Polar Bears

1. Numbers are declining ( they are NOT )
2. Polar Bears live with Penguins,( they do not.) But you will see the Fox and Wolf closely follow the Polar Bear
3. Polar Bears hibernate ( they dont ) They do take naps on the ice and out in the open but you can not or at least should not try to pet them during nap time.

All Inuits are lazy, and/or alcoholics

 

[deertacos]

'Round here we blame any bad duck hunting year on Missouri. Basically, the MDC bought thousands of heaters to keep water from freezing all over the state so ducks won't migrate into Arkansas. Or something like that. Also DU has tricked the game and fish into reducing timber flooding so duck populations will increase in northern states somehow.

This is the newest one I’ve been reading about, and actually what inspired this thread. Ducks Unlimited must have some excellent biologists if they can alter millions of years of evolution and adaptive migration by throwing some heaters in a farm pond.

 

[daltrix99]

Good thread! Here's a specific one that Montanans will enjoy:

Fella I know is convinced that the National Park Service works with Montana FWP to relocate 'problem bears' from both Yellowstone and Glacier NPs to the Seeley/Swan Valleys in western Montana. His logic is that they don't care about the hunters, ranchers, or residents of these areas, and that they need to protect the tourism dollars in the parks.

The other most common one I hear is that Fish and Wildlife specifically uses the largest and most aggressive 'Canadian Timber Wolves' when reintroducing wolves to the lower 48. If anyone wants any talking points on this:
1. They are the exact same species. All Gray Wolves. No such thing as a 'Timber Wolf'
2. There is a principle in wildlife biology known as Bergmann's Rule, which explains that individuals and/or populations of the same species that reside further north will tend to have larger bodies than those further south. However, these are not huge differences, and this will self-correct quickly within populations even if you did relecate 'larger' wolves. Regardless, I guarantee if you brought five Gray Wolves down from Alaska or wherever, and they formed their own pack in Yellowstone, no one would be able to tell the difference in size, and it would have literally zero impact on the ecosystem different from what 'normal' sized wolves already do.

 

[bushman13]

Hogs can charge out of panic or meanness. Not a conspiracy theory, just commenting on above threads.

Local conspiracy theories:
Cougars in Georgia. Didn't exist until someone shot one
The auto insurance industry sets the deer limits in the South
Coyotes were originally escapees from high fence operations
Colorado has 250k elk ...

National:
Hillary funds the wolves

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Bergmann's rule

 

[noharleyyet]

Bergmann's rule

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Janis-
"So um Steve the thing about Bergmann's"... [interruption by Steve]... "so I found"...[ digression with gross story about drill bits and fingers]... "so back to Bergmann's"... [long tirade about silicon weddings]... 90 min into the podcast
"Yeah so you should really do some digging before you use Bergmann's as a catchall.. it seems to be pretty controversial" ...[thanks Jani, so back to my story about the flip flop flesher]

"Bergmann's rule, claiming that in homeotherms body size increases inversely with temperature so that, intraspecifically, body size increases latitudinally, is not valid, nor is the explanation of this rule. In large mammals body size at first increases with latitude, but then reverses between 53 and 65° N, so that small body sizes occur at the lowest and highest latitudes. This is predicted by the hypothesis that body size follows the duration of the annual productivity pulse, so that body size is a function of availability of nutrients and energy during periods of growth. Correlations between body size and temperature are shown to be spurious. If reduction in relative surface area is indeed an adaptation to conserve heat, then mammals should increase in size from south to north at rates two orders of magnitude greater than they do. Bergmann's rule has no basis in fact or theory." - Valerius Geist

Geist, Valerius (April 1987). "Bergmann's rule is invalid". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 65 (4): 1035–1038. doi:10.1139/z87-164.
Gohli, J., Voje, K.L. An interspecific assessment of Bergmann’s rule in 22 mammalian families. BMC Evol Biol 16, 222 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-016-0778-x
SHAI MEIRI, TAMAR DAYAN, DANIEL SIMBERLOFF, Carnivores, biases and Bergmann's rule, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 81, Issue 4, April 2004, Pages 579–588, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00310.x
Michael A. Huston Steve Wolverton, "Regulation of animal size by eNPP, Bergmann's rule and related phenomena". First published: 01 August 2011 https://doi.org/10.1890/10-1523.1

 

[Irrelevant]

-Salmon/steelhead hatcheries work, we just need more of them
-WA/OR commercial fishermen are a vital component of our economy
-WDFW needs to teach southern resident orcas to eat sea lions
-Every big black bear has a little bit of grizz in him
-the southern WA Cascades has always had wolves
-Wolves ate all the elk in ID
-WA doesn't grow big bucks
-WA doesn't grow big bulls
-It's impossible to get away from the crowds anymore
-Republicans are clearly the only responsible choice for hunters
-Weight of things either on the hoof/foot/paw or on your back
-The distance you hiked

 

[Rzrbck918]

Black panthers Running loose.
Mountain lion sighting daily.
Coyotes chasing people up trees (Trust me, they are terrified of people).
Hogs chasing people up trees (Trust me, they are terrified of people.)

After WildWill's comment you may think it is just an Oklahoma thing but I too have been chased into a tree by a hog. I was about 11 years old, deer hunting one evening with a .410. Camp lunch disagreeing with my stomach a bit and I climbed down the stand to use the facilities. A few minutes later, I heard what sounded like a herd of deer coming and between 10-15 hogs were coming down the trail next to the tree I was leaning against. I fired my single shot at the lead sow which really pissed her off and ended up climbing a cedar tree with my pants not fully secured. Interesting hunt for sure.

 

[rwc101]

Squirrels intentionally mess with deer hunters.

 

[thusby]

North Dakota floods their crops to shift the Mississippi Flyway their direction.

 

[noharleyyet]

Squirrels intentionally mess with deer hunters.

This a Law, not a Conspiracy...

 

[Greyman]

Pictures or it didnt happen. lol

 

[bushman13]

That's just a fact

Squirrels intentionally mess with deer hunters.