Loco for lobo-puffs!
- Thread starter Ben Lamb
- Start date
Then we continue to adjust lion quotas and permits as the science dictates.
What if we kill a ton of predators, and the elk don't come back?
But Don Peay says that predators are THE problem...
Yep! SFH was approached about throwing some money into the kittey for a large multi-agency project along the UT/WY border. Don's response the the requested amout was, "That's only 3 elk tags!"...
What if we can't harvest more lions because the wolves are killing the lion dogs?
Yep. It's no secret who and for what he panders too...
None, they don't turn out with wolves in the area.
trevore
New member
Ben:
Is there anything anywhere in the books about a minimum acceptable level, with regards to population for game? Is there a set threshold where measures would be taken to ensure the herd rebounds, somewhere? What would it take to get that into the "books"? Any ideas.
Is there anything anywhere in the books about a minimum acceptable level, with regards to population for game? Is there a set threshold where measures would be taken to ensure the herd rebounds, somewhere? What would it take to get that into the "books"? Any ideas.
Do you think that if they did, the wolf harvest would increase?
The hound harvest would, for sure.
The only real direction that FWP has received in game management from the Legislature is to manage at or below objective.
FWP could increase the objective, ensuring better elk numbers, or they could ask that HB 42 be retracted so that they are not forced to kill healthy herds down to socially acceptable levels.
Problem becomes, as we are seeing, that it's more than one issue affecting those herds - so sportsmen and agencies need to look at the entire picture rather than blaming one species for the decline.
The tools are there, we just need to get the legislature out of the way.
Tjones can answer this better than I can though.
The Montana Elk Management Plan has minimum bull/cow, cow/calf numbers. When numbers drop far enough it then triggers more restrictive hunting seasons. Two years at each season type without recover triggers more restrictions. The problems is once population numbers drop far enough and predator numbers rise high enough you can't recruit enough calves to grow the population.
The west fork's woes started long before the wolf took a good hold. 6 years of either sex hunting, thanks to Debbie Barrett, and HB42 sent a lot of elk home in the back of trucks. At the same time lion harvest was cut back to almost nothing, and the wolf numbers starting to grow. We have way more problems then then soluations right now.
Also - increased loss of land from sub-divisions, dought, fire, etc, etc.
HB 42 was the biggest factor, IMO.
trevore
New member
I see. Seems those same numbers should trigger a higher quota/tag allotment for predators in a given region.
shoots-straight
Well-known member
Also the EMP didn't compute the wolf in it's decision making process, with regards to impact on elk herds. That in it's self should give us the fuel to force a redo on that plan.
Rat Fink
Member
Excellent point.
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