Rancher lets locked bulls die.

[pa mt man]

I read a story about a rancher who wouldn't let wardens on his property to cut two bulls apart. It was in nevada but close to the idaho borader. It took two days for the elk to die!!! Tough call,you don't want to see animals suffer but it was his property.don

 

[MarvB]

Don- Here is one of the pics and a link to the story...he evidently had a standing beef with the local F&G departments in the area

Link to story

 

[danr55]

Seems some private citizen should have just crossed the fence and cut one of them loose. If the ol' buzzard wanted to fight, then so be it. Pay the trespass fine and save the elk.

I know.. brave words after the fact, but sure makes more sense than just letting them die.

 

[twodot]

about the only good thing i see in all of that is the way that the fish n game officers actually respected the landowners rights and kept off of his property. they should be comended for acting professionally and leagaly. i don't think they would have cared what the landowner wanted in a lot of areas around the country. also unless this guy is a total a--hole, he should now be re-thinking his opinion of the local fish n game dept for the way they honered his wish in a nasty situation. twodot

 

[Calif. Hunter]

"also unless this guy is a total a--hole, he should now be re-thinking his opinion of the local fish n game dept for the way they honered his wish in a nasty situation. "


I doubt it - I bet he just feels like he won.

 

[JoseCuervo]

So biologists looked on from the county road until the last elk lay down in the middle of Goose Creek and died.

Officials were allowed access a few hours later. Smith and another officer removed the heads -- each was a six-point bull -- and moved them to the Elko office.

Smith estimated the bulls would score in the low 300s on the Boone and Crockett scale.

Bedke had his reasons for refusing access to his property, Smith said, but Smith wasn't comfortable speaking for him.

Neither Bedke nor his son would comment for this story.

A Nevada program allows landowners who prove loss from elk depredation to sell hunting tags at a price set by the landowner. Similar tags have been purchased for $5,000 to $10,000, said Chris Healy, a Department of Wildlife spokesman in Reno.

Landowners can also apply for compensation when elk or other wildlife damage crops. More than $35,000 was paid out to landowners for elk damage last year.

Bedke didn't apply for either program, according to Healy.

An investigation is ongoing, but Healy said it is unlikely that any charges would be filed.

 

[JoseCuervo]

That is great that the Welfare Rancher allows the fish and game on AFTER the elk are dead. It seems like Mr. Bedke has troubles with Fish and Game, and with the BLM, as shown by this testimony at a BLM meeting, along with him having troubles with hunters.

19 Next, Bud Bedke, B-e-d-k-e. You indicate,

20 sir, you're a rancher, and you're from Oakley,

21 Idaho.

22 MR. BEDKE: Yes, sir. Bud Bedke, B-u-d,

23 B-e-d-k-e, from Oakley, Idaho. That's our

24 headquarters.

25 We run cattle in Idaho, Utah, and Nevada,


M & M COURT REPORTING SERVICE (208) 345-9611

24


1 as to where we lay. We've got three different

2 allotments. We run approximately 1800 head of

3 mother cows. I'm fourth-generation, and I'm a

4 little bit nervous right now. But, anyway, we ranch

5 and we ranch well. And I, like Mr. Prescott, think

6 this is going to be a great new move for the BLM as

7 far as cooperation.

8 One thing that I think, instead of having

9 so much special interest, I don't consider myself a

10 special interest as a grazer. I consider myself a

11 partner of the BLM. I contribute to the land. They

12 contribute to the land. And, I guess, I just kind

13 of hate to see a lot of the management done through

14 the BLM done through the threat of court rulings by

15 environmental and special interest groups.

16 I don't know how you'd put the wording or

17 the verbiage, but sometime we've either got to

18 manage for the land, or call the environmentalists'

19 bluffs and take them on in a major way with

20 lawsuits.

21 I've got just a few specifics here with --

22 like in this part where it took 24 months to look at

23 the range health. We've been in severe drought. I

24 think 24 months is a little short. I think we need

25 to go, like, to five years to kind of study to

1 get -- because we've been in a drought for four

2 years.

3 I think grazing plans, we've got some great

4 grazing plans. I've worked hard with the BLM in all

5 three states to get them through, and they're, by no

6 means, perfect. But I would like to see us

7 incorporate the universities into some of the range

8 plans and use some of their expertise as well as,

9 like, the Department of -- Idaho, the Department of

10 Agriculture.

11 And the one thing that they said they're

12 not going to make any changes or look at that I

13 think need to be revisited very strongly is the

14 Range and Reform of '94. I've had people that work

15 for the BLM tell me that that's a major problem from

16 their side, too, the way it was written.

17 It seems to me the special interests had

18 way more input in that than did the ranchers and

19 other users of the land. But, like I say, I'd just

20 like to say that I am a partner with the people of

21 the BLM, and I will continue to do so. Thank you.

22 JUDGE SWEITZER: Thank you, sir.

 

[JoseCuervo]

CITIZEN CONCERNS Carl “Bud” Bedke met with the Board to discuss problems he and other Cassia County citizens are having with the Forest Service regarding a water pipeline the citizens have built, but are not being allowed to use to water their stock on Forest Service Lands.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

"It seems like Mr. Bedke has troubles with Fish and Game, and with the BLM, as shown by this testimony at a BLM meeting, along with him having troubles with hunters."

I didn't see anythng in there to show that he has problems with Fish and Game, the BLM or hunters, just some references to "special interest groups," which I took to mean "environmentalists."

 

[JoseCuervo]

And Bedke has had problems with the Forest Service....

Mrs. CHENOWETH. [continuing]—for grazing and for ecosystem management.

Let me ask you, Mr. Levere, how many violations or what percentage of all the violations were resource damage related last year and were there violations, resource-damage violations, on Mr. Bedke's allotment?

Mr. LEVERE. Last year, there was no penalty imposed on the Goose Creek allotment which is the allotment that Mr. Bedke runs on. Mr. Bedke is under a current 25-percent, I believe—well, a suspension. I am not quite sure of the exact percentage, but it was 14 days in the spring and 14 days in the fall.

That suspension was done in the previous grazing season, 1995, and it is a two-year suspension.

Mrs. CHENOWETH. And that suspension was for what?

Mr. LEVERE. That was for improper maintenance of improvements and cattle in the wrong unit on the allotment.

Hey Cali, tell me again how ranchers want to work with the Agencies????

 

[JoseCuervo]

"Mr. Bedke denied our people access ... after quite a bit of discussion," Smith said.

Smith said Bedke apparently is "not happy with management practices up there when it comes to elk in particular."

An attempt to contact Bedke for comment was unsuccessful.


On Wednesday, the Department of Wildlife's Don Klebenow met with Bedke and his son, Will, to seek permission to retrieve the elk heads.

Elk, as with all wildlife, are considered property of the state. If the Bedkes had processed the animals without a proper tag, they would have been considered in violation of Nevada law, Smith explained.

Without a valid elk tag, the only other alternative for the ranchers would be to allow the dead animals to naturally decompose.

Smith said the Bedkes agreed to allow wildlife personnel to retrieve the elk heads, which will be mounted and used by the department for education purposes.

"We're happy that they chose that option," Smith said.

The larger of the two bulls has an antler point size in the 340 range, and the smaller one is around 300 to 310, Smith said. A 400-point buck is considered record size.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Originally posted by Calif. Hunter:
I didn't see anythng in there to show that he has problems with Fish and Game, the BLM or hunters, just some references to "special interest groups," which I took to mean "environmentalists."

Cali, try reading closer....

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Please point out to me, in the testimony you posted, where the alleged difficulties with those groups lie. You cited the testimony as evidence, and I do not see anything there. My post was referring to that, and not to your subsequent posts.

"Bedke had his reasons for refusing access to his property, Smith said, but Smith wasn't comfortable speaking for him."

Smith then proceeds to do so?

"Smith said Bedke apparently is "not happy with management practices up there when it comes to elk in particular."

How confused are you?
"And Bedke has had problems with the Forest Service...."
then you ask : "Hey Cali, tell me again how ranchers want to work with the Agencies????"

Since when is the Forest Service the same as the Fish and Game agencies?

 

[JoseCuervo]

Originally posted by Calif. Hunter:


Since when is the Forest Service the same as the Fish and Game agencies?

CITIZEN CONCERNS Carl “Bud” Bedke met with the Board to discuss problems he and other Cassia County citizens are having with the Forest Service regarding a water pipeline the citizens have built, but are not being allowed to use to water their stock on Forest Service Lands.

And what about the post where he had his grazing suspended for 2 years????

Let's see, he has been upset with BLM, FS, and DFG. Why on earth would you support this guy for anything other than Public Enemy #1 for hunters?

 

[MarvB]

The larger of the two bulls has an antler point size in the 340 range, and the smaller one is around 300 to 310, Smith said. A 400-point buck is considered record size.

...can't say as I've ever seen a 400 point "buck" but I would no doubt agree it to be of record size another case of journalists and editors doing their homework.....

 

[Ithaca 37]

"Let's see, he has been upset with BLM, FS, and DFG. Why on earth would you support this guy for anything other than Public Enemy #1 for hunters?"

Yup. Another welfare rancher shows how much regard he has for wildlife. Do you suppose Bedke is ever concerned about leaving a little forage for the elk when he's got his cattle overgrazing the public land? Do you think he cares at all about any of the wildlife where he grazes?

What kind of a sicko would let those two bulls die like that?

What some of you starry eyed welfare rancher lovers can't seem to comprehend is that many welfare ranchers HATE any wildlife that might eat the grass they feel should be 100% for their cows. They look at any grass their cows don't eat as a monetary loss for them. Anyone who doesn't understand that by now just doesn't have even average comprehension skills.

[ 10-01-2004, 22:39: Message edited by: Ithaca 37 ]

 

[1_pointer]

Hey, I've been on one of his allotments!

 

[cjcj]

The Guy is a Dick..

 

[1_pointer]

I was thinking about this today and got to wonder if anything should have been done. Would you advocate the F&G disrupting a predator killing its prey? What if the prey was a trophy bull elk like those pictured?

 

[JoseCuervo]

1_ptr,

It is a normal part of nature, and if we were to allow nature to manage the Elk, then we should have let them die. But instead, we (man) interfere with nature, and manage them for unnatural numbers, in order to allow us to harvest (hunt).

Given that our goal is to keep animals alive, so we can kill them, then yes, we should interfere. If it was a predator, then we have to recognize the value that comes from the predator/prey relationship.

It doesn't change a thing that the rancher sponges off the hardworking taxpayer like myself, and then has problems with every agency driving Dodge pick-ups....