Wolves and Hunting
By T. R. Mader, Research Director, Abundant Wildlife Society of North America [here]
I’m convinced, based on several years of wolf research, hunters will bear the brunt of wolf recovery/protection regardless of location.
There is no language written in any wolf recovery plan to protect the hunter’s privilege to hunt. Wolves are well known to cause wild game population declines which are so drastic hunting is either eliminated or severely curtailed. And there is no provision for recovery of wild game populations for the purposes of hunting. It simply will not be allowed.
Example: A few years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) agreed the state should take over the responsibility of wolf management. The DNR felt wolves were impacting their deer populations and wanted to open a short trapping season on the wolf.
The environmentalists sued and won. The USFWS could not give wolf management back to Minnesota in spite of a desire to do so.
The problem with wolf recovery is that most people, especially hunters, have not looked “beyond press releases and into the heart of the wolf issue.”
It must be stated clearly that the wolf is the best tool for shutting down hunting. The anti-hunters know this. Most hunters don’t. Thus, wolf recovery is not opposed by the people who will be impacted most.
In order to understand the impacts wolves have on hunting, let’s look at some biological factors of the wolf and compare some hunting facts.
