Bugle Magazine Wolves

[M.T. Pockets]

Finally got my copy of Bugle yesterday, it's too bad. The whole ecosystem has changed so much and adapted since wolves were last part of it, reintroducing them changes everything.

I've hunted in Wyoming East of Jackson, and saw wolves in 2000. I understand they've moved into this area and the hunting has declined substantially.

The ecosystem is different now, and it's man that's screwed it up. The development of the elk wintering grounds has resulted in feedgrounds. These feedgrounds create an unnatural concentration of elk and the wolves can just surround them. This prevents them from spreading out to other feedgrounds and can contribute to disease.

I have nothing against wolves in the wild, and by wild I mean where they're not being reintroduced, like Canada and Alaska. Hell, I'm from Minnesota where we're crawling with them. I do think there should be a season on them here, and other areas that can support it like Wisconsin and the Yellowstone Ecosystem. I don't understand how some people seem to worship them. Visit the Wolf Center in Ely, MN and you'll see what I mean. There's some in Jackson Hole too.

Grizzly Bears too, they need to have a little fear of man put back into them. I think each outfitter in Grizzly Country should get one tag per year. This couldn't hurt the population and it would get a little respect put back into them, I'll bet the nuisance bears that have to be killed would decline by as many bears that are killed legally.

What's wrong with lots of elk ? If it weren't for elk hunters there wouldn't be the habitat that there is now for the wolves & bears. I wish the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation would take a little firmer stand on the issue.

As for identifying a wolf from a coyote, that's easy. If your heart jumps in your throat and you lose your breath, it's a wolf. However, I wish wolf sightings were a rare occurence.