Wolves in the NW. Thoughts?

[SUPER X]

I'd say let 'em have the hipster granolatards, but we don't want 'em developing a taste for people or deciding we're easy meals. Wolves and man can coexist only as long as the former are kept in their place by a healthy fear of the latter...

I read a couple more write ups on this it sounded more like she seen the wolfs and climbed the tree. It makes more sense if they were chasing her i doubt she could out run them and get up the base of the tree fast enough .

 

[RVTECH]

It makes more sense if they were chasing her i doubt she could out run them and get up the base of the tree fast enough .

Really! Lets hope she isn't one of these types that attempts some sort of 'symbiotic' relationship with the wolves and winds up a la Treadwell in Alaska of several years ago....

 

[156256Hunter]

That'd be unless your a rancher in the Wallowa's

Or a hunter in NE Oregon.... There aren't the elk and deer there used to be. I started hunting in NE OR in 1991.

It's a lot different now, mostly due to increase in predation from cougar and black bears starting in late 90s. Then add in the multiplying wolf packs and poachers, and large game animal populations will continue to fall (or fall even faster as mule deer have been in decline anyway) until the predators populations themselves collapse from lack of food. Or they'll go to alternate food sources.... Or expand into new territory.

 

[Argonaut]

Someone please clarify something for me. The quote above is from the article about the shooting situation.
This, as well as some other parts of it reference them as 'gray' wolves in Oregon.
I had always thought (and read) these were not of an indigenous variety and were a 'hybrid' that had been 'reintroduced' into Oregon and collared with tracking devices to study and record their movements.
I have read several articles over the years about certain examples that have been recorded as migrating Long distances including one that actually left NE Oregon and at one time passed through Central Oregon on its way to Western Oregon. Also I recall reading these were of a Canadian strain that we considerably larger than the origional, Indigenous gray variety.
While the article had referenced some accurate, historical points (such as the wolves mostly being gone by the late 40s with the last purportedly being shot in 1949) it never mentioned anything about reintroduction. Anyone with real education or knowledge please advise!

That is exactly correct. When I was at the U of Idaho study area in north east Washington, every year or so a wolf would come through the area in the dead of winter usually following a herd of Canadian Caribou. They were exciting to see because they were so rare below the border and the only wolves in the northwest. We never recorded a pack, usually a solitary animal that didn't linger in the area. I had many conversations with Doc Larrison about them. They were deffinatly a northern species genetically adapted to feeding on larger northern game animals. In the study area, we had small weather stations arranged on a snowmobile route that we traveled several times a day. We plotted the weather information against the type and number of tracks to learn what encourages different animals to be active. I worked with the Doc 4 winters. As the head of the zoology department he had extensive experiance in the north and had no interest in encouraging wolves in our enviorment and was all for strict control wherever it was possible. These are very smart apex predators that quickly learn not to be afraid of humans if they are not shot at. Like the cougars and bears, they need to be taught respect for man.

 

[RVTECH]

As the head of the zoology department he had extensive experience in the north and had no interest in encouraging wolves in our environment and was all for strict control wherever it was possible.

Which leads to several questions:
How fast are they multiplying?
How many are there currently?
And, with no control or natural predators how long can they potentially live and reproduce?

 

[CamoDeafie]

Perhaps it is time to let these people learn why the wolf is a villain in a great many histories of cultures and peoples?

 

[The Heretic]

 

[bbbass]

Really! Lets hope she is one of these types that attempts some sort of 'symbiotic' relationship with the wolves and winds up a la Treadwell in Alaska of several years ago....

There... fixed it!!!

Or a hunter in NE Oregon.... There aren't the elk and deer there used to be. I started hunting in NE OR in 1991.

It's a lot different now, mostly due to increase in predation from cougar and black bears starting in late 90s. Then add in the multiplying wolf packs and poachers, and large game animal populations will continue to fall (or fall even faster as mule deer have been in decline anyway) until the predators populations themselves collapse from lack of food. Or they'll go to alternate food sources.... Or expand into new territory.

Some people come and go with the hunting seasons, but I live here. We have indeed been losing deer, and dog and cats, since cougar lost their fear of being hunted down. That impact however was not too hard on elk since cougar don't eat that many elk as far as I know. Yet, my former boss started seeing wolves come into the Mt. Emily area at least 10yrs ago... don't remember exactly but it was several years prior to the ODFW admitting that the wolves had migrated here. In the following years, elk have become more and more scarce in the areas we normally travel... we just don't see them around any more. Would sure like to get an accurate count of the local elk herds. And yes, we do see them in town now and that is a huge change from before.

I think the wolves will continue to migrate as they decimate the food source. Expect to see more and more on the coast and into N Calif... they deserve it.

BTW, I saw a wolf above Cove on the side of a bare hill where we shoot. That sucker was really movin out. Unbelievable how fast they are!!!

 

[tkdguy]

In the Blue Mountain, I saw a sole wolf way back very late 90's or early 2000 south of Starkey Junction and just N. of Fly Valley in the fall of the year. Coyotes are not the size of German Shepard that I know of. At that time hunters were reporting seeing wolves during their trips and ODFW denied the presence of wolves.

 

[156256Hunter]

Yet, my former boss started seeing wolves come into the Mt. Emily area at least 10yrs ago... don't remember exactly but it was several years prior to the ODFW admitting that the wolves had migrated here. In the following years, elk have become more and more scarce in the areas we normally travel... we just don't see them around any more. Would sure like to get an accurate count of the local elk herds. And yes, we do see them in town now and that is a huge change from before.

I second that. By mid 2000s I'd started seeing what looked like wolf tracks in the snow and mud south / south west of the Jubilee Lake area. Now it's not unusual to see wolf tracks. They're big boys. Sometimes they're behind a set of "scrambling"/running elk tracks.

 

[Argonaut]

Looks great.......did you learn to turn the switches for the light 45% from the muzzle? Mine blew out when aligned with the bore. Was a simple repair but lesson learned. The pistol grip guns tend to shoot low from the way they are held but these do not. I have a great scabbard with carry strap, makes it very handy.

 

[bbbass]

the size of German Shepard

Far bigger than German Shepards. One doesn't realize how big they are from far away... have to see them next to something to compare. These Canadian strain guys are big healthy f'ers. The original Oregon Grey Wolves were not that large.

I've seen bigger than this:

 

[11Charlie]

Far bigger than German Shepards. One doesn't realize how big they are from far away... have to see them next to something to compare. These Canadian strain guys are big healthy f'ers. The original Oregon Grey Wolves were not that large.

I've seen bigger than this:

View attachment 478654

But they look so cute and harmless!

 

[bbbass]

Just cuddly puppy doggies!!! They have rights, you know. And they were here first!!!

 

[bbbass]

 

[Goosebrown]

No, you should be carrying both and a semiauto rifle in 7.62 with 30 rounds... probably in carbine length. Maybe a semiauto shotgun with 10 rounds at least.

Yeah... for any three gun opportunities you run into.

 

[Flymph]

Far bigger than German Shepards. One doesn't realize how big they are from far away... have to see them next to something to compare. These Canadian strain guys are big healthy f'ers. The original Oregon Grey Wolves were not that large.

I've seen bigger than this:

View attachment 478654

I've seen one in person, actually a wolf dog... it's a little intimidating to go up to some guys house in the woods and this pops out barking at you...
Friendly enough once it knows you, but still a little bit of a shock.

 

[Flymph]

Yeah... for any three gun opportunities you run into.

Well, when it comes to a wolf pack you can't be over gunned on foot.

 

[156256Hunter]

Well, when it comes to a wolf pack you can't be over gunned on foot.

Scene from Predator when Mac gets the mini gun: