Wolves in the Backyard

I think most everyone on this thread agree wolves need to be managed. The #1 problem is Federal Protection and the states of MN/WI don’t put enough effort into changing the current status. Basically throwing up their hands and saying it’s the Feds problem. It’s a state problem period!
The #2 problem is the states(MN/WI) had management plans that the DNR Agencies would/did not follow. The original plan in WI was 350 max. That was all the state wolf range could support. That was figured by biologists and science based studies. WI has at least 4 times that many wolves now. That brings it to the current issue that there are TOO many. Sell licenses and take the $$$. Our DNR’s are in need of more funding anyway.

Remind us again b-man, weren’t you the one that just moved up to Wolf country from down near the cities not that long ago?

mxskeeter wrote:

I think most everyone on this thread agree wolves need to be managed. The #1 problem is Federal Protection and the states of MN/WI don’t put enough effort into changing the current status. Basically throwing up their hands and saying it’s the Feds problem. It’s a state problem period!
The #2 problem is the states(MN/WI) had management plans that the DNR Agencies would/did not follow. The original plan in WI was 350 max. That was all the state wolf range could support. That was figured by biologists and science based studies. WI has at least 4 times that many wolves now. That brings it to the current issue that there are TOO many. Sell licenses and take the $$$. Our DNR’s are in need of more funding anyway.

To a certain extant yes you are right . Yet the animal rights groups based in Washington are a major factor why no meaningful management plan has been implemented . Anytime something gets close to delisting they throw an onslaught of lawsuits to stop it in the courts! The lawyers really don’t care who is paying the bills as long as they get paid

Don’t forget about the billboards on 35W near downtown with pics of wolf pups. That was a classic move…winning the hearts and minds of the city folk.

Swimjiggin wrote:

Remind us again b-man, weren’t you the one that just moved up to Wolf country from down near the cities not that long ago?

Yep 100%.

I grew up in Polk County Wisconsin and still own land there. We moved north of the metro a stones throw away from Carlos Avery after that (where I’ve killed my biggest bear and seen the biggest buck of my life).

I’ve seen and killed a lot of deer in my life, and know what kind of habitat they do well in. I’ve also spent a lot of time in a tree in Washburn county Wisconsin, which has “some wolves.”

30 years of Wisconsin deer hunting experience has given me a lot of sympathy for hunters in the northern third of Minnesota. A friend of mine has hunted near Cotton for decades, it used to be good hunting there, but in the most recent years they’ve been lucky to see a deer.

The habitat where we moved to would be a deer and deer hunter’s paradise if it were just 70 miles south…but it’s not.

Sure it’s a little colder and averages 10″ more snow a year, but there’s one glaring difference from where I grew up, and anecdotes about historical deer populations from all of my neighbors agree things have gone downhill after wolves became more prevalent.

Where do you live and hunt? Have you noticed any big changes or differences in areas you frequent?

Do you know a single person that thinks deer hunting hasn’t declined in northern Minnesota in the last 20 years??

Hey B did you ever imagine this thread could go this far? Pretty interesting opinions.

Dutchboy wrote:

Hey B did you ever imagine this thread could go this far? Pretty interesting opinions.

Can’t say I did but I agree

Bman, you ever been to Alaska? If you did I think you’d realize how ridiculous your comparison is between MN and AK wolf populations. Completely different terrain and climate, much much lower prey density, much bigger prey…the list can go on and on and on. I totally agree MN and WI need a wolf season but you are talking apples and oranges with that comparison. It’s like comparing the elk numbers in MN to CO.

I have not, but my uncle has lived in Alaska for 32-ish years and is a former hunting guide there.

If it’s an unfair comparison, please find something more comprable to go off of. My mind is a sponge

It’s funny you bring up CO.

Colorado has elk as well as wolves, and a lot of wolf habitat.

How many wolves do they have?

How many elk?

What state has the highest density of elk?

How did the wolves get there?

What is Prop 114 in Colorado??

What local demographics voted heavily for it? It must surely have been rural land owners, ranchers, hunters, and farmers right? You know..the people that have to deal with it?

Deep thinking with B-man

This same thread pops up at least once a year. The deer hunters are real babies about it. Some of them are my best buddies. Wolves got a right to live a happy life. If I ever see one on the roadside I’m slowing down and throwing a few milk bones out the window.

B-man wrote:

Labdaddy, curious where you live? Have you ever seen a wolf? Are you a deer hunter?

If you live in a metropolitan area, never seen a wolf in the wild, and/or don’t deer hunt…then your reply wasn’t worth the time to even read.

That’d be like me giving my wife advice about menstruation

Yes have seen wolves and called them into within 150 yds when predator calling in ely. I don’t predator hunt anymore but will not hesitate to shoot a coyote messing with my dog. Or livestock if I had any. But wolves are a different ballgame than coyotes or bobcats. Or foxes.

And yes deer hunter. Haven’t in a handful of years but I get it and would like to get back into it, especially archery.

Maybe I’m a bit of a hypocrite. I don’t have direct experience with wolves and yotes effing with livestock. If they’re eating stock and pets(not natural prey) and it’s your livelihood vs theirs I can understand it. But I do know a Labrador, poodle, and Malinois are not native to this environment.

I had close relatives and friends getting pissed at me for saying I’d shoot a wolf or yote but it didn’t really bother me. I respect wild native predators a lot; bobcats/cougars, wolves, foxes, and even coyotes. They need to make a living(maybe even a killing…) Same with brown and black bears. Unless they are directly messing with my own livestock or pets or myself. Then yeah take care of the problem animal.

Again, not saying they don’t demand our respect because they do. I would still stick one if it messes with my way of life but only to a certain degree.

There are some shows about Yellowstone’s reintroduction that really prove(IMO) what an integral part of the system wolves are. I’ll have to dig up the links. I didn’t understand this as a kid and teenager but now it makes a lot of sense.

I also have a giant love/hate relationship with beavers (just like nhamm) as a river guy but I respect them. Old timers in deer camp would say kill ‘em all but ope not for me. One of them even tried to convince me to kill a fisher. Oof.

No disrespect meant and maybe I’m missing something, but these are just my honest thoughts.

And yea when they say deer and are showing elk… whatever elk are still deer lol. I hope a wildlife biologist can come in and correct me where I’m wrong.

crawdaddy wrote:

This same thread pops up at least once a year. The deer hunters are real babies about it. Some of them are my best buddies. Wolves got a right to live a happy life. If I ever see one on the roadside I’m slowing down and throwing a few milk bones out the window.

You’re going to need a lot of milkbones…

For perspective:

To match the current density in northern Minnesota, the 7 County Twin Cities Metropolitan Area would need 61 PACKS OF WOLVES freely roaming around.

(5 wolves per pack, 1,904,300 acres, 6,186 acres per wolf)

Each wolf pack covers 30 miles a day.

61 packs would cover 1,830 MILES A DAY IN THE METRO, or over 50,000 miles a month.

I say we fence it in and grab some beers.

It’d be fun as $hit to watch the news every night. Could you fricken imagine??? People would be losing their minds

Swimjiggin wrote:

Remind us again b-man, weren’t you the one that just moved up to Wolf country from down near the cities not that long ago?

This thread has gone off the rails but that was funny

crawdaddy wrote:

This same thread pops up at least once a year. The deer hunters are real babies about it. Some of them are my best buddies. Wolves got a right to live a happy life. If I ever see one on the roadside I’m slowing down and throwing a few milk bones out the window.

Overpopulation leads to more suffering for the wolves than one could imagine. Disease, famine, mange, etc.
Milkbones? They’d prefer your dog.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Swimjiggin wrote:</div>
Remind us again b-man, weren’t you the one that just moved up to Wolf country from down near the cities not that long ago?

This thread has gone off the rails but that was funny

5 pages straight down the rails from what I can see. Off the rails would imply that the thread has gone off topic. Pretty sure we’ve only discussed wolves here.
Your post is probably the most off topic post in the whole thread.

Bman is gonna math his way to a wolf season.

Based on this thread, it’s starting to seem like you didn’t pick the best location to buy a house. Wolves and no deer. Did you scout the area for deer numbers before buying?

Fortunately you’re not a far drive from public land with lots of deer. And some wolves too of course.

Matt Moen wrote:

Don’t forget about the billboards on 35W near downtown with pics of wolf pups. That was a classic move…winning the hearts and minds of the city folk.

Scheels at st cloud posted a pic on FB of their employee doing predator control with 2 coyotes and several obviously wanting a yote in their bed with them reacted with sad faces. Or maybe those ladies were sad he only got 2 not sure.

My buddy has a group that has hunted in Mississippi headwaters for 40 years. They have done quite well over the years with numbers and some real nice trophy bucks. The last 5 or so years it has been so much wolf sign and hardly any deer sightings. Last 3 years they got a total of 3 deer combined for 11 guys. This year much better they got 7 with other chances that they passed hoping for a decent winter and more numbers next year.
I have hunted this same area for 5 years but only after they are done. Saw very few deer. Saw 3 deer together once and a couple others and that is it. Lots of wolf sign and tons of coyotes too.

FinnyDinDin wrote:

Based on this thread, it’s starting to seem like you didn’t pick the best location to buy a house. Wolves and no deer. Did you scout the area for deer numbers before buying?

Fortunately you’re not a far drive from public land with lots of deer. And some wolves too of course.

I did in fact, also obviously walked the woods too, and talked with some locals at the bar. We didn’t move there solely for the hunting, and kept our land in Wisconsin for a reason.

Curious where you say there’s “lots of deer” nearby? PM me if you’d like

I can assure you that they will be de listed again, and a lawsuit will be brought forward by the wolf advocacy groups. They have deep pockets and good lawyers. Federal court is where this battle needs to be won.

A good question is how many wolves will make up the population. I would think they’re about close to topping out with the exception of territory expansion. The biggest killer of wolves is other wolves. A pack will not tolerate other wolves in their territory.

I know when I move up north I won’t be shocked to find a wolf track in the snow.

On the bright side the wolves also kill any coyote they run across.

gim wrote:

I can assure you that they will be de listed again, and a lawsuit will be brought forward by the wolf advocacy groups. They have deep pockets and good lawyers. Federal court is where this battle needs to be won.

100 percent correct Gim

How do we know what the wolf population is? Seems like a very tough thing to accurately count without bias.

Also, a 1,000,000 deer population is a suspiciously round number

A good percentage of the 2021 wolf depredation complaints occurred on the edge of their expanding territory. MN counties along the Red River (Kittson and Clay) had verified wolf kills and compensation as did counties in some prime deer hunting counties that have a great mix of crop land and woods (Ottertail, Wadena) … so the wolf continues to expand its range and those on the fringe will encounter more humans.

Keep those goldens close to you crawdaddy this ain’t pheasant country.

I wonder how much Climate Change affects the wolf population

So hows the fishing in wolf country?

chuck100 wrote:

So hows the fishing in wolf country?

from what i witnessed the past few days up there…..about as good as wolf hunting!!!!!!