Wolf shooting in Alaska?

[Heliport]

The Alaska state game board wants to bring in helicopter gunners to kill more wolves in a culling program that board members say is severely behind schedule.
State biologists wanted at least 382 wolves killed during the winter when snow makes it easier to track the animals.

Volunteers ordinarily do all the shooting but this year high fuel costs and uncooperative weather have grounded many of the volunteers putting the state's aerial wolf control program in jeopardy. Only 38 wolves have been killed so far this winter.



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Game board members say helicopter gunners would be more efficient for shooting wolves because they can hover just 20 feet from wolves. That's opposed to the current practice of trying to hit animals from small planes moving at speeds of 70 miles per hour.


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Fish and Game officials want the Governor's approval to use state biologists and state helicopters to do the shooting. The governor's office says, while it's not ruling it out, it's not the preferred approach.
"Even the concept of considering a helicopter is absolutely the last resort and she doesn't even want helicopters even considered until she knows that every possible incentive to local hunters is considered and that every possible option out there for hunters is exhausted before she even considers the idea of using a helicopter," said Meghan Stapleton, governor's spokesperson.

The wildlife program, employed mostly in south-central Alaska and the interior, is designed to kill wolves that eat moose.

Department officials say using a state helicopter could cost between $200,000 and $300,000.

[slowrotor]

I think Gov Palin was elected mostly because the previous governor spent state money for a jet and that didn't sit well with voters. I applaud her cost cutting ability, very rare these days.
With all the hunters in Alaska that will shoot wolves for free, why should the state get involved?
Wait for better weather.

[SASless]

Killing the Wolves is bad enough but suggesting the taxpayer pay for the culling is flat silly. There are plenty of folks that would pay for helicopter hunting safari's Alaskan style.

Why not have the State monitor the hunts and allow helicopter operators and private helicopter owners to perform a public service and make a bit of money flying the hunters about.

I suppose the subsistence hunters who waste tons of Moose meat getting some Backstraps for a Potlatch could not be convinced to fore go that practice and thus allow the Wolves to continue eating Moose.

Better yet....perhaps the Subsistance Hunters would have to utilize traditional hunting weapons and practices....rather than Snow Machines and scoped rifles while exercising their traditional hunting rights.:{

[Perro Rojo]

What a stupid idea.

I can't think of a better way to generate really bad publicity for the helicopter industry. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

[B Sousa]

State Biologists........Another word for Government Nose Pickers. Reintroduce the wolves here, then eliminate them there.
How about thining the gene pool for the Humanoids.........
Cut down on the other hunting and the wolves wouldnt be hungry.

Keep the Helicopters out of it, they can create enough bad blood on their own....

[topendtorque]

I suppose the subsistence hunters who waste tons of Moose meat getting some Backstraps for a Potlatch could not be convinced to fore go that practice and thus allow the Wolves to continue eating Moose.

Better yet....perhaps the Subsistance Hunters would have to utilize traditional hunting weapons and practices....rather than Snow Machines and scoped rifles while exercising their traditional hunting rights.:{

Sasless,
If you feel that you haven't been beating your head against a very solid brick wall enough of late, then I gaurantee that I could find you a couple of rock cliffs over here to have a go at.
Some of them even have paintings on them that demonstrate the art of hunting and gathering
tet

as for shooting the damm things out of an airplane, jeeeesus

[B Sousa]

"Better yet....perhaps the Subsistance Hunters would have to utilize traditional hunting weapons and practices....rather than Snow Machines and scoped rifles while exercising their traditional hunting rights"

Thats right and when they run their Snow Mobiles out of Oil or Fuel, they leave them and cry to the government to give them another one. Shoot a Walrus and cant get to it, No Problem shoot another one, let the first one rot.
Anything the Government has their hands in can most certainly be a Guarantee it will get screwed up.

[MSP Aviation]

"Even the concept of considering a helicopter is absolutely the last resort and she doesn't even want helicopters even considered until she knows that every possible incentive to local hunters is considered and that every possible option out there for hunters is exhausted before she even considers the idea of using a helicopter."

This woman gets PAID to speak on behalf of others...

[nigelh]

Sounds great fun to me :ok: i shoot rabbits out of mine , but not quite the same as a wolf !! I wonder if you have to give them any leed if they are running and you are flying at the same speed :confused:

[SASless]

By all means.....give them some ;) "lead"!

[Outwest]

Having done this in the 80's with a 206, I can tell you it is not that easy. And the statement about 20 knots is untrue.....60 is about right. This is how it goes. You scout the area for a pack that is out in the open, then you decend on the first one in the line, the dominant male, then as you can imagine, the rest of the pack scatters in all directions, so you need to crank it around hard to fly past the next one and so on before they get to the shelter of the trees. Once in the trees, they are lost. The success of the whole venture rests with the gunners, who are hanging out the back of the Jetranger (sans doors) with pump shotguns and 00 buckshot. They get a chance for one and if lucky 2 shots as you fly by.
Now before anyone starts to feel bad for the wolves, that year we shot 70 wolves and could not find another one, so assumed we had wiped them out. The next year another crew went back to the same area and shot 60 more. They are resilent.
This is all taking place in winter so you can imagine what -20 is like with no doors:eek:

[SASless]

Do ever wonder if the critters get tired of being "managed" and would really much prefer to be left alone?

The problem is the human interface with wild critters.....loss of habitat and competition as predators warp the situation that worked in balance before the inteference of modern man.

A good example is the re-introduction of the Wolf into some national parks where they are protected from hunters. As the packs prosper, they pose a hardship on herds of Elk, Deer, and Moose. As competition grows for prey....invaribly some of the Wolf population are forced to move to other places and then become a threat to domestic critters like Cattle, Horses, and Sheep.

When that happens the Wolves become targets again.

[B Sousa]

Hey SAS. Maybe the people are encroaching a bit too much........Where do we get the permits?? We can just drop them off in the woods and see who wins.

[SASless]

Bertie dear Boy.....let us find some bunny loving tree huggers and provide them a true wilderness experience and drop them off from the helicopters in the same we we drop claim stakes or bales of hay to cattle in the winter.

Perhaps the Wolves and Grizzily's would remind the Sierra Club types exactly where they fall in the food chain. I would donate my services to work in that kind of eco-tourism trade.:E

[diethelm]

As a bunny loving tree hugger, I tend to like animals a lot more than people. If we could only figure out how to put an opposable thumb on the animals, I say arm the animals and let them have it out with the hunters. My money is on the animals.

But then again, I actually put vegetables out for the bunnies in the neighborhood as the coyotes prefer a fat bunny to the family dog. :D

[Savoia]

.
Not Alaska but wolf-hunting nonetheless!


LEWISTON, Idaho — Aerial gunners in a helicopter have killed at least five wolves in north-central Idaho since Wednesday in an effort to protect elk herds, but the hunting has been halted because it hasn't been as successful as expected, an Idaho Department of Fish and Game official says.

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Deputy Director Jim Unsworth said agents with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services suspended the hunt indefinitely Friday because it was inefficient and expensive. He said some wolf packs are being found by radio collars worn by individuals but the wolves are in thick timber making them difficult to shoot from the air.

The elk and deer are on green-up down low and the wolves are there with them," he told the Lewiston Tribune. "They are in that lower-elevation, big-timber kind of stuff. We can find the packs, but you can't find the wolves to do anything from a control standpoint."

State officials want to kill up to 60 wolves in the region, leaving about 20 or 30, in the wake of the Obama Administration removing the predators from Endangered Species Act protections last month.

With the aerial gunning from a helicopter having less success than officials hoped, Unsworth said hunting outfitters and their guides in the Lolo Zone have been authorized to shoot wolves during the spring bear hunting season.

Estimates put Idaho's wolf population at 705, but officials with Fish and Game said the number after this year's litter of pups may exceed 1,000.
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission is expected to approve a fall wolf hunting season throughout the state, and Unsworth said the commission is also likely to approve trapping for wolves. He said officials might try aerial hunting again following the fall hunt.

"The reality is it's going to be a long-term effort and we are going to have to use a combination of methods including the control effort and trapping to meet the 20 to 30 goal," he said. "Some folks think you just show up and take whatever you want when using a helicopter and that is just not the case."

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[Brilliant Stuff]

I would have thought the New Zealanders would make mince meat out of them wolves in an afternoon??

[Peter-RB]

Would this be better to leave to the SEALs,...sounds and seems like they could do with a bit of practice....uh!

PeterR-B :eek:

[Dan Reno]

diethelm said: "I tend to like animals a lot more than people."

YIKES !! You really like animals a lot more than people ? Between the wolves and you, a fellow human wouldn't stand much of a chance with you in a survival situation in Alaska !

[alouette]

Imagine if one day the wolves shoot back...would be quite a switch:}

[Efe Cem Elci]

"Even the concept of considering a helicopter is absolutely the last resort and she doesn't even want helicopters even considered until she knows that every possible incentive to local hunters is considered and that every possible option out there for hunters is exhausted before she even considers the idea of using a helicopter."

This woman gets PAID to speak on behalf of others...

Yeah, had to read that a few times to make sure I got what it was trying to convey. If this is the person that got the job, I shudder to think how the ones they turned down were. :ugh::ugh:

[Rotorgoat8]

Moose meat is way too good to waste on wolves!! Let them eat eco-terrorists!!