What elk?? I thought the wolves ate them all.

the "naturalist" wants to reintroduce wolves , thats what we need...more wolves. Jeez.

Dang, this wasting disease thing is just a freakin mess.

It seems political correctness renders it impossible to manage game in a logical manner anymore. The article states that in adjacent areas where hunting is allowed the problem is less severe.

"Will diseases start managing these populations?" Wild wonders. "We'd like to be able to manage our wildlife in a way that's a bit more controlled than a disease, where we don't know what the disease will do to the population."

Let's see, hasn't hunting been used as an effective management tool for a few years?

"Some people aren't happy. They didn't expect to move into an area hoping to enjoy viewing wildlife and watch their neighbors killing them,"

These people move here from the cities with anthropomorphic ideas about Bambi. Hunting has been a way of life here for all of my life, for the entire history of our state. It is a sad thing to see this change in our culture. I would think it wiser for state agencies to begin an ad campaign to paint hunting as a desirable and necessary tool for economical game management. Wouldn't it be something to see our Division of Wildlife actually take a stand for hunting with the non-hunting public, instead of preaching to us, the choir? Political realities are what they are, and this is not going to happen.

"I wish we could bring back wolves," Uhing said. "I'd love to see that natural balance."

This from a Denver Mountain Parks naturalist. Bringing back wolves will not restore "that natural balance". Colorado is not the same place it was when things were in a natural balance that did not include modern man and modern technology. The world is a different place now. I guess some folks haven't got that yet. I have an idea about wolves too; if you want to see that natural balance go to Canada or Alaska. Keep them the hell out of here. Funny how these sort of folks think hunting of elk is cruel, but it is natures way that they be pulled down, torn and eaten alive by wolves. No one wants to discuss this though, better to turn their heads and simply not acknowledge the cruelty of natures' way. I am grateful to live in a time when we are still free to hunt, still free to be the natural human beings our creator made us to be. Things change, but it seems to me that way too much of modern man has lost connection with the earth and the natural way of things. Instead there is too often this anthropomorphic fantasy of how nature is. We have learned many amazing things about nature, animals and their intelligence, but that doesn't change the natural order of things. Folks who have lived in the country long enough, or worked on farms and ranches, seem to have a grasp on the true nature of animals and the ways of the wild. I believe that in time we will collectively lose our connection with earth and the natural order of things, and so we will lose our context as human beings. I'm old enough I'll be gone by then. There is also mercy in the natural order.

the CWD angle is just the angle being used
to CULL an overpopulation of elk.
keeps the bleeding hearts from screaming their heads off.
bet the end result finds less than .05 of elk tested have the disease.

quote:

What elk?? I thought the wolves ate them all.

The article addresses Colorado's RMP. The wolves are in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Look at a map and maybe you can discern between states.

Just this week in Northwest Wy, the Govenor reopened 4 elk areas for Jan. 1st through the 31st for cow only hunts, these areas had closed in November and late december. it was a first time move by the state. All unused bull tags and cow tags are viable for this hunt. CWD is also being used to justify this.