Idaho Approves Year-Round Wolf Hunting, Legislature Passes Wolf Control Bill
Daniel Xu | March 25, 2014

Last week the Idaho Fish and Game Commission made a rule change allowing year-round wolf hunting on private property in the state’s northern Clearwater Region, which was quickly followed by the passage of a bill that would set aside $400,000 in funds to control gray wolf populations.

Animal rights groups are calling these latest actions a move by Idaho lawmakers to eradicate wolves from the state. House Bill 470 passed on the last day of Idaho’s legislative season and is expected to be signed by Governor C.L. Otter, who publicly supported the bill.

With the addition of the 16 hunting zones in the Clearwater region, hunters can harvest wolves year-round in much of northern Idaho—as long as their hunts take place on private property. The bag limit was also changed to five wolves per calendar year.

“Political leaders in Idaho would love nothing more than to eradicate Idaho’s wolves and return to a century-old mindset where big predators are viewed as evil and expendable,” said Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The new state wolf board, sadly, reflects that attitude. The legislature couldn’t even bring itself to put a single conservationist on the board, so the outcome is predictable: Many more wolves will die.”

State wildlife officials, however, paint a different picture of Idaho’s wolf problem. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Idaho Fish and Game Department estimated that the state’s elk population had fallen 15 percent since wolves were reintroduced, accounting for a dip in the number of elk hunting permits issued. Federal tallies also counted 2,589 sheep, 610 cows, and 72 dogs killed by the new predators in the state. There are roughly 680 wolves in Idaho across 118 packs.

“We are of one mind, that Idaho wants to manage our wolves and we want to manage them to a reasonable number so that the species don’t get endangered again and the feds don’t come in and take it over again,” Governor Otter said.

Otter previously signed a bill that declared the reintroduction of gray wolves into Idaho a state disaster.

Supporters of House Bill 470 say that it will simply allow the state to properly manage wolves and keep the predators from endangering other wildlife. To date, hunters in the state have harvested about 300 wolves since 2011.

Animal rights groups can go to hell. Nothing but a lot of morons.

quote:

The legislature couldn’t even bring itself to put a single conservationist on the board,

What? No hunters?


.

Idaho, and Montana should have the same laws on wolves that Texas has on mountain lions and coyotes.

No Closed Season, No Bag Limit.

love it!

Now if we canget them year round on all land we'll be doing better yet.

Amen

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Originally posted by BigNate:
Now if we canget them year round on all land we'll be doing better yet.

Don't wish for too much, as you don't want to take them down to a level where the Feds can put them back on the ESA!

Exactly!

I'm glad on state made the move in the right direction!

Peter

It's good to live, and hunt, here in Idaho. A round of applause for common sense politicians...

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
It's good to live, and hunt, here in Idaho. A round of applause for common sense politicians...

It was passed to keep the "We write them you fight them" IDFG from ticketing people who are doing this already.

Wolves are nothing more than sport killing machines. I have been in Idaho several times and seen the devastation they have felled upon Elk, Moose, Deer etc. All the wild game, livestock and even pet losses are inexcusable. Not only should hunting/killing them be year 'round, there should be a bounty paid on them. LDK

Maybe nothin to do with Idaho, but my folks live in Saskatchewan. Called home, and my dear old Dad, who,s a little over seventy saw a wolf hangin around the farm. Out the door he went with his old 30-30, with hopes of installing a couple new air vents.. Sounds like no luck this time, but my Mom did mention they,ve got a bounty on the critters in some parts of northern Saskatchewan..

I just watched a somewhat dated Nat'l Geographic doc. on Yellowstone Park. The reintroduction of wolves was lauded, and a particular pack of los lobos that preys mostly on bison was highlighted. Nitwits.

That was the initial story.
The wolves were going to eat the overpopulated
buffalo of Yellowstone.
The wolf hippies wouldn't even mention elk at that time.
Oh AND they would never leave YNP.