Not real subtle, but I like it.

SSS was a common theme discussed during my hunt in Wyoming this year.

It looks to me like there is a little corruption in the wildlife protection groups.

States have control over so many other species in their states that it is fairly ridiculous that wolves can't be managed by a state government. Ducks for example, there are species of ducks and waterfowl that you are allowed to shoot in some states but not others. Those rules are based off of sound science, for example harlequin ducks we have them here but we are not allowed to shoot any because the populations aren't large, where as in Alaska you can shoot some.

I'd buy raffle tickets for it

They need to livetrap about 5 of them and set them FREE in Central Park. Could you imagine the lovefest that would occur!

This is blatantly, obviously advocating poaching.

Killing a wolf there now is poaching. Period. If you kill a wolf there, you are a poacher. Remember how you feel about poachers. Keep that in mind.

That's not helping us in the long run. Not the wolf situation, not sportsmen in general.

I must admit though, that it's getting to the point where I almost can't blame them.

A Winchester M70 featherweight in .308 would make a nice wolf rifle...

If a Law Enforcement agency is being creative to raise money to educate the citizens then so be it. Law enforcement is not a money making business. If they can make a buck or two on a raffle to keep the community safe good for them. Sounds like the Idaho Department of Fish and Game are reading into the comment a bit to much. Back off and buy a ticket you might get a shovel.

How many of you are wildlife biologists?

Just saying...

But this smacks of two things.... ok several.

1) Laws are laws. If we pick and choose which ones we will follow, then we are essentially lawless. I believe Socrates spoke at length on the subject as did Benjamin Franklin.

2) Sometimes, and I mean sometimes, we as a people need to see the bigger picture. That's were a Federal Gov't comes into play. Yes, the rancher in Idaho may not like wolves eating his livestock, but the wildlife manager sees a halt to CCD. So which is more important?

Releasing (hungry) wolves in Central Park, while amusing and certainly something I would enjoy, would not change the equation. Wild menacing wolves eating, dogs, cats, homeless people, and the occasional child does not constitute an issue over livelyhood. It's just a animal niusance issue. Still it would be entertaining.

The Spaniards use the Spanish Mastif to protect their flocks and herds. Very effective. But I doubt many American ranchers want to go through the trouble of following their herds around and penning them up nightly. All together too much trouble for the subsidized industry now isn't it. Much easier to minimize threats and leave it at that. It would be too expensive to spend his or her valuable time out there. What! You can't pass the cost to the consumer?

Now how much is that Dollar Whopper again? Should it really only be a dollar?

And one more thing, just because something is plentiful here, doesn't necessarily make it so way over there! If we as sportsmen, can't even be trusted to clean out the bilges of our boats to stop the spread of invasive species, how can you be trusted to decide what should or shouldn't be hunted? Seriously.

Now I would like to hear some common sense approaches to this.

Albert A Rasch
http://trochronicles.blogspot.com/

Thanks, mfiggis, right on. While the raffle name represents the feelings of a lot of folks in the area, saying something like this encourages inappropriate behavior and tarnishes the idea of a good conservation ethic we sportsmen should have during a time where we really need to represent ourselves well.

It really stinks that the state agencies charged with managing wildlife aren't allowed to manage wolves. People are frustrated but retaliation and "SSSing" only dig us into a bigger hole (no pun intended). I don't know the legal solution, but another avenue might be that we should work on educating more members of a largely naïve public into the benefits of managing wolves like we do other critters. The environmental organizations and anti-hunters have a HUGE edge in PR (which is where most of their money goes) and we need to step up too.

And please, folks, quit blaming the state agencies and Fish & Wildlife Service. FWS are trying to get wolves de-listed and managed, and can't really help the fact that they get their butts sued (and lose) every time. And the state agencies have nothing to win with wolves on the ESA. Hunter numbers are down, and both Idaho and Montana made a lot of money on tag sales. Many of my friends and family are biologists employed by either FWS or Montana or Idaho. And they think the situation is just as crummy too. So please, give 'em a break, on this one at least.