Washington DC ruling for WY wolves
Elk
Looks to be a Wyoming win.
Been waiting on this ruling. A good day just became a great day!
Nice to see a little common sense break out once in awhile.
Well, maybe WY isn't a lost cause after all. Instead of hunting elk, I could bring out the rifle and hunt on the unlimited wolf tag.
Sounds good. Wonder how much money we wasted having to fight this. Any reasonable person who has read Wyoming's plan would know there is no way wolves dropping below (or even to) the mandated level would be a result of the plan being followed. Thats aside from the fact that if they did drop below the minimum population they would be relisted.
There is a hell of an outbreak of common sense going around.
SWEET !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does this mean they can be shot on sight without a license in areas they defined as no wolf zones?
Maybe there is still hope for a WY moose tag in my future. With the increase in fees there it would be tough to wait it out. Hopefully there will be a reduction in wolves allowing the moose population to come back and more tags available
Grasshopper, the wolf management areas are basically limited to areas surrounding Yellowstone. Any wolves outside the management areas are classified as predators. Predators can be shot on sight...no license, no limit.
Awesome, just awesome!! That is some of the best news I have heard in a while!
My last hunt in Wyoming, I saw wolves almost every day. May need to haul a-double back up there and celebrate :-)
Lets hope guys get out and hunt in the predator zone. It can only help prevent migration into Colorado and Utah.
Great news!! But the wolf tag is going up another $1 for us residents, can anyone lone me 4 quarters!
Yeah, would someone please send some of that common sense to MN as well.
Good news! Now if we can get something like that here in NM for our wolf problem.......
$185.00 for a Non-ressy tag. I might have to take a week and go up to Cody! Or over to Pinedale-
Good luck, Robb
I'm surprised this thread doesn't have more responses yet. This is a BIG deal. Congrats on the ruling!
Great news guys! No more three "S"!
Great news! I really have a lot of confidence in the people we are now getting in charge.
Scar, the new three "S"'s are "Shoot, Shoot, and Shoot some more"! ;-)
Its after March 1st which I believe means unit 12 switches from trophy to predator rules. It has a population.
"Great news! I really have a lot of confidence in the people we are now getting in charge. "
Ben,
You do realize that this court is comprised of judges who were appointed by previous administrations? Current leadership has/had nothing to do with the court composition. Most of these judges were appointed by Clinton, GW Bush, and Obama.
Good ruling. It will be interesting to see if this ends up in the US Supreme Court.
JLS, you can bet the pro,pro,pro wolf groups are in the planning stages right now. They will never give up to get them re-listed and off the shooting line.
Had Wyoming not tried to be the smartest guys on the block they'd have been hunting them all along and had protection from litigation. But, litigation and controversy bring in lots of money, on both sides of the issue.
Paul,
I'm sure they are working on it, but I would wager a guess the high court won't take this one on.
Pretty sure much of WY has been following it's own rules for some time now......
But this is very good news. Maybe big bears next, ya never know.....
Great news! Now lets do the same for here in Wisconsin...it's out of control.
Good news.
Wonder if this will have any effect on the management programs in MT or ID, where wolves are managed as big game.
Awesome news. Here's hoping the SC rejects the appeal that is sure to come. God Bless
Like I said all along. Wyoming had it right. Now "they" can mange their own resource...
I applaud WY. Their plan was common sense. Yes, its possible that a more politically correct plan would have been less controversal, but its quite likely the antis would have just picked the next softest target to go to court.
Just because the Feds and the antis didnt handle this whole thing right from the start doesnt mean WY should have to bend more . They had this issue thrust on them and came up with a sound, common sense plan to make sure they did whats best for WY while ensuring they comply with the Federal mandates.
The fact that wolf hunting was closed again isnt WYoming's fault. It was the antis and the court's.
So are you saying wolves are in unit 12, and when they open it up we can go hunt predators in the snowies? I'm game! I would think winter range would be a good time to hunt, and anything we could whack we only help Colorado.
This is great news and it feels like the shackles on common sense predator management are being undone. Everything was so discouraging for so long and this is a huge win. Maybe hope for commonsense management in all western states. Great news for the elk in Wyoming!
"So are you saying wolves are in unit 12, and when they open it up we can go hunt predators in the snowies?"
Don't confuse Elk Area 12 with Wolf Area 12...they're a few hundred miles apart. Thankfully, there isn't an established pack in the Snowy's. Certainly a chance of one wandering through on occasion, but if you want to actually hunt wolves when they do become delisted, go to wolf area 12, not elk area 12.
ELKMAN and Glunt, I couldn't agree more. If Wyoming had agreed to the plan that Idaho and Montana did, we would always be behind the 8-Ball. Sure they have wolf hunting, but it's controlled and subject to quotas. What few are killed within the constraints of those quotas will never keep up with their reproduction.
OTOH, Wyoming will be able to not only manage, but basically eliminate wolves from gaining a stranglehold in major mountain ranges such as the Bighorns, Uinta's, southern Wyoming Range, Snowy Range, Sierra Madre's, and Laramie Range.
As some have noted, we certainly haven't won the war, but this is a HUGE step in that direction.
