Quote:
Originally Posted by Running Bear
Fair enough and I respect your opinion. I know they are using experts that have a great deal of experience. They have developed strategies over the years to keep non target kills to a minimum. Placement of bait sites are very important. By placing baits on a lake or in a large open area greatly reduces the risk of killing most members of the weasel family as marten, fisher, and weasels do not like to venture too far out from cover. Most cougars do not like to go into these area's either. They also do not poison the carcass. They poison couple pound chunks and burry them in the snow away from the carcass or main bait. This allows ravens and eagles to feed on the main bait to attract wolves and not kill the birds. When the wolves come in and clean up what is left they then dig up the drop baits and gulp them up leaving nothing behind. I have helped recover some of these wolves in the past. The only non target species I have seen was a coyote and a raven. None of the recovered wolves I saw had been fed on. Take a wolf that has been shot and has a bullet hole and blood on it. Throw it out and it will get eaten up fast. Then take one that has been snared and died fast with no struggle and has no wounds or blood on it. It will lay there for weeks most of the time and nothing will touch it. I bet it is very rare that anything feeds on a poisoned wolf. And try this, take a road kill out to where you know the wolves travel through. Cut the hind quarters off and then cut them into 2-3 pound chunks. Then take a shovel any burry them in the snow all different directions 50 to 100 yards from the carcass. Leave a good 2 foot mound of snow over each one. Then go check it every week. When the wolves come in they will dig up and eat every one. The odd one will get dug up by a coyote but 9 times out of 10 the wolves will get it. I believe they are doing this in the most responsible way possible with very minimal non target kills. That is just my opinion.
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I've read about this theory as well, and I'm sure it does help with lowering the number of by-catch. But all these areas have populations of wolverine, and I've yet to see a wolverine that couldn't find a chunk of burried anything.
Alas it doesn't matter what I think anyway, the government will continue what it thinks is best.
The clear cutting will continue and access will continue to improve as our ungulate populations fluctuate along with the predators behind them. A bullet is the only sure fire way other then depending on trappers and hunters. I try to do my part, but it is only a drop in the bucket.