David, I think it will happen this year. First off they took Wyoming out of the picture. And Montana and Idaho have cut the hunts to a "well managed plan". The problem last year was Wyoming said shoot on sight and Montana and Idaho wanted to shoot to many. The problem with the wolf is ---------ahh ------let me rethink this --------MAN. What I was going to say is he hunts in a pack. I don't know what other animals do this. A cougar and a wolf one on one is easy to figure, but 8 to one. And that pack mentality just get's him in trouble, they do stupid stuff. He is destined for failure. When was the last wolf hunt in the lower 48 ? Idaho should have made more money on this fiasco !!

It could go either way i agree, I've been reading the recent legal documents involved in the attempt to stop the Idaho and Montana hunt.. We shall see.. Here is a video which is fascinating..
www.youtube.com

That video is stupid. The sky is falling, don't look up

yeah, probably, independent thought is so over rated..

Incorrect, in the first place the last three seasons in the Sawtooth Zone I have seen very few hunters, most agree there is not much to hunt in there..Secondly up until 2002, finding a Bull was still and option, but the damage was showing even then..If your a hunter then you know Mature bulls are solitary creatures except during rut time, then you also know that after the rut their energy stores are depleted, their exhausted, and they go off to their favorite hidy hole to feed and rest prior to the hard winter they wish to survive, during this time post rut, and their winter survival attempt their simply easy easy prey for a wolf pack..FACT.. Decades of hunting prior to wolves blows your theory to the winds...The reason we see so many cows is because cows have always stayed in groups and defended their group, the other easy simple kill for wolves is pregnant cows, and new born calves..This ESA nonsense has always been about blame humans, and the longer this tragedy continues the more people will blame hunters for the decline in elk numbers instead of the truth which is over predation by over populated wolves.. Units 33-34-35-36 are proving this problem hands down..as well so is 43-44-48-49, the problem has been denial by other humans in disbelief of reality, and IDFG officials afraid to speak out due to loss of their jobs..

I should say that I meant trapping, baiting, and aerial shooting of wolves has nothing to do with Idahoan Hunters...And only a small percentage of Idahoans partake in trapping activities..Trapping is not for everyone, me included. But they have the right to do it.. The bottom line is our hunting heritage is under attack by several groups intent on the ruination of hunting..and the wolf is not the same to them as it is to the wolf lovers persay... The Sierra Club, WWS, Humane Society, and others...Environmentalism is Communism in disguise..Once we head down the path of taking Liberty's away from others every body is at risk..Once hunting is stopped, what is next ? Skiing ? Mountain Biking ? Historically all Nations which headed down this path did exactly that...History speaks for itself...

You are blaming me for this and attacking other peoples views because you are feeling attacked. I am not looking to take away your right to hunt. Can you completely truthfully say, without a shadow of a doubt that animals are not over-hunted? not by you, but maybe by others? Can you truthfully say that hunting for trophies is a liberty and a right? hunting an animal for fun, not subsistence is a right? I don't consider groups like the WWF, sierra club, humane society etc to be communists, maybe they are looking to inform the public on the impact of what humans do to their environment, the whole environment. from an ant to an antelope. Maybe their goal is to lessen the impact of the environment through education. As far as the humane society goes they save animals everyday and do wonderful things. Sure there are extremists on every side. I am sorry i have offended you on the aerial hunting trapping etc issues. Many people use unfair means to hunt. I am blaming all sides, including myself,ranchers home builders, overpopulation. like i said in another post, humans move rashly without thinking of the impact of what we do. We kill, oops, reintroduce, oops did better than expected, oops now we need to kill again. It is extremely sad. I am not trying to ban hunting. I respect hunters who hunt with respect, "Take what you need and leave the rest". I am glad that I am hearing people say they do not want to hunt the wolves but I also hearing about the joy of some of the govt officials when the decision was made.

It's a business, thus their joy, 70,000 tags if all sell brings in roughly $800,000, and the IDFG as of February 12/09 was suffering from a 30% reduction in revenue..Your not a communist, your not trying to ban hunting, but those groups are based on Soviet Models of sustainable development, and Russian GRU and MKVD professors have been used for decades to help create enviro groups - society's to implement United Nations Charter, specifically Agenda 21, Sustainable development for the 21st Century..Their goals are obvious..

Why in the world would we blame Idaho fro aerial hunting of wolves? I blame politician Sarah Palin who seems to like that kind of wolf hunting.

I am not an elk hater at all. In fact I love Elk. It tastes quite delicious. What I was referring to was trapping baiting and aerial hunting of wolves. remember I am a fan of eating what you kill. With all do respect, did you even read what I had written or immediately take offense and stop there? If you are going to take from my writing please use it correctly.

When they teach the wolves to stay off private property and leave peoples pets alone, MAYbe some of your wolf pity will make sense. People that only read about things should keep their mouths shut. Let the Idaho people rule Idaho.

Erin,
Just to correct your thesis, it is illegal to waste any meat from any Elk, Deer, Antelope, Bear or Cougar taking by any licensed hunter in the State of Idaho. ALL hunters are required to subsiste off the game they take. That is the point of 99% percent of the hunters I know. Most hunters have such respect and admiration for the difficulty of the hunt that they mount antlers on a wall as a memorial to the hunt and the tenacity of the animal they harvested. You should try hunting, it is far more spiritually rewarding than order a chicken sandwich at the Sawtooth and thoughtless consuming one caged and processed, drugged and butchered animal after another. Even if you have been a Vegan from birth, chances are you have contributed to the death of thousands of Chickens, Cows, Calfs and freedomless animals who only knew cages, cruelty, torturous deaths!!! How do you live with yourself. At least a hunter has the integrity to pay for the priviledge of suffering for weeks on end to climb, outwit, and humanely and quickly kill an animal on that animals home turf. Do you have the balls and fitness and skill to do that? Naaaaaa... I doubt it. If you kill an animal fair chase, you damn sure have the right to memorialize the hunt with a rack on the wall. I wouldn't have any problem with you stickin your Quarter Pounder wrapers on the wall....Wow nice kill, your an burger killing animal Erin. Now back to your Disney movie and hypocrisy. Denial is not a river in Egypt. Hmmmm Im hungry now.

OK,
Maybe I was too hard on you but hypocrisy pisses me off and if you have any know of Wildlife management in the lower 48 at all, you know that all Wildlife is....uh... managed. Wolf lovers would have the uninformed believe that Wolves are "the missing piece" and the all we need to have a Garden of Eden is to introduce wolves and let nature take its course. So ask them? How's that working out? It's not. Our "Wilderness" hasn't been "wild" since befor Teddy (the first conservationist) established hunting seasons as we know it today. He hunted wolves, bears, cougars, elk and deer. He was a helluva a man and a Great president. Respect that and understand that Man (and Women) have been "managing" all animals since then. Wolf lovers are either ignorant or have an agenda to destroy hunting by destroying the herds that attract so many hunters who desire something more challenging than a baby back ribs at Chili's. It's cool to love wolves but by introducing them to the lower 48 is loving them to death. If you have to blame someone, blame developers and ranchers and stop buying affordable housing and eating or wearing any animal products. Then your welcome to your opinion with integrity and I am welcome to mine. Sound fair?

To Boulder Ghost. I respect and appreciate your information. And yes you are a bit hard on me but I do understand this is a very passionate issue for many. I am not a hunter but many hunters that I know and have come in contact with hunt for the trophy. I have had a few friends growing up that eat what they kill and earn their right. They are the bow hunters and a few gun hunters. I have a great respect for hunters who do that and hunt with reverence and respect. I am saddened that the wolves had to be reintroduced and saddened that as people we don't have enough respect for our earth and nature to respect its own balance. It is a terrible cycle that we created. As I said I am not against hunting. I eat Game meat but not cow. I grew up eating venison and Elk. I am not a vegan or a vegetarian. I just do not agree with some of the practices of a part of the hunting population. I am sorry If I have offended you but am glad to have an intelligent debate with an intelligent person, and to have learned something. As of lately people seem to be losing their respect for life, all life. That is a whole different issue.

And also to boulder ghost, I do not eat mcdonalds or any fast food for that matter. I find that eating caged animals rather disgusts me, not because i am a organic yuppie, I have contributed to all of this over the years, and it saddens me. I think the term "wildlife management" is an oxymoron. Humans do things so quickly, kill everything, oops, we screwed that up, reintroduce it, oops, kill it, oops.... I take my own responsibility in the matter. We all contribute daily in some form or another. As to my fitness level, I have two good feet and use them as much as possible, I am certainly in no condition to track and animal and withstand that environment for days or months. I do have a question though, is 70,000 permits a little excessive to kill up to 220 wolves?

To Erin,
My apologies, I went off on you and you have many good points! Sorry for getting personal. On the whole, i agree with you and I support Fair Chase Hunting with a gun or bow ( i enjoy both). What most do not understand though, is that in the lower 48, all wildlife NEEDS to be managed. There are too many people and not nearly enough habitat for predator/prey relationships to achieve a viable equilibrium. If they where to achieve any balance at all it would be at extremely low populations for wolves to ungulates and that would effectively eliminate hunting. That, I believe is the agenda of groups that support wolves such as Defenders of Wildlife.... ironically. By the way that 77,000 is the number of available tags , once the limit f 220 wolves are taken, the hunt is ceased and no more wolves can be legally taken. Each hunting "zone" has even smaller limits about 15 on average. I too don't hate wolves or WANT to kill them, but because of the lies and agendas of irresponsible extremist who lobbied to introduce them, wolves are and will be killed as well as thousands of Elk, Deer, Bear, Cougars, sheep, domestic pets and possibly Children that come in contact with this "foreign" apex predator. I for one will kill as many as I am legally allowed to. I will not eat them, and that is a first time for me. I will consider it a trophy that I will be VERY proud of because of far more than simplistic macho achievement. I will consider each dead wolf, 20 saved Elk that year, and I will be proud that I helped correct a monumental wrong by lesser men and women.

To Boulder ghost I appreciate and respect your words but I Am greatly saddened by this hunt and the position that all are put in. I wish all involved safety and any wolves that are killed a quick, painless, respectful passing. I will choose not to think about because, honestly, I cringe at the thoughts in my head about it. I am saddened at what we have done as humans which has imposed ourselves so much on our environment. Good luck to you and thank you again for an intelligent debate. I get so tired of the other crap. This I can at least come away with some new information and respect for others.

'Wildlife conservationists leading the wolf delisting litigation now are NOT opposed to hunting.'

Sir, I don't know what planet you're living on, but the mere mention of hunting of ANY WILDLIFE to the Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, etc, will send them into apoplexy.

'In fact, they represent hunters'. Baloney! They represent only their anti-hunting agenda.

'We need a reasonable, science-based, legal federal wolf delisting plan that provides for a healthy, sustainable wolf population.' Why? Why do we need wolves in Idaho at all?

Before the wolves were reintroduced how much time did you personally spend agonizing over 'no wolves'? How many sleepless nights? My guess is that you never even thought about them until it became a 'feel good' thing that you could champion so as to imply to friends at dinner parties that you had arrived on the 'high ground' of morality.

Let me pose a question to you. Why were the wolves eradicated by our pioneers at the turn of the century? I'd be curious as to your answer. And it wasn't because they were annoyed by pesky wolves howling at night and keeping them awake.

Trent -
The pioneers also tried to eradicate native Americans, bison and other species they perceived as competition. They over-reacted out of fear, ignorance and paranoia. Perhaps that is a good lesson for us all.

The pioneers wiped out the Native Americans because the indians had something we wanted, namely the land. We wiped out the bison in our greed for meat to feed the railroad builders, for sport, to open rangeland for cattle and for hides and tallow.

I'm asking you for specific reasons why they wiped out the wolves. It's generally agreed that there were 5 reasons. Lets see if you can come up with them.