PAW Act- Save Wolves (rent, work, move)

[rotorhead]

Why do they hunt them from airplanes? Because helicopters are too expensive, even though they work better for this kind of predator control. Since the hunters are not compensated by a government bounty, they have to pay for the hunt by the sale of wolf hides and associated products. It's impossible to keep up with wolves on foot, the best method is by air.

The "Defenders of Wildlife" are animal rights extemists, allied with and supporting domestic terrorist groups like the "Animal Liberation Front" and others of their ilk. They use the copious reams of misinformation and nonsense dished out by the likes of the Disney studios and others to make people think that wolves are just like their beloved pet dogs. They are not. Wolves can and do kill and eat peoples pet dogs and it's increasingly obvious that some of them consider people fair game as well. As previously mentioned they're literally wiping out entire populations of prey species, species that subsistance communities depend on. Remember that wolves were originally spread out over the entire North American continent and all of Europe. There's a reason why our ancestors did their level best to wipe them out.

I'll support outfits like the hypocrites at DoW when they stop telling Alaskans what to do and try importing some of those problem wolves back into THEIR states. If we could just re-locate a good size wolfpack back into Central Park in NYC, it'd be a good start. And no, I'm not joking.

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by DannyL

you people can hate me all you want, but I have a major problem with these "sportsmen" from outside coming up and shooting anything from an airplane with a 12 guage shotgun loaded with buckshot, hoping to get a hit, and then landing for a "finishing humane shot", and them calling this "sport".

I've never heard of that happening (since statehood, at least). Since when, and where, are any Outside hunters allowed to shoot anything out of an airplane?

I'm not against culling wolves. I am against supporting the sport hunting industry. Most of the anti-wolf mania in Alaska comes from the Fairbanks area, and has very little to do with subsistence. However, there are areas of where culling wolves does have an effect on subsistence (the entire area from McGrath to Aniak, for example).

[rotorhead]

Anyone that thinks you can "sport hunt" any animal in Alaska with a 12 ga. from an aircraft in flight is either getting their information from poachers or is mixing up at least two complely different types of anti-hunting propaganda.

It's true that wolves were once hunted, legally, with shotguns from helicopters and small planes. It was done under the ageis of the government-run "animal damage control" program. These flights were conducted with government contract marksmen, pilots, and aircraft. It was NOT sport hunting, in any sense of the word. The last example that I heard of was in Montana, not Alaska, and that was decades ago. Programs like it were in response to farmers and ranchers complaints about excessive livestock predation, and run by either the BLM or the Dept. of Agriculture, as I recall.

The animal rights extremist propagandist organizations deliberately confuse these legacy programs with the current airborne predator control efforts in an attempt to curtail the program entirely. They know that they're being fundamentaly dishonest, it just doesn't bother them at all.

[sapphire-rose]

This is an excedeingly interesting read.
I've never ever lived in a place that I couldn't just go to a grocery store for my needs. I've never ever had to depend on "game" to live or survive. I DO respect any people that live and provide for their families and community. It's very easy in human nature that when we do not know the reasons and type of conditions any other place has to utalize (aside from our own back yards) We get on various band wagons. I absolutely love animals. In any "normal" (for me) day I would not be able to kill anything. I love the wolves due to their appearence, intelligence etc... BUT Pardon me for being a greenhorn please. I've watched many nature programs. I am totally awestruck by Alaska. Could I live there? More than likely not. Would I judge anyone on the lifestyle? No. You see I did not even have a clue that people still hunted whale, yes I did know seal is still hunted but for the fur,(not nessicerely in Alaska) not food. Seems to me that when a person decides to move anyplace, that individual/family need to get acclimated to the new enviornment and not pass judgement. The people rely on the resources available to them. In this case, Carabou, moose, seal ,whale and I'm sure others that I do not know. I understand thinning of the wolf population, a part of me hates the "idea" but the rational part understands. Depending on where one lives the actions and reasons vary. I lived in Illinois for a while, they still hunt coyote and pelts are paid for which help track how many are shot. (any time of the year for what reasons I'm not sure but if I looked into it I bet I'd find rational reasons). Each state has it's own hunting season and of which animal. Also that if a person that does not believe in hunting were to dig deep and open their minds they would be able to rationalize the reasons. As to hunting wildlife at these clubs/farms or whatever they are called for "sport" where the animal hasn't a chance I disagree with that. But we that do not hunt for our food; if we pause long enough to think about it, take a look at how our meals start the trek towards our table. I guess it is a matter of where we live that we decide what as an individual we "think" what is or is not acceptable. As to that thought, we also need to realize that in Alaska (useing this as a referance point due to the thread) the people that depend on the wildlife as the food source also have a respect and reverance to that which they hunt. They aren't taking the life of that animal for granted or for sport.
O.K I'll get off of this soapbox. Alaska folks, I respect and admire the lifestyle and the reasons behind it.

[DannyL]

Ban sought on wolf-hunting from aircraft | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

End Aerial Wolf Hunting // Current

Links to Help Stop Aerial Wolf Hunting in Alaska!


- I have no issue wirh DWF doing their jobs, and no , I am not an "bunny-huggung extremist". I am against the commercial hunting industry taking over wildlife management. It's a persoanl thing, and I'm not a member of any organization.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by DannyL

you people can hate me all you want, but I have a major problem with these "sportsmen" from outside coming up and shooting anything from an airplane with a 12 guage shotgun loaded with buckshot, hoping to get a hit, and then landing for a "finishing humane shot", and them calling this "sport".

Nobody does what you describe.

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by DannyL

Ban sought on wolf-hunting from aircraft | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

End Aerial Wolf Hunting // Current

Links to Help Stop Aerial Wolf Hunting in Alaska!

I can't make your first URL work, and going to the main address and doing a search for that topic didn't turn up anything. The second two are basically the same, the first being a video and the second is a transcript of the video.

The video is not bad. They of course are leaning in one particular direction, but there are not lying or using false facts.

Of course none of your previous assertions are supported by the video.

Originally Posted by DannyL

- I have no issue wirh DWF doing their jobs, and no , I am not an "bunny-huggung extremist". I am against the commercial hunting industry taking over wildlife management. It's a persoanl thing, and I'm not a member of any organization.

I can't disagree with you much on those points. Of course the commercial hunting industry has always had a good grip on wildlife management in Alaska, and that hasn't seen any slack recently!

I'll go you a couple steps farther on this topic though... First, the Alaska Outdoor Council, which is the loudest voice supporting wolf control programs, has a very checkered history. It has been anti-subsistence and more over anti-Native in every possible way. They have ties to not only every racist anti-Native group in Alaska, but to every single one in the Pacific Northwest too.

But second, people need to be very careful how they descibe these things, because minor differences in descriptions are hugely distinct in the long run for legalities. With that in mind, I'll point out that in the late 1960's and the 1970's I lived in Aniak, and used to listen to the old guys who'd made a living trapping wolves (via aerial hunting) in the 50's and early 60's. Then wolf control came along, and I knew personally several of the people who were doing it in the 70's. I had no problem then, and have no problem now, with hunting wolves from airplanes in areas where it will increase subsistence moose harvest numbers. I do NOT accept it as a valid tool to increase sport and trophy hunt success.

[decembergirl]

Originally Posted by rotorhead

Why do they hunt them from airplanes? Because helicopters are too expensive, even though they work better for this kind of predator control. Since the hunters are not compensated by a government bounty, they have to pay for the hunt by the sale of wolf hides and associated products. It's impossible to keep up with wolves on foot, the best method is by air.

The "Defenders of Wildlife" are animal rights extemists, allied with and supporting domestic terrorist groups like the "Animal Liberation Front" and others of their ilk. They use the copious reams of misinformation and nonsense dished out by the likes of the Disney studios and others to make people think that wolves are just like their beloved pet dogs. They are not. Wolves can and do kill and eat peoples pet dogs and it's increasingly obvious that some of them consider people fair game as well. As previously mentioned they're literally wiping out entire populations of prey species, species that subsistance communities depend on. Remember that wolves were originally spread out over the entire North American continent and all of Europe. There's a reason why our ancestors did their level best to wipe them out.

I'll support outfits like the hypocrites at DoW when they stop telling Alaskans what to do and try importing some of those problem wolves back into THEIR states. If we could just re-locate a good size wolfpack back into Central Park in NYC, it'd be a good start. And no, I'm not joking.

People who base their information on Disney films: stupid
People who base their information on what our brilliant ancestors did (didn't those guys try slavery too, another completely flawed idea): stupid

Neither side really makes sense to me but I am against wiping out an entire species. What gives you the right to condemn an animal like that? And if you even understood the basics of biology you would see that the ecosystem is a balance that works best when properly maintained. We have over 1000 wolves here and our herd populations are thriving. The Native Americans who used to say that the "wolf was the strength of the elk" because they understood the way nature worked and respected it. White man just likes to kill everything he doesn't understand, including the Native Americans.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by decembergirl

Neither side really makes sense to me but I am against wiping out an entire species. What gives you the right to condemn an animal like that? And if you even understood the basics of biology you would see that the ecosystem is a balance that works best when properly maintained. We have over 1000 wolves here and our herd populations are thriving. The Native Americans who used to say that the "wolf was the strength of the elk" because they understood the way nature worked and respected it. White man just likes to kill everything he doesn't understand, including the Native Americans.

Nobody is advocating "wiping out an entire species." The wolf population in certain areas (particularly around McGrath) has increased to the point were it is detrimentally effecting those who live there, depriving them of the moose and caribou they need to survive. The state authorized a culling of some of these wolves in an attempt to increase the moose and caribou populations in those areas.

If you want to leave it to nature, then the wolves would eventually wipe out all the moose and caribou in a given area and then proceed to starve to death until they reached a sustainable population for that area. The end result would be the same, fewer wolves, but it would also mean no moose or caribou for those who live in those areas.

[Huckleberry3911948]

as long as you got a BMW and a gated community predators 2 or 4 leg are not a problem. but if you are sleeping in the woods and gun owernship has been effectively outlawed, then who you guna call sierra club?