Madman. Pardon me, but I have a tendency to disagree with some of what you say. I have no clue as to the wolf situation in Idaho, but if it is anything like what's happening here in Arizona, methinks we hunters have been given short shrift.
The ecofreaks, bunny huggers and certain government agencies have conspired to reintroduce an animal that is a game killing machine. Consider this, especially if you like to hunt.Wolves kill game in competition with hunters. In certain parts of Arizona where wolves have been reintroduced, big game, IE deer and elk populations have gone into a slow but very steady decline. Part of it can probably be attributed to our now very severe drought, but wolf depredation has also taken a large toll on the game. On my last elk hunt, I not only saw a pack of wolves, but actually had them tracking me. It was close to dusk and I was walking up a logging road when I notced them just off the road sticking to cover maybe 15 to 20 fet away. I'm thinking, "Wow! Cool, look at the wolves." I then decided as it was getting a bit too dark to take a responsible shot to head back down the road to where my friends were waiting for me. When I reversed course, so did the wolves. When I got close to where my friends were talking and laughing, they melted off into the underbrush.
Now this question has to come up. Were they just curious, or were they stalking me? Damned if I know. I wasn't too worried about their presence until I realized that when I headed back down the road, so did they. The rifle I was carrying that day felt mighty comforting, especially as it was getting quite dark.
The next day, my freinds had to leave, so there was just my wife and I left in camp. We hunted through most of the day without seeing any sign of elk. We'd stopped by camp to rest up a bit and havwe a bit of lunch. A rancher stopped by asking if we'd seen a stray cow, and he described the markings. It turned out that we had seen the animal and directed him to where we'd seen it early that morning.
That night, about nine o'clock, we heard a terrible squalling that came from some animal in horrible pain. It lasted for maybe fifteen minutes, then all was quiet. The next morning, we took a walk towards the general area where the noise came from and found what was left of the cow the rancher was looking for. It wasn't pretty.
I guess my point is, if the wolves decimate the big game herds to the point where hunting by humans is no longer possible, then the damned eco-freak bunny huggers have won. To me this is not acceptable.
I teach Hunter Ed classes, and we have people from Game & Fish come by and give lectures on game management and game laws. Privately, they're telling me that the wolves are starting to become a serious threat to the big game herds. From what I hear on other sites that I go to, this is becoming a serious problem where ever those wolves have been introduced.
It has been said that no big game animal has even been endangered due to sport hunting. Maybe it is due time to make the wolf a big game animal to keep the numbers in check.
JMHO.
Paul B.