Elk etc

[skeet]

Was looking at a forest service photo today. It was taken from the air last week in the Sunlight basin area of Wyoming..North and west of Cody. To give you all an idea of the magnitude of the problem in the area. There was a dead moose(rare in itself) on the slope of a mountain there. The amazing thing about the picture was within a couple of hundred yards of the dead moose there were 18 grizzlies. I will try to get the picture so I can scan and post it on here. It was not a doctored picture. If you shoot a rifle in that area it is like ringing a dinner bell for the grizzlies. And they are not scared of people. I personally know of 2 hunters that had their elk confiscated by a nasty griz this year. BTW...any griz is nasty when it wants what you have!!

[M.T. Pockets]

I know a guy who was hunting in the Thorofare area in September, just SE of the Yellowstone park border. It's probably not far from where you're talking about here. He shot an elk and quartered it out, when they got back with pack animals a grizz walked off with one of the quarters. His partner lost two whole quarters when a grizz somehow tore them off the meat pole. I've seen this meat pole and it's a long ways off the ground. He said there weren't any drag marks, the bear was big enough to carry them off.

I'll try to attach a photo he took on the trail ride in.

[Dom]

I'd be interested in that pic Skeet, now that's a show of Grizzly concentration.

Hey MT, nice pic of Bigfoot there on the left, looks like Griz is getting ready to get 'em. Last I heard Petey was after him in PA, musta headed west though.

Maybe you guys know, in a U.S. National Park, how do you control animal overpopulation, does the Forestry service hire snipers? Or does nature totally take it's course, including starvation and disease to control the populations?

Over on this side of the pond, they have nature preserves also, but they are hunted, meaning they have an animal control plan that says every year so many male, female, and kitz are shot. It's not a free for all at all, hunters are guided, but hunting is considered a natural process of animal control.

Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[skeet]

Hadda go to Wally world pharmacy today(my wife decided to grab the wild cat and it bit the heck outta her). Saw the fellow with the picture and he's gonna email it to me. Don't know how it'll look when I get to post it but it was amazing to see that many griz in one spot at the same time. Last I saw that many was on the river in Alaska...and they were spread out a bit...fishin!

[Nulle]

We spent a week this summer in the Yellowstone country and saw grizzly everyday.

[skeet]

Pics of the bears on a moose kill. Check out the whole picture. There is a bunch of them

[jplonghunter]

skeet

Thanks for the picture. Looks like the only endangered species here is the moose.
Glad we don't have to conpete with the griz here in Ky.,just coyote.

jplonghunter

[skeet]

Yeah..they are endangered ya know! The moose in the area(the dead one musta been lost in that area cause the wolves have about wiped 'em out) are really hurting. The griz in this area are mostly from around the park and deal with each other frequently I think. From what one of the Wyoming Nat res people said the griz are breeding like house cats or something. The wolves also are going hell bent for election with the breeding thing. I again have at least one living in the breaks back of the house. Saw him not long ago...and it really is not afraid of people....which is NOT a good thing!

[Dom]

Wow, what a pic, thanks Skeet. Amazing.

And you made me think of a story I heard, not sure of it's authenticity, but sure don't doubt it either!!

A few years ago, the Sierra Club and the U.S. Forest Service were presenting an alternative to Wyoming ranchers for controlling the coyote population. It seems that after years of the ranchers using the tried and true method of shooting and /or trapping the predator, the tree-huggers had a "more humane" solution.

What they proposed was for the animals to be captured alive, the males castrated and let loose again and the population would be controlled.

This was ACTUALLY proposed to the Wyoming Wool and Sheep Grower's Association by the Sierra Club and the USFS.

All of the ranchers thought about this amazing idea for a couple of minutes. Finally, an old boy in the back stood up, tipped his hat back and said, "Son, I don't think you understand the problem. "Those coyotes ain't *bleepin'* our sheep..... they're eatin' 'em"!!!!