Fisher Dude has nailed everything and is in the loop. It is unfortunate some are not able to understand and grasp the picture and issues we have. .
Butcher - I can think of a few spots which could use a burn or two
I think it’s great the wt pockets are bare to minimal in fringe areas. A good cat harvest at this time would help wouldn’t it seeing as it appears wolves have moved on.
Re: wolves. Everyone recognizes they are and have been a problem. However, outside of caribou recovery areas, heli control is likely not going to happen. Eventually there will be an equilibrium balance of sorts and by acquiring funding to work on key areas for habitat enhancement. (Some areas are good but we can do better)
if every hunter came together as a group and said let’s work on what we can control, (including increased cat harvest with habitat work), it can and will happen.
whitetails - not worried about them as a prolific species and I would rather see them at a level which allows for Mule deer to be present without having so many whitetails around feeding predators that in turn feed on Mule deer.
It has taken some some adjustments to hunt wt.
i have seen what “stock piling wildlife” in the peace where the hunting was pretty incredible but die offs occurred. I did not want numbers to return to seeing 100-200 deer in fields as I knew it wasn’t naturally sustainable. This time around we’re dealing with predators.
There’s a balance and achieving the balance means doing things like habitat work so that both wt and Mule deer can survive within a predator / prey landscape or equilibrium of sorts.
My take anyways.