Death Of A Valley

[Ourea]

Here is yet another tale of just how bad the wolf problem.....no, let me rephrase that.....the wolf crisis is getting.

Myself and partners invested in cutting our way into a series of drainages that held some phenomenal elk habitat.
I am a firm believer in hunting for habitat over hunting for animals.
It took a few years of cutting and grub hoeing to get an adequate trail system in so we could access with stock.
There area is very remote and far from any urban center.


We enjoyed years of exceptional elk observation and hunting.

Seldom was there a day when numerous bulls weren't screaming, cows out on the slides undisturbed.
We would look over as many bulls as we could find and then make a play for the one we wanted.

The habitat was so good the elk density was high and with no pressure what-so-ever.
One had to be aware of grizzlies, there was no wolf presence.

I'm not one for posting up pictures of our animals but here are some of the bulls we killed in this area that are hanging in my partners barn.










We took several years off from the area and pursued new ground looking for that elusive 400 bull.
We returned last year cleaning up trail and hanging cams prior to the season.
The change we found was shocking.

[hare_assassin]

Please continue.

[Ourea]

This is what we found.







What we found very few of were these.....


We were shocked at how few elk we saw that trip compared to the years of plenty prior.

One of our gang returned this year.
He is the hardest "hardcore" hunter I have ever shared the mountains with.
He pounded all the drainages we had cut out for 9 hard days.
Where normally an effort like that would yield seeing 80 - 90 elk....he saw one.
There was no elk sign anywhere.
There was however wolf sign everywhere.

In the span of a few years wolves have annihilated a once thriving and robust herd of elk.
The wolf problem is real....very real.
I am astonished at the speed of devastation they can bring.

[lilhoss]

How do you know the wolves "annihilated a herd of elk". They adapt and move out. Not defending the obvious- wolves being indiscriminant hunters and killers, but the elk will move long distances to avoid the predator issue. Did you find any kill sites? .. Or just low numbers?

[Blainer]

My buddy is on his way home from up North.
He just sent picture, 6 dead wolves on this trip.
Makes a fella smile
Oh ya,5 for 5 on moose

[Stéphane]

No worries,
once they've killed more elk than they should, the wolf population will go down. Then elk population will go up again. It's been like that for millions of years. I think we should be okay.
We have biologists who keeps good records of these population.

Someone has it in his signature than conservation isn't limited to hunters.

[GoatGuy]

4 out of a pack of 15 near the findlay stroked this week.

[Ourea]

How do you know the wolves "annihilated a herd of elk". They adapt and move out. Not defending the obvious- wolves being indiscriminant hunters and killers, but the elk will move long distances to avoid the predator issue. Did you find any kill sites? .. Or just low numbers?

To answer your question lilhoss.........Yes, both.

The Bio's are concerned as well over the sudden increase in wolves and decrease in ungulates in this area.
Funny how that works eh.

I'm sure the wolves are not in the area to howl Kumbaya at the moon and eat granola.
They take a serious toll wherever they go.
Game does not simply move on.....they are hammered in the process.

In this area the prime habitat is few and far between.
Winter range is extremely limited.

[Ltbullken]

A wolf needs 7 pounds of meat per day to successfully breed. Do the math. 15 - 18 deer per year per wolf. A wolf pack of 10 members will eat up to 180 deer per year to survive and reproduce... Kind of a gut check on wolves isn't it?

[6point]

and when I say there is p*ss all for animals in a lot of BC left I get roasted...your story is very similar to mine with several places I know of. People say the animals just go were the wolves arnt..well its pretty hard to find a valley without wolves these days!