Friday Roundup & Some Things To Come

Here's a few things to get you through your weekend, and a look forward to some things coming down the pipeline for next week.

First, I'm giving away a free subscription to Extreme Elk Magazine via a Facebook contest.  Let me make it easy for you, all you have to do is go here, befriend me, and post a hunting, fishing, or outdoors photo on my wall.  The person with the most likes before the deadline on Jan. 31, 2012, will win the magazine subscription.  The only rule is that the photo must be taken in Idaho, unless you're an out of state Idaho enthusiast who can't come up with that sort of thing.  In that case, take a picture of yourself holding a map of the State of Idaho in a pub or something.

Second, wolves.  Alex Sakariassen of the Missoula Independent wrote an interesting piece on how the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Department is doing on their study of the elk herd reduction in Montana's Clark Fork region.  While wolves are generally to blame, they are finding just as many, or more, elk kills from mountain lions.  Guides, outfitters, ranchers are skeptical, and no matter the results of the study, they wish the wolves were gone.

On the other hand, federal agencies in Colorado have not ruled out the possibility of introducing wolves to control an elk population that is allegedly out of control.  You can imagine who is taking sides down there, and you can read all about the foolishness here.

Meanwhile, Idahoans are doing what they can to reduce the wolf population.  As of today, 202 (16 more than on Jan. 11) wolves have been killed with a firearm, and 59 (17 more than on Jan. 11) have been trapped.  Trapping in the Selway Wilderness appears to be more effective than hunting wolves with a firearm.

If you need help finding a wolf to kill, there are a couple of gents out there who are mapping wolf sightings.  One is here, and the other is here.  If you see a wolf, wolf tracks, wolf droppings, wolf kills, or wolf eyes glowing back at you on the edge of the woods, I'm sure those guys would love your report.

Coming up next week - 

A look at hunting OTC, general season elk in the Middle Fork Zone.  You won't want to miss that.

Also, I'm hoping to interview somebody knowledgeable and experienced when it comes to grizzlies in Idaho's wild.  It seems that there was a record this last year of grizzly attacks both in Idaho and in Montana.  I'm wanting some grizzly stories that will have you going to sleep with a can of bear spray next to your bed.

Have a good weekend.  Thanks for reading my posts, and all of the kind comments.

~ J. Bunch

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The Sheep That Stopped The Grizzly

Sarah Gilman of High Country News provided us with an informative piece on the little sheep station that could - talking, of course, about the feds' ARS Sheep Experiment Station.  The station, headquartered near Dubois, ID, has been minding its own business for years, providing research information to the sheep industry.  But then came the grizzly bear, the Endangered Species Act, and other federal agencies whose conservationist mandates have come into direct conflict with the station's sheep experimentation.

The place is the Centennial Mountains, an east to west range on the Idaho-Montana border.  If you're having a hard time pinning the place in your mind, think of the range on the border that stretches from Island Park west toward Spencer.  The station grazes sheep there as part of their research, as they always have.  The problem is that the grizzly bears are moving into the area, and conservationists who want the grizzly population to do what it will, know that the sheep are their biggest obstacle.

But how do the sheep keep the grizzlies from moving on, further up and further in to the rest of Idaho's and Montana's unadulterated grizzly habitat?  It's simple.  If a grizzly eats a sheep, he's a dead grizzly.  The fear is that the grizzlies may become such a predation problem that the only solution is to put them down.  But the sheep station doesn't see it the same way. 

The station says it won't be a problem.  The conservationists say it will.  Who's right?  I don't know, but it would seem that the conservationists probably are.  If the grizzly gets a taste of one lamb, the station might not scream.  But if he comes back for more, and then more, and then more... well, the scream will come sooner or later from a research station running out of sheep to research.  And I do imagine that the grizzly will come back for more chops.

But this sort of internal bickering, while amusing, doesn't even get to the crux of the related issue that nobody seems to be talking about.  That is - why exactly do we want the grizzly bears to spread anyway?

I understand that conservationists, and the federal agencies that carry out the agenda, want the wild to transform back to the way that Lewis and Clark found it.  And the Centennial Mountains are the link to getting grizzlies back up into Montana, and up all the way into the Selway Wilderness.  That is their goal, and it's not one that I share.

So for now, I hope the little sheep hold in there as the trap that can keep the grizzlies back.

~ J. Bunch

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Cougars Facing Threats

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports:

A big threat to cougars now may be wolves. Since wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park, there are fewer cougar kittens. From 2004 to 2008, out of the four to six females tracked near Jackson, Wyo., only one litter was produced, Quigley said. It’s not yet clear whether wolves directly kill kittens or disrupt cougar females’ behavior.

So, we have been told, the wolves were the "missing link" in the Intermountain West ecology.  Turns out we don't have any idea of all of the effects of our presumptions.  Did the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service do a full environmental & ecological impact study that included how the introduction of wolves might relate to the survival of cougars?

Doubt it.  Poor kitty cats.

So let's see.  We first rescued the big cats by listing them as big game (where they can be managed reasonably) from predators (where they were being baited to death).  Then we list the grizzlies as endangered.  Then we introduce wolves, which appear to be harming the cougar population one way or another, and present a threat to our 3 caribou, who we want to protect as well.  And the grizzlies like caribou meat too.  This sort of mish-mash could go on and on.

So what do we have?  We have a bunch of folks in power, with too much money, who like to play zoo.

For the full article from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, click here.

~ J. Bunch

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Court Says Grizzlies Still Endangered - Updated 11/23/11

Alex Kozinski (pictured) is Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Update 11/23/11 - Shortly after I posted this, Rocky Barker of the Idaho Statesman added this insight:

Federal and Idaho biologists say a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision on grizzly bears Tuesday offers them a clear path back to delisting the West’s biggest predator in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

The three-judge panel upheld U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy’s 2010 order to return grizzlies to the threatened species list. But it also overturned his ruling that the government’s conservation strategy was not adequate to protect the bears after delisting.

You can read his fine reporting on the subject here.

~ ~ ~

Whenever I hunt in Eastern Idaho, I always get a tinge of nervousness when I step down on some crunchy white pine nuts.  I do a double take, a look up and around.  I know pine nuts are a grizzly's favorite meal, and I don't want to be dessert.  But there I am, standing like a cherry on top of a white pine nut sunday, and I keep a finger ready on the bear spray trigger.

Okay, maybe I'm not that paranoid.  Here's the news - 

The white pine nuts are a favorite food source for the humpbacked bears, but the trees have been the favorite food source of a certain beetle.  So the grizzlies are not living as high on the hog as they used to.  Seems like they're doing just fine.  Numbers are up.  Attacks on humans are up.  What more could a left-wing environmentalist want?

Well, the ones on the 9th Circus Court of Appeals want more.  And the white pine nut shortage is the convenient excuse.  Federal wildlife agencies were about to lift protection on the grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone area, but then the Court in San Fransisco knew better.

The sooner the states can have jurisdiction and management over their own animals, the better.  IF&G's stance, both on bear and wolf issues, is let us manage ourselves.  And not, as Merle Haggard put it, like the hippis out in San Fransisco do.

~ J. Bunch

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Idaho Sheep Station Scrutiny Sheepishness

The U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, headquartered in Dubois, is under scrutiny. Just about everybody, from state government wildlife agencies to BLM to environmental groups, wants the station closed.

The main issues are concerns for grizzly, wolf, and bighorn sheep habitat. For some scientific reason, the sheep station, right in the middle of prime grizzly territory, is allegedly to blame as an impediment to grizzlies moving further west.

Wait, do we want grizzlies moving further west?

Personally, I don't. But leaving my opinion aside, how do sheep prevent grizzlies from expanding their range? I'm befuddled at that thought. The Experiment Station runs 3,000 sheep on 47,000 total acres of land - land that is, admittedly, grizzly land.

But really? Are the grizzlies scared of sheep? Do they feel the need to circle a wide swath around the little wooly creatures, and run back to last year's cave for safety? Or maybe the grizzlies don't move west because they have plenty of free lamb chops where they're at, and hear that the eatin' ain't so good out west. Yes, that must be it.

The Station has only put down one problem grizzly in recent years. And yet, bears do eat sheep from time to time. Both grizzlies and black bears. So far I'm on the side of the sheep Station. If they don't mind the threat of bears, then neither do I. It's not as if the sheep are eating up all the bears' forage and habitat. No, the sheep are free meals at worst (and how bad can that be?).

Environmentalists, if you want to do the best thing for the bears, let them stay put and feast on fresh lamb. If you don't think that's best for them, just ask them. Grizzlies have recovered nicely, thank you, and the closer we keep them to tourists in Yellowstone, the better.

I hunt the Centennial Mountains for elk and deer. And personally, I think it would be nice to not have to carry bear spray with me while doing so. Further, I wish my kids could dance under the moon, deep in the Centennial Mountain forests, all by their lonesomes, without any fear of safety. It seems I should be able to talk some of the real environmentalists into that side of the argument.

But of course there is the accompanying concern for the wolves. Please. Wolves and sheep are getting along just fine. I can think of many applicable fairy tales to insert here, but I'll just state that the argument that wolves are being held up in any way by a herd of 3,000 sheep is high lore.

Bighorn sheep? Sheep and Bighorns don't get along well. Well, actually they do. They get along a little too well, but the problem is that the contact between the two appear to be fatal for the bighorns. Simple solution: don't plant bighorns where sheep have historically grazed. If wildlife agencies would stop moving animals, half the problem would be solved. I know my argument is simplistic, and not universal. To be fair - the bighorn sheep concern is the most legit.

But lest you think this diatribe is the equivalent of a protest sign saying, "Save the Station," let me assure you that it is not. The station has been around since 1926, with the purpose of doing research on grazing. I'm sure that it provides some valuable data to other agencies, such as the BLM, when they are drafting grazing allotments of their own. But I doubt that the industry or other government agencies couldn't live without their research. It would seem that 80 years of research should be sufficient for now.

I'm sure there is a private sheepherder out there who would jump on the opportunity to graze where the Station is now.

For a less biased article, go here.

~ J. Bunch

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Barker on Grizzlies

Photo by blmiers2

Rocky Barker's latest piece did a nice job of highlighting the increased human-grizzly action this past year, as well as the issues that surround that action.

As I said earlier, there is a lot to be said about this issue. In 1983 (not that long ago for some of us), grizzly numbers were at an all time low in Idaho. They've steadily climbed since, and they are now clearly to the point where...

...Well, let's put it this way. There has been a human-grizzly encounter, either in Idaho, Wyoming, or Montana, seemingly every week since they woke up this last Spring. I can't ever remember a season with as many reports as there have been this year.

All of them are memorable, but this one takes the cake. I could re-cap it for you, but David Letterman does that sort of thing better:



There are many more questions to be asked, and I'm waiting to see how many more man vs. grizzly encounters there are this season before I embark on those questions.

In the meantime, carry your spray, and be bear aware. It's almost night-night time for 'em.

~ J. Bunch

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Grizzly Attacks: Spray or Shoot, Round 1

There is a lot to say on this subject, especially with the high numbers of attacks this last year. My plan was to write on the entire subject after hunting season is over, but here is something to whet your appetite.

The River Journal in Clark Fork, ID recently posted two articles, each one taking up opposite views in the bear spray vs. firearm debate.

The case for bear spray here.

The case for letting bullets fly here.

~ J. Bunch

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