While elk hunting in Idaho, a “government trapper” stopped by and we shared dinner, coffee, and one of the most interesting campfire conversations ever. I’m not sure of this man’s official title, but he was paid by the U.S. Government to control such predators as bears, coyotes, and wolves.
The wolf stories he told were incredible, mostly about the government bureaucracy that he had to go through to kill one. Furthermore, he was convinced that the numbers in the wild were three times the “official” estimations.
The state of Idaho has used these government professionals to modestly reduce wolf numbers to give elk a chance to recover from devastating losses, as reported in this post from Predator Xtreme.
Idaho officials say 19 wolves have been killed in northern Idaho in an effort to reduce wolf numbers and increase the elk population. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game on Monday announced the killings carried out last month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services in the Lolo Hunting Zone. Jerome Hansen of Fish and Game tells the Lewiston Tribune in Lewiston that elk numbers in the region have dropped dramatically over the past 26 years. Fish and Game says the area had an estimated 16,000 elk in 1989 but that the agency now believes the population could be as low as 1,000.
