mntnguide,
I understand what you are saying. It actually could be worse and it was worse for many years. In 2018 wolf mortality in Montana was thought to be over 300 wolves. In 2018 wolf mortality in Idaho was known to be over 500 wolves. Both of those states seem to take the wolf threat more seriously than Wyoming. As I stated earlier, this may be the result of how the wolf was delisted in Idaho and Montana as opposed to the process that Wyoming went through.
I have been told by G&F employees within the state and also by a few people who post on these forums, that I just don't understand the wolf situation in Wyoming. As a sportsman who hikes and hunts in the NW Wyoming backcountry, I have to rely on what I see with my own eyes. I also rely on what I hear from others doing the same in this part of the state.
My concern is Wyoming could do much better by making a "real" effort to determine actual wolf numbers in the state. They also could make a "real" effort to determine the level of predation on ungulates and also study how ungulates are affected by wolf predation including migration patterns. Until that actually happens, the G&F will continue to pretend their is no problem and instead will just reduce wolf quotas to be safe and will continue to reduce hunter opportunity through shortened seasons, reduced tags, and more LE hunts. What will G&F have to say when all this doesn't work and the ungulate populations totally crash? When a mistake or "playing it safe" with wolf quotas is made, how many more elk, deer, sheep or moose will die as a result of that decision?
just sayin...mh