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CHECK OUT THE PART ABOUT NO POINTS SYSTEM!!!! GOOD JOB F&G.!
Idaho may allow trapping of wolvesJuly 10th, 2010(1) commentBy Eric Barker of the Tribune State Fish and Game Commission considers plan as part of effort to reduce numbers of large predators
Idaho is poised to allow trapping of wolves during hunting seasons following an Idaho Fish and Game Commission meeting.
The commission also changed the start of the 2011 chukar and gray partridge hunting seasons, lowered the partridge bag limit and made shooting any upland game birds from boats illegal.
The commission, at its meeting in Kellogg this week, approved the use of traps and snares as a legal method of take for wolves. But that doesn't mean hunters will automatically be allowed to do so.
"How they are used in a season framework is yet to be determined," said Jeff Gould, chief of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's wildlife bureau at Boise.
Gould said the commission can now allow trapping when it sets wolf hunting seasons in August. But he said the commission can pick and choose where and when trapping is allowed, if at all. For example, it could allow trapping in some hunting units at some times of the year but not allow it in other units. He also said hunters who choose to trap wolves in approved areas would first have to complete a mandatory trapping training session.
The commission will also allow hunters to use electronic calls when hunting wolves, black bears and mountain lions.
The move to allow some wolf trapping and electronic calls was blasted by the Defenders of Wildlife, which is seeking to end wolf hunting and state management of wolves through a pending lawsuit. Roger Schlickeisen, president of the group, said the commission's action demonstrates why wolves should be returned to federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.
"We can only hope that the court will soon issue a ruling that puts a stop to such extreme measures," Schlickeisen said. "It will take all of us, working together, to develop a long-term, scientifically solid recovery and management plan for wolves."
The Defenders is leading a coalition of animal rights and environmental groups that sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last fall over the status of gray wolves in Idaho and Montana. They claim wolves have not reached high enough population levels to warrant delisting, and the states remain hostile to wolves and will quickly reduce their numbers. Federal judge Donald Molloy of Missoula is expected to issue a ruling in the lawsuit soon.
Officials from Idaho and Montana have said they intend to reduce wolf numbers. Montana recently set a quota of 186 wolves for the fall hunting season. The state approved a quota of 75 last year. Idaho has not yet set its quota for the 2010 fall wolf hunting season, but commissioners are expected to increase it beyond last year's quota of 220. Idaho hunters killed 188 wolves last year. Idaho officials have said they want to reduce the state's wolf population from more than 800 to around 500.
The commission moved the start of the chukar and gray partridge, quail and sage grouse seasons from mid September to Oct. 1. But that will not take effect until 2011. The commission also will no longer allow upland game bird hunters to shoot from boats starting in 2011. Chukar hunters in Hells Canyon and the Salmon River canyon sometimes hunt from rafts, drift boats and jet boats. Other forms of upland bird hunting from boats is rare.
In other action the commission:
Killed a proposal to implement a bonus point system designed to help hunters draw controlled hunting tags. The system would have weighted future drawing odds in favor of hunters who enter the drawings but fail to win the coveted tags.
Voted against a proposal to allow muzzleloader hunters to use sabots - a sleeve that partially envelopes a bullet and can produce higher velocities and flatter trajectories.
Idaho may allow trapping of wolvesJuly 10th, 2010(1) commentBy Eric Barker of the Tribune State Fish and Game Commission considers plan as part of effort to reduce numbers of large predators
Idaho is poised to allow trapping of wolves during hunting seasons following an Idaho Fish and Game Commission meeting.
The commission also changed the start of the 2011 chukar and gray partridge hunting seasons, lowered the partridge bag limit and made shooting any upland game birds from boats illegal.
The commission, at its meeting in Kellogg this week, approved the use of traps and snares as a legal method of take for wolves. But that doesn't mean hunters will automatically be allowed to do so.
"How they are used in a season framework is yet to be determined," said Jeff Gould, chief of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's wildlife bureau at Boise.
Gould said the commission can now allow trapping when it sets wolf hunting seasons in August. But he said the commission can pick and choose where and when trapping is allowed, if at all. For example, it could allow trapping in some hunting units at some times of the year but not allow it in other units. He also said hunters who choose to trap wolves in approved areas would first have to complete a mandatory trapping training session.
The commission will also allow hunters to use electronic calls when hunting wolves, black bears and mountain lions.
The move to allow some wolf trapping and electronic calls was blasted by the Defenders of Wildlife, which is seeking to end wolf hunting and state management of wolves through a pending lawsuit. Roger Schlickeisen, president of the group, said the commission's action demonstrates why wolves should be returned to federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.
"We can only hope that the court will soon issue a ruling that puts a stop to such extreme measures," Schlickeisen said. "It will take all of us, working together, to develop a long-term, scientifically solid recovery and management plan for wolves."
The Defenders is leading a coalition of animal rights and environmental groups that sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last fall over the status of gray wolves in Idaho and Montana. They claim wolves have not reached high enough population levels to warrant delisting, and the states remain hostile to wolves and will quickly reduce their numbers. Federal judge Donald Molloy of Missoula is expected to issue a ruling in the lawsuit soon.
Officials from Idaho and Montana have said they intend to reduce wolf numbers. Montana recently set a quota of 186 wolves for the fall hunting season. The state approved a quota of 75 last year. Idaho has not yet set its quota for the 2010 fall wolf hunting season, but commissioners are expected to increase it beyond last year's quota of 220. Idaho hunters killed 188 wolves last year. Idaho officials have said they want to reduce the state's wolf population from more than 800 to around 500.
The commission moved the start of the chukar and gray partridge, quail and sage grouse seasons from mid September to Oct. 1. But that will not take effect until 2011. The commission also will no longer allow upland game bird hunters to shoot from boats starting in 2011. Chukar hunters in Hells Canyon and the Salmon River canyon sometimes hunt from rafts, drift boats and jet boats. Other forms of upland bird hunting from boats is rare.
In other action the commission:
Killed a proposal to implement a bonus point system designed to help hunters draw controlled hunting tags. The system would have weighted future drawing odds in favor of hunters who enter the drawings but fail to win the coveted tags.
Voted against a proposal to allow muzzleloader hunters to use sabots - a sleeve that partially envelopes a bullet and can produce higher velocities and flatter trajectories.
