Wolf population rises again, but more slowly

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Upper Peninsula's gray wolf population rose again over the past year but the growth rate was down, a state wildlife official says.

[Scott Pelon]

I must admit that I am very disappointed in the steps in which the State of Michigan have taken in respect to the hunters view of what the wolf population has done. Decades of visiting family and friends, telling deer stories, going from camp site to camp site to look at buckpoles are now a thing of the past. Which was once a family bonding experience is nothing more than a sad memory of what use to be. The wolves in the area I use to hunt as a child have wiped out nearly every deer. The deer are virtually non-existant. Camp sites are now for sale which were once in the family for centuries. How can a state not see what kind of an impact the wolves have had on the economy, family cultures or raising of children to enjoy the outdoors with a sport I was raised with? I've been back many time to Upper Michigan in the hopes of bringing back fond memories. My exerience has only verified that that's all that will ever be from now on. Just fond memories. We need to re-elect new state oficials and and get back to family values, strong businesses who rely on the white tail deer season and bring back which was once a proud heritage. The lies, mis directions and smoke screen and mirrors need to be a thing of the past. Our grandfathers grandfathers new the the wolves were no good 100's of years ago and they are no good now.
Sincerely;
Disapointed in Seattle...

[Dave]

Wolves wiping out all the deer in MI eh? rapid habitat destruction has nothing to do with it? hunting? car-deer collisions? poaching? harsh winters?

The deer herd in northeast lower Michigan where I live is greatly reduced from what it once was and there are no wolves in the area.

Is finding scapegoats part of the "family values" you speak of?

[jzman]

how stupied! if a full grown man just ate deer and not nuts,veg,fruit and all the other garbage we consume in a year. come on! oh ya the banks and insurance companys don't need regulations either.

[dave negaunee mi]

Dave wrote:

Wolves wiping out all the deer in MI eh? rapid habitat destruction has nothing to do with it? hunting? car-deer collisions? poaching? harsh winters?
The deer herd in northeast lower Michigan where I live is greatly reduced from what it once was and there are no wolves in the area.
Is finding scapegoats part of the "family values" you speak of?

no the deer population in lower mich dosn't have to contend with wolves. that woldn't have anything to do with the department of natural resources making sure that wolves do not get below the bridge. i believ that the five permits to kill wolves a few years ago were to kill the wolves that crossed the ice into lower michigan.
if you havn't noticed the people making the choices don't want these animals in there backyard just someone elses. how about moving some of these wolves that were brought to the upper penninsula to lower michigan. so you can enjoy outdoor activities while watching over your shoulder. these animals arn't just deep in the woods they are close to homes with small childern.
how much did the dnr spend to bring the wolves to the up. how much did it cost to maintain the population until they were released into the wild. how much do they spend to monitor thes animals every year. then they raise liscense prices. who do these animal benefit. not me or anyone i know.

[auroranorth]

dave negaunee mi wrote:

<quoted text>
no the deer population in lower mich dosn't have to contend with wolves. that woldn't have anything to do with the department of natural resources making sure that wolves do not get below the bridge. i believ that the five permits to kill wolves a few years ago were to kill the wolves that crossed the ice into lower michigan.
if you havn't noticed the people making the choices don't want these animals in there backyard just someone elses. how about moving some of these wolves that were brought to the upper penninsula to lower michigan. so you can enjoy outdoor activities while watching over your shoulder. these animals arn't just deep in the woods they are close to homes with small childern.
how much did the dnr spend to bring the wolves to the up. how much did it cost to maintain the population until they were released into the wild. how much do they spend to monitor thes animals every year. then they raise liscense prices. who do these animal benefit. not me or anyone i know.

I have heard this blatent stupidity before, look dude there were over a 90,000 car deer accidents reported in upper mi, and 2 car wolf accidents , if your figures were correct the residents of town would be carried off in their sleep, what is happening is more and more small farms are going belly up and the land is bought by real estate speculators who carve it into postage stamp size hunks for down state shackers who then cut down the trees and plant no crops and rip out the rocks and pant a 5 acre lawn because they are morons. then they bring their fat kids up here on motorized devices of all kinds and terrorize the animals and their young, mean while the paper mills have the loggers cutting everything in site and i dont see them planting Jack diddly for trees and when they do its a monoculture,i see these old farts sitting in cafes babbling da wolves kilt all da deer apparently they are unhappy that 50 deer are not sitting at their bird feeder, well cluless, you live next to a road and everyone driving down it has had vehicle damage because some goofball feeds the deer next to the road and blames the wolves for killing all the deer to cover up his stupidity and poaching. what has happened is these self righteous jerks have plugged several helpless animals simply trying to stay alive in 30 below zero weather. easy target they dont vote and fight back you disgust me with your sniveling. its bad enough that the people holding this train of thought are morons but then they have to advertise it,

[Payne Anne]

dave negaunee mi wrote:

<quoted text>
no the deer population in lower mich dosn't have to contend with wolves. that woldn't have anything to do with the department of natural resources making sure that wolves do not get below the bridge. i believ that the five permits to kill wolves a few years ago were to kill the wolves that crossed the ice into lower michigan.
if you havn't noticed the people making the choices don't want these animals in there backyard just someone elses. how about moving some of these wolves that were brought to the upper penninsula to lower michigan. so you can enjoy outdoor activities while watching over your shoulder. these animals arn't just deep in the woods they are close to homes with small childern.
how much did the dnr spend to bring the wolves to the up. how much did it cost to maintain the population until they were released into the wild. how much do they spend to monitor thes animals every year. then they raise liscense prices. who do these animal benefit. not me or anyone i know.

Wolves most likely came before the first settlers came to Michigan. And although you may think they benefit no one they to have their place. They keep the integrity of the heard by killing off the weak and diseased. They are the garbage disposals of wide open spaces. They play an intricate part of the natural process. Yes they do get into trouble on occasion by digging up a trash can or some live stock. Let’s all remember our responsibility to our environment and the animals that need to exist among us by keeping our human trash and live stock as secure as possible. We owe it to ourselves and our environment.

[yote hunter]

wolves are in wisconsin and they are causing problems with the deer herd and with hound hunters like me wolves should be fair game.

[JMan]

Although the wolves do kill deer I dont believe that they are the major culpret for the declining deer herd in the U.P. I started hunting around watton in 1995 there were deer everywhere. You could count 500 deer on you 10 mile drive to town. Which is nice to see all of those animals but can u say over population. then came the harsh winters for 2 years killed 3/4s of the herd atleast where I hunt. After those 2 winters i didnt shoot a deer for three years. Around 2006 and 2007 you could see that the herd was increasing, then 2008 came around and again the deer numbers declined. Another harsh winter, and if im not mistaken they had yet again a horrible winter in 2009. The point im getting at is winter is the biggest killer of deer in the U.P. Although I agree the wolves need to go they are not the reason for the decline.

[ryan haanapaa]

last two deer seasons gut shot around 6 wolves.. i live in upper peninsula..and if we all do our part this will just go away...the best part is when they howl cause their buddy got f-in wasted har har har..

[rider]

just call bart stupak at c-street house or the Cedars

[Harju]

I just got back from hunting in the Baraga Plains area. The wolves ARE a problem. The were all over. Two came within 20 feet of the camp during the day. They obviously have no fear of humans. Listening to all the locals tell the stories of their encounters with wolves only verify the problem. A hunter that just shot his deer went up to gut it and within 5 min had two within 20 yards of him. Wait till they start to challenge the hunters for their deer! Soon as I shot my deer, my friend said he saw one heading in my direction. NOT cool!!!!

[Pat]

yote hunter wrote:

wolves are in wisconsin and they are causing problems with the deer herd and with hound hunters like me wolves should be fair game.

Why don't you hunt like a real man instead of like a chicken poop coward who uses dogs to do his dirty work. Gee it couldn't have been the damn cold springs the past years that have done a job on the Wisconsin fawns could it? I'd rather see a wolf any day than a stupid deer running across the road and destroying my truck which has happened twice. Do your shooting at a rifle range if you can't do real hunting without a bloodhound.

[Payne Anne]

JMan wrote:

Although the wolves do kill deer I dont believe that they are the major culpret for the declining deer herd in the U.P. I started hunting around watton in 1995 there were deer everywhere. You could count 500 deer on you 10 mile drive to town. Which is nice to see all of those animals but can u say over population. then came the harsh winters for 2 years killed 3/4s of the herd atleast where I hunt. After those 2 winters i didnt shoot a deer for three years. Around 2006 and 2007 you could see that the herd was increasing, then 2008 came around and again the deer numbers declined. Another harsh winter, and if im not mistaken they had yet again a horrible winter in 2009. The point im getting at is winter is the biggest killer of deer in the U.P. Although I agree the wolves need to go they are not the reason for the decline.

At least your open minded about the "other" factors in the topic. Thank you for your response.

[Payne Anne]

Harju wrote:

I just got back from hunting in the Baraga Plains area. The wolves ARE a problem. The were all over. Two came within 20 feet of the camp during the day. They obviously have no fear of humans. Listening to all the locals tell the stories of their encounters with wolves only verify the problem. A hunter that just shot his deer went up to gut it and within 5 min had two within 20 yards of him. Wait till they start to challenge the hunters for their deer! Soon as I shot my deer, my friend said he saw one heading in my direction. NOT cool!!!!

Not cool? What the hunter doesn’t care to be the hunted? Seems to me hunting is a sport. The key word here is SPORT. If hunting was meant to be easy then I don’t think it would be called hunting. Perhaps it would be called shopping in the woods.
Hunting should be a challenge. It should be the hunter and the woods and all its inhabitants. Although many will disagree wolves have their place in nature. They kill off the week and diseased leaving a stronger heard. If they are challenging hunters while they are in the midst of a kill well then step up to the plate and be a man (or women) and claim your kill. Crying about having to put a little more effort into your hunt seems to be screaming,“I’m a lazy hunter and wolves make the challenge too much for me”. Boo Friggen hoo! Get a pair!

[Harju]

Payne Anne wrote:

<quoted text>
Not cool? What the hunter doesn’t care to be the hunted? Seems to me hunting is a sport. The key word here is SPORT. If hunting was meant to be easy then I don’t think it would be called hunting. Perhaps it would be called shopping in the woods.
Hunting should be a challenge. It should be the hunter and the woods and all its inhabitants. Although many will disagree wolves have their place in nature. They kill off the week and diseased leaving a stronger heard. If they are challenging hunters while they are in the midst of a kill well then step up to the plate and be a man (or women) and claim your kill. Crying about having to put a little more effort into your hunt seems to be screaming,“I’m a lazy hunter and wolves make the challenge too much for me”. Boo Friggen hoo! Get a pair!

Its not that the effort is the problem. Its not any harder to hunt with them, its the fact that there is nothing you can do to protect yourself without facing federal charges! You are clearly a PETA puss so its not worth getting into it with you, you clearly dont even go out in the woods! How about you "get a pair" and take a walk out in the woods in Baraga county and see if that changes your mind...

[storm warning]

almost a million muslims and your worried about a couple of overgrown dogs.