You have a gift for subtlety. :-)
Seriously though, we have very little experience in the US with wolves after they have taken down prey levels to the point where they are cannibalizing themselves. As of now, 60% of Yellowstone wolf deaths are due to cannibalism, which is about the same ratio as Denali National Park. Once wolf populations have grown until they crash their prey base, they become much more likely to attack humans en masse, for which a semi-auto rifle is little defense (unless one starts shooting early enough that they eat the fallen instead).
I have this on authority of Dr. Valerius Geist, who should know. He's one serious hunter and is tied in with some very good people.
LOL thanks. The point I was making was if you’re going to carry, its best to carry something you can manage. Weight and overall size are the other big factors to consider. A 10 lb revolver is not a side arm that will accompany someone on a backpack hunt, if one is carried at all.
I know little about cannabilism of wolves, but am not surprised. Bears of all species are notorious for it. Cubs are a favorite meal for boars, and I’ve watched firsthand a large brown bear attempt it but mom thought differently.
Thanks for the link, I added it to my bookmarked pages and if you have others on the subject please send them. People like that are invaluable, and I tend to weigh their experiences and time in the field more than their time in the classroom or lab. I’m not saying that academics are not important, but IMO the knowledge of a life-long trapper is something a lot of people would undervalue.
I’m not challenging your numbers, but do keep in mind that aerial surveys are done to count animals here. Much of Denali is covered thick with alders and willows, which makes it difficult to spot and can greatly skew results. On the Kenai Peninsula, you have to get drawn for grizzly hunts and they are VERY limited. A year or two ago I think there were only two tags given out because that’s what the survey data showed, and then the animal groups got involved to sway it. To many residents there, they’re often a problem.
Wolves are interesting in that, like people, they will kill for sport. Sometimes they will consume an entire animal, other times they won’t. People have found wolf kills of healthy, mature animals with only the tongue and/or certain organs consumed, and other times nothing eaten at all.
I’m close friends with a native elder who was born and raised deep in the bush, well off the road system. He ran lots of trap lines and has seen a lot of this first hand. He used to work as a guide for a close friend of his who did horse-back hunts in the bush. He said they lost quite a few horses to wolves, but they’d always go for the largest & stronger ones. Never the smaller ones.
When they can’t easily get food, their wariness of people goes away which is not good. They’ll move closer to town to get pets, and occasionally people too.
This winter has been pretty mild here, and I’ve seen a lot of moose and many calves (which is GREAT). It changes a lot over time too. 50-100 years ago there were not many moose up on the Koyukuk River but predators were high, now it is a trophy area. Where freeper ESKA lives, it has changed in a shorter time span.
Don’t know what your thoughts are on re-introduction of wolves in Yellowstone and surrounding areas. I tend to disagree with it, and base that largely on other species adjusting over time. I support predator management, especially where there are people, but don’t think something should be taken to extinction.
Check on Amazon for the book ‘Alaska’s Wolf Man’ by Jim Rearden. An EXCELLENT read, you’d probably really enjoy.