Moose unit?

[Joe_K]

GMU 007. Idk how easy it is to get tags, but they were everywhere up there.

[thebolt]

Enjoy these moose while you can. The incoming wolf infusion will decimate our moose population. It will take a few years but they will never reach the current numbers after wolves arrive.

[Little Dutch]

Units change. I'm seeing moose in my off- draw elk area suddenly. The best plan is checking draw stats for big antlers with near 100% success rates.

[TRnCO]

that's what I figure will happen for me, since I haven't gotten lucky in the first 17 or 18 years of trying to draw a tag, the wolves will have them decimated before I do draw a tag.

Rancher friend of mine texted me a picture of a cow moose clear out by Kirk this past summer. They do roam a ways it seems

[Hummer]

We watched a young cow moose on Christmas Eve, standing in the iced over river chomping on willow 30 feet from the window. Hopefully, many areas of moose habitat like ours won't be seriously impacted by wolves that prefer more open country.

Some news is beginning to report widespread misgivings about wolves being introduced around Vail, Aspen, Carbondale, Glenwood and Gunnison. The liberals who voted for wolf introduction didn't imagine it would happen in their own backyard where the family purebred dogs, cats and alpacas would become prey. Holy moly!

Maybe we'll yet see a well funded revisitation on the state initiative. If people begin losing pets anywhere along the Front Range, all Hell will break loose.

Wolves need to be preserved and survive in appropriate locations but there's a reason why they were extirpated from most of the USA.

[eddiememphis]

Isn't it easier to kill and eat a 200 pound domestic sheep than getting past an angry and protective 1000 pound mama moose?

The reason wolves were eradicated wasn't because they were preying on wild animals. I think the moose population will be just fine.

[TRnCO]

So eddie, are you betting that the sheep herders won't be calling on the DOW to come in and do something to protect their herds? And do you believe that sheep are so wide spread that the wolves won't have to look for any wild game? Seriously, think about it. Sheep can be confined in a small area and moose, elk, well, they are well dispersed. There's certainly going to be more cattle and sheep killed, but it won't be the main staple of the wolves.

[eddiememphis]

So eddie, are you betting that the sheep herders won't be calling on the DOW to come in and do something to protect their herds? And do you believe that sheep are so wide spread that the wolves won't have to look for any wild game? Seriously, think about it. Sheep can be confined in a small area and moose, elk, well, they are well dispersed. There's certainly going to be more cattle and sheep killed, but it won't be the main staple of the wolves.

I'm not betting anything, since I don't have a dog in the fight. Get it? Wolves, dogs...

There are going to be relatively few wolves reintroduced, 30-50. There are en estimated 3000 moose in Colorado. Compare that to 365,000 domestic sheep. Not all of those sheep are free ranging of course. A 1994 USDA estimate says 42% of sheep losses were due to predators.

Current management has the DOW's hands tied as far as preventing predation. They are more focused on compensation for lost livestock.

I am not saying wolves will be dining exclusively on mutton. Predators prefer an easy meal versus a difficult one so there will be livestock losses.

In post #14, you were concerned about the moose population being "decimated". I was pointing out that there are a lot of other tasty creatures on the menu. The moose will likely be fine.

However, no one knows how this, or any future event will turn out.

[TRnCO]

Actually, our neighbors to the north have a pretty good idea how it's going to turn out. Big game is going to take a hit, no ands, ifs, or buts about it.


Only 30-50 wolves and that in turns into a few hundred in a few short years. You're right, the CDOW hands are tied. Years of litigation will happen before anyone is allowed to start trying to regulate the wolf numbers. It's a train wreck coming to Colo. and the ranchers livestock and wildlife will pay the ultimate price.

[TRnCO]

So apparently there was a a CPW Wolf plan meeting a day or two ago, and there were several public speakers and one of them was one of the pro wolf movement speakers and they are now proposing that as many as 750 wolves be brought in and released because they say that the carrying capacity of the state will support that many.
And they're calling for no lethal means of control AND proposing no sport/trophy hunting be allowed.

And just like that, the goal posts are shifting.

If you'd like to watch the meeting in entirety..here's the link.,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6uGM5DD5As