StarTribune Wolf Article

Wolves Continue to Plague Livestock Owners

I was surprised at a couple things in this article. I didn’t know that the state pays farmers when a wolf kills one of their livestock. The state paid out $154,000 last year. I realize its a drop in the bucket, but what responsibility does the state have to pay for this? Predation seems like an assumed risk if the cows are put out in a pasture unattended. I am also surprised that there were only 111 cases reported last year. I always assumed it was a much bigger problem.

I think the key word in that article is “reported”.

My thought is that many farmers simply shoot these wolves and don’t report it, as 111 cases seems very low.

A lot of problem wolves are handled this way. The owner of the property I gun hunt has always asked me to shoot any wolves I see. I havent seen any and I wont shoot if I do but that’s how many land owners in wolf country feel.

RIght I wouldnt either

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RIght I wouldnt either

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Nicely played.I laughed out loud.
DT

If the government is going to prevent a rancher from protecting his livelihood, then they should also reimburse them for their losses. I’m curious if they will continue paying now that it’s legal to protect their assets??

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If the government is going to prevent a rancher from protecting his livelihood, then they should also reimburse them for their losses. I’m curious if they will continue paying now that it’s legal to protect their assets??

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I don’t agree that the government has ever said they can’t protect their cattle. They can’t shoot a wolf, but there are other ways to deter them. Wouldn’t a couple gun shots fired in the air scare away a wolf?

With the above rationale, can I take it a step further? Should the government reimburse farmers when a deer eats their corn?

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With the above rationale, can I take it a step further? Should the government reimburse farmers when a deer eats their corn?

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We – The Tax-Payers do pay for crop damage caused by wildlife

I could be wrong, but I thought it was illegal to shoot wolves unless a person was in imminent danger prior to the new laws. I thought pets and livestock were not protected while the wolf was listed as endangered?

For the sake of argument, we have a deer season each fall that allows farmers to participate and control the herd population. I know several farmers back home who wish every pheasant and deer were eradicated. I also believe we do pay for crop damage in a few ways. My dad’s neighbor has hay given to him each fall to feed deer because he winters a bunch of them. Ironically the GF&P gives him feed, but doesn’t force him to allow hunting.

I don’t like the government paying for “select groups” either. My dad loses A LOT of birds each year to hawks and owls. No one is willing to help him recover his losses. We can’t do anything about the raptures, but we are aggressively removing other varmints like coon and badgers.

The bottom line, the state and federal government “own” all wildlife. As owners, then would they be responsible for damage caused by “their” animals. I would expect you to pay should your dog damage my house. That’s probably oversimplifying it…

The farm in this story is about 5 miles down the road from our hunting property. Sure wish I would have drawn a tag this year…

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The farm in this story is about 5 miles down the road from our hunting property. Sure wish I would have drawn a tag this year…

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Claim self defense I have not looked into the wolf hunt details as I didn’t apply cause we dont have many in our area. Did they offer more tags to people hunting in zones that have a higher population of wolves?

I don’t know how the tag distribution was, but I did see a graph somewhere for target harvest levels. They varied from lowest to highest, south to north of course.

Keeping in mind, each reported incident could involve the deaths of multiple cattle or other livestock. I don’t think many non-farmers or those with no experience in agriculture realize how much money is at stake with livestock losses.

Losing 1 stock cow could represent the loss of tens of thousands of dollars. It’s not the cost of that one cow. it’s the dozen calves that that cow could have produced that make up the full loss.

Grouse.

Even more if you happen to have pure bred registered livestock.

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Keeping in mind, each reported incident could involve the deaths of multiple cattle or other livestock. I don’t think many non-farmers or those with no experience in agriculture realize how much money is at stake with livestock losses.

Losing 1 stock cow could represent the loss of tens of thousands of dollars. It’s not the cost of that one cow. it’s the dozen calves that that cow could have produced that make up the full loss.

Grouse.

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I’m from a farm and am 100% in support of the wolf hunt BUT I’m also an engineer and I hate when people misuse numbers/statistics… Kooty is right if you’re talking about expensive breeding stock the kill could cost thousands if it is a breeding stock bull or a calf from/hefer that was bred by a bull with expensive semen. However, for 99% of cattle replacement is only around $1000 understanding that after your one time cost the replacement animal will also produce future calves.

As for multiple livestock killed per incident 111 cases resulting in $154,000 in compensation means that each case resulted in approximatly 1.5 animals per incident.

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The farm in this story is about 5 miles down the road from our hunting property. Sure wish I would have drawn a tag this year…

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This is just a few miles from my dad’s farm as well. From what I hear even though they trapped that adult pair there are others in the area and after they were trapped a neighbor saw what he thought was juvinille wolf thinking it was probably the young of this breeding pair.

We’ve also got wolves living near my dad’s farm and although they haven’t taken any livestock yet (knock on wood) I wouldn’t mind reducing the chances of that happening. If anyone has a late season wolf tag and is planning on trapping vs. shooting send me a PM.

While our opinions may vary just slightly from each other here, it’s clear that most of us are in support of population control. If you want to really get your dander up, go read the responses to this article. They make me smile.