Pink Kate

The world just keeps turning. 40 years back when I was a Cadet at the Air Force Academy, we suplimented the measly amount we were paid by taking a weekend or so a month hunting varmits (mountain lion and coyotes) for the scalp bounty the offered by the state. I remember commenting at the time that it looked like we were making the same mistake they made down in West Texas in the early 50's when I helped a state trapper hunt down coyotes. He maintained (and it was easy to see what he meant even then) that it was job security for him. Soon as you thin out the coyotes to a critical number, the damned jack rabbits would do what rabbits do and over-run the place. Sure enough, the late 50's saw jack rabbits explode out there and then he got paid to hunt rabbits. Around here, deer and rodents exploded after the coyotes were pretty much hunted out so they over-reacted and protect the mountain lion and coyote (and suffered the costs of protecting the Prebbles Jumping Mouse, which were a favorite coyote snack) until now rodents and deer are to the point that they offer extra season hunting much of the time.

When I taught feedback control systems, I always used a simulation called "Sharks and Fish" to illustrate feedback stability. So much available fish food, each fish needed a certain amount to survive and breed. Sharks ate fish, each shark needs a certain amount of fish to survive and breed. In an undisturbed setting, the whole system would settle to an equilibrium state where there were not enough sharks to eat all the fish, there were not enough fish to eat all the food so there was a fairly stable number of sharks, fish, and available extra fish food. Stick your finger in and disturb the stable state and you start to oscillate between either fish starving to death because there weren't enough sharks, or sharks starving because there weren't enough fish. Given enough time, a permanent alteration in one of the parameters would result in a new equilibrium for each population if the disturbance persisted or it would return to the original equlibrium once the disturbance was removed. Same analogy holds for pretty much the entire ecosystem. If we meddle, the equlibrium is altered. If we try and go to extremes and completely remove an established factor or introduce a new factor (like rabbits in Ausatralia) all bets are off. There is a place for wolves and mountain lions in some number - but not in my front yard!

I still can't f> If your Montana locals are anything like the specimens we have in Colorado,

Guy I worked for in Virginia, went bear hunting with his friends and too many dogs one day. They came on a big black bear, surrounded by dogs, all hollering and trying to get a piece of the bear. Henry couldn't get a shot, so he waded in and dispatched Mr. Bruin with a knife.

Hunting with dogs, is like the fox hunting with horses and dogs, that we still have in parts of the U.S., and the foot hunting of rabbit with dogs, that they still do in Virginia, and using retrievers to fetch fowl that you shoot. It is what the dogs were bred for. It's an anachronism, for sure, but another name for anachronism, is "tradition".

Earle

Apparently, you have never been to court. They make definitions real enough there. As far as the lawn goes, I moved somewhere, where people don't give a damn. I hear that in the Front Range they are releasing the restrictions now, because of the water shortage and expense. I guess I was just ahead of my time.

Earle

spent 2 hours loading the camper, and another 2 hours driving to the campground. unloaded the rhino and drove 7.5 miles (20 mile trip to the actual trail head) when i found several feet of snow blocking the road, despite 75 degree ambient temp. tried the snow and got stuck (high centering on the skid plates!). drove back to the camper, loaded up and drove 2 hours home, spent a couple hours unloading the camper, and then several hours pressure washing everything down. lol. i did get some pics and video of mule deer, i didnt get far enough into the mountains to see any bear this trip.....will post the pics later. looks like its gonna be another couple weeks at least before ill be able to find any good off roading.

you dont. this is obvious based upon your statements.

heh.....i never said i have a monopoly on it. all i said is that i know more than _you_ (on this issue).

lol......ok earle.

not when your objective is trail riding. ;-)

who is arguing the legality? best i can tell the argument is over right and wrong.

on that we can certainly agree.

heh.

its last minute birth control, and it happens every day. i might be "uncommon" if you look at this city or that.....but nationally it happens regularly.

im sure that happens too mike, but the incidents i know of were witnessed.

im not arguing that it doesnt happen. im simply arguing wolves because they arent what the tree huggers make them out to be. i would shoot wild dogs doing the same thing too.

lol holy s*it earle.....if i showed you VIDEO of wolves being shot after attacking an entire elk herd would you continue to make excuses for them?

montana has a few funny/outdated laws (i suppose most states do). i cannot confirm it but i was told that a group of 3 or more indians on horseback are still considered a "war party" and its legal to shoot them. lol. not advisable certainly, but "supposedly" still on the books.

i dont believe in fairy tales, or santa clause, and i dont look at it from a religious standpoint. with me its a simple matter of right and wrong.

...thus securing their votes.

Bill,

No, I am not saying that. I am saying, that maybe, just maybe, all those wildlife biologists and range management people, that work for the federal and state governments, and that OKed the wolf program, might have some glimmer of an understanding of what is going on. And that people like Nate and his "buddies" who shoot wolves, shouldn't take the law into their own hands. No matter how convinced they are, that they are right.

There are a lot of things going on, like the wolves' actual diet, the actual number of the critters, and the presence of feral dogs and packs of tame dogs, that cloud the issue. You yourself posted a story about wolves gutting sheep, and then later changed it to "dogs that had reverted to wolf behavior". I don't believe that dogs can "revert to wolf behavior", because we have changed them too much. One book I read, said that wolves spend most of their time in the wild, eating mice and pocket gophers. Now just because the author has a Ph.D. in wildlife biology, and spent the better part of a year observing wolves first hand, and has no economic interest in exterminating them, that doesn't mean that you can ignore what he says.

Now as far as locals playing imports for suckers, we have a prominent local citizen, who moved here from New Mexico some years ago, whose favorite saying is, "I didn't just jump off the turnip truck". But from the way the locals play him, he did. The locals here figure that they can ignore anything, that they don't want to hear, with no ill effect. That's because they already know everything. Arrogant too. One local service station owner, has a feud going, with **The State of Colorado**, and decided not to sell them any more diesel fuel, until they came in line, with what he wants. Guess who's selling them diesel fuel now?

The way I heard it, the farmers and ranchers are already on welfare anyway.

Earle

i remember being drilled about cutting X's into your bullet tips. we were issued all types of ammunition for domestic patrol but the only combat round im aware of is standard ball.

ive always hunted black bear with at least 30-30, but mostly .30-06. i was really surprised when i moved up here to find that a .357 magnum handgun was amonst the most common calibers for hunting black bear.

lol.....do you make it back up to kalispell often? i do a fair bit of work up on polson, would like to shake your hand one day.