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Old February 28, 2007, 08:45 PM   #51
rem33
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Why do so many not want to hunt seals? Are you afraid to get out on the ice (it's dangerous) or because they look so cute and cuddily?
Propaganda works is why so many don't want to. They are/have been devastating to salmon runs in some NW rivers and the fish and game depts. hands are tied. They will try throwing cherry bomb type of explosives to scare the seals away. What a joke, me and my '06 and a few more guys could help tremendously in a short while. Meanwhile Salmon runs in the NW are dwindling and the seal population isn't and from what was written here is or already has become a real problem.
Reminds me of the wolf situation going on as I write this.
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Old March 2, 2007, 03:38 PM   #52
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Are seals edible? I suppose I wouldn't mind so much hunting them myself if they are. What does one do with seal fur other than tie flys with it? (Which I LOVE to do.)
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Old March 2, 2007, 03:57 PM   #53
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Seal are the hardware-stores and fast-food establishments of the far north. I had some seal-sushi with some native folks up in AK once... it was a great honor to be invited to the meal as pickings can be slim up there from time to time. The skins make the warmest jackets you can imagine, the fat is great for cooking and "medicine", the tendons can make a strong rope, the meat and some of the organs are so tastey that you can eat them raw with no problems, and some of the fatty meat makes for an outstanding plate of "seal bacon".

If you get a chance to try some seal, don't let the chance slide past. Just because they are "cute" does not mean they are inedible. Quite the opposite, actually...

EDIT- I think I remember the jackets were actually made of caribou hide. Oh, well... I'm sure seal skin has some sort of clothing use.

Last edited by oldbillthundercheif; March 3, 2007 at 01:55 AM. Reason: Hazy Memory
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Old March 2, 2007, 08:24 PM   #54
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Idaho has a population of over 33,000 wolfs now.
Where, praytell, did you get this information?
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Old March 3, 2007, 09:01 AM   #55
Art Eatman
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Idaho is right at 84,000 square miles. Figure roughly 100 sq. mi. to support a mature wolf, year around. That would max out at around 840 wolves...

I've obviously ignored unsuitable habitat, developed areas, lakes, etc.

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Old March 3, 2007, 10:03 AM   #56
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Numbers I have read are more like 1200 to 1500 in the three states. Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Word is they have spread farther across the Snake River into Oregon But to my knowledge that hasn't been substantiated at least not in the newspapers. But then I have seen at least two flocks of wild turkeys were they aren't suppose to be on F&G maps.

Approximately 60 wolves were released with a target amount of around 300. We are way above the target amount and the fight is on to delist and let hunters have tags. Hopefully later this year but more likely next.

IMO more likely even farther out as the lawsuits are gonna fly over this for sure.

According to Fish and Game in some areas the elk calf survival rate is only 5 or 10%, F&G is blaming the wolf. Something needs be done before the damage to game herds is to extensive.
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Old March 3, 2007, 11:50 AM   #57
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Figure roughly 100 sq. mi. to support a mature wolf, year around
Where did you get that key premise in your statement, Art? I should think, just off the top of my non-scientist head, that an entire mature pack of (7-10) wolves could be supported by 20-50 square miles......

Let's see....there are 3 thriving packs in Yellowstone, and Yellowstone is 3468 sq. miles. Hmmm, that is over 1,000 sq. miles per pack, and if a pack is 10 wolves, about 100 sq. miles per wolf - so looks like you are right after all - still, is there a source/link to that fact?
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Old March 4, 2007, 04:13 PM   #58
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Wolf population in Idaho is somewhere in the 800's, if what I read is correct. No where am I hearing that the packs are no longer expanding, instead information seems to be the opposite.. But then a local joke is.

If you were to take all the mountains in Idaho and flatten it out we'd be as big as Texas.

Does this mean we can support more than 840? I sure hope not because that is right about where we are as I write this, and elk herds are already suffering.
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Old March 4, 2007, 08:39 PM   #59
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I don't hunt anything I don't eat...my list of animals I do hunt, is fairly small then...

whitetails, rabbits, and squirrels...

I will shoot a Coyote if I see one on my land simply because they are pests in my area, I do not consider it hunting...
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Old March 4, 2007, 09:37 PM   #60
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I usually don't kill that which i don't eat. And I have eatten a lot of game and non game animals. So in a way there probably is'nt to much i wouldn't hunt given the opertunity however i am iffy on the Prarie dog stuff. I love watching the videos of exploding dogs however after a while... it's kinda repulsive but still entertaining. My votes still out i guess.
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Old March 4, 2007, 10:46 PM   #61
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Unicorn

Only cuz my daughter would never forgive me....... Then again, If its a 10 point uni.......... lol

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Old March 5, 2007, 06:21 PM   #62
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Rem33 said, "According to Fish and Game in some areas the elk calf survival rate is only 5 or 10%, F&G is blaming the wolf. Something needs be done before the damage to game herds is to extensive."

You are absolutely right. Once the game herds are sufficiently decimated by wolf pack, the ecofreaks can nos state thatw e do not need hunters to keep game herd in check, so let's outlaw hunting. Once that happens, the anti-gun people will say, that since there is no hunting allowed, you don't need to own guns. Turn them all in.
While that may sound a bit far out. Many of those ecofreaks are already breaking laws in the name of animals. Animal Liberation front for example.As long as the wolf stays on a protected list, out hunting rights will go right down the crapped. They are vocal. They are loud, They have the money and they won't be stopped as long as we who hunt are kept divided.
To be perfectly blunt, we as gun owners and hunter had better get out heads out of our arses and join up to fight those who would take our avocation away from us. Join the NRA, GOA JPFO or whatever organiztion floats your boat. Join and all work together to put those who would deprive us if our right to keep and bear arms. Because when it come to where the rubber meets the pavement, the Second Amendment ain't about hunting. If they can lower the game population to where hunting is no longer allowed, how long do you think they will wait to collect all the guns? Sen. Feinstein has alrady stated that if she's have had the vote, we'd be turning them in.

What animal would I never want to hunt? I don't know. Never gave it much thought until now. Probably the great bears. I figure they're probably not all that good eating. I don't go out of my way to shoot trophy deer either. Probably way too tough to chew, and anyway I'm not into an ego trip on getting some poor critter into a "book". I'm that nemesis of the trophy hunter. I hunt to eat meat that hasn't been bastardized by greedy folks who own feedlots and pollute the meat with chemicals and hormones.
Just a thought to ponder. They say we have an epidemic of obesity in this country. Could it be that the chemicals they feed the animals in the feedlots don't cook out when we cook these animals? Could that be a main cause of the obesity?
OK. I apologize for getting off thread. It just seems to all run together.
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Old March 6, 2007, 11:21 PM   #63
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Smaller Animals

I consider the number of lives per meal, and draw a line with pigs being the smallest.

Don't have a problem with anyone else shooting small game though. It is a wonderful sport done right.
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Old March 7, 2007, 10:06 AM   #64
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FF, sort of a half-educated guess from what folks have said about mountain lion behavior and needs. Sort of a "so many pounds per day, average; there are just so many animals per unit area as prey, etc., etc."

The wildlife biologists guesstimate that it takes in the neighborhood of some 25 square miles of this Chihuahuan Desert to support a pair of mountain lions. Well, that sure varies, given how many there actually are around here on an occasional basis. But, long term average, it seems pretty reasonable.

It's a bit difficult to be really accurate in this sort of thing when predators are as highly mobile as cougars or wolves. If they deplete the food supply, they move on. The exit means a recovery of prey species; predators return.

There is more "seems like" than there is numerical exactitude.

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Old March 7, 2007, 10:36 AM   #65
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If I'm not going to eat it then I'm not going to hunt it.
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Old March 7, 2007, 11:19 AM   #66
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feral cats ~ don't have the heart to shoot them down... (not a big problem here anyways to If I see a wild one I say, good luck surviving the winter..upstate NY)

I feel bad shooting squirls, I just read a local article telling of a groop of hunters organizing agains gray squirls.
Said that they needed to be greatly reduced in numbers, that gray squirls mimic deer to closely and ruin hunting, I find it to be the opposite. If I'm sitting in a tree stand for 6 hours I love to watch the gray squirls digging in the leaves while waiting for a deer to move through. I love animals and only kill one if it's getting under the floor boards or am going to eat 'em up..
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Old March 7, 2007, 11:20 AM   #67
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I've never wanted to hunt goldfish. It's just not sporting.
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Old March 7, 2007, 07:48 PM   #68
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I don't mind shooting cats one bit! In my mind they are vermin and where I live they are everywhrere. I don't think I would shoot a bear or elephant, any kind of horse, or a geraffe- spelling? No canned hunts for me either
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Old March 12, 2007, 12:17 PM   #69
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I don't hunt.

It's not that I have a moral objection to it; (as in hunting for sustinance.) I just don't have the heart for it. Though if it was a matter of survival I would do what I had to and hunt whatever was in the region.

Sport/Trophy hunting; I don't comprehend it. A more apt term would be sport sniping IMO.

Unless it was done on a level playing field; where the hunted can just as well turn into the hunter. Now that would be sport hunting.
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Old March 14, 2007, 02:51 AM   #70
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This is a great post, very interesting. I have hunted lots of bears, all kinds, but something happened to me about fifteen years ago, I killed a little cinnamon bear, less than 200 pounds and a sick feeling came over me. I have not shot a black bear since, not saying I never will, but it is not likely. Wolves are another touchy subject for me, my wife had a wolfdog and it was the smartest dog I ever seen and I have been around German Shepherds, so that is saying something.

As to
Quote:
Feral Dogs and feral cats are ferocious predators
I fully agree, they are perhaps the worst pests and feral dogs will not fear humans and might attack even if not provoked. I will shot feral dogs without a second thought!

So bears and wolves are animals I'm least likely to hunt. Mountain lions and bobcats I hunt, but I won't go out of my way to hunt them. I guess I do identify with some predators.

I will shoot skunks if they come around my place and I still call coyotes and have no problem hunting them, so that is some contradiction.

As to possums, I have hunted them and ate them!

As to using dogs, I have used them to hunt hogs and think it is the best way to hog hunt, good dogs and a 44 magnum revolver!
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Old March 15, 2007, 06:34 PM   #71
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Zebra. I've heard they are tough and mean, but to me, they are a painted horse with a punk hair style. Just doesn't do it for me.
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Old March 16, 2007, 03:18 PM   #72
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Elephant, Rhino, snakes.
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Old March 16, 2007, 04:31 PM   #73
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I have a rather stupid question, but this thread made me curious...Do you not eat coyotes, wolves, bears, etc. because they taste bad or why are they considered inedible?
I'm not into hunting (yet), but I guess I couldn't kill anything I would not be able to eat afterwards. I don't like the idea of hunting, only for the sake of killing something.
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Old March 16, 2007, 06:19 PM   #74
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I'll hunt anything but pets. Pet owners tend to get a little upset when you shoot their dogs. Now hunting pet owners is another story, albeit I hear the meat isn't very good, and it's considered poaching anyway...
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Old March 16, 2007, 06:36 PM   #75
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Never been real big on the notion of hunting another predator--be it bear, cat, whatever. I like prey animals because they're real tasty and there tends to be lots of 'em. Bear IS tasty if cooked right, but I guess it's kind of a primal respect for a fellow predator type of thing. In the right situation--such as them looking at me as prey--well, that would be more like "BANG! B-b-b-b-bang! OK, now I gotta find a few good recipes..."
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