Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wolves Slaughter 19 sheep in Oregon Bloodbath

When I was a kid, we never lost a single calf to a coyote. Most of our neighbors lost many. Of course we shot the coyotes that got near the cattle and I'd do the same for a wolf, but that's not the secret to highly successful calving anyway. We always reserved a few hundred acres around the house for calving season. We'd move the heavies in there and keep an eye on them through the process. it just so happened that through the picture window in the living room, you could see most of the pasture in the daylight, and at dark somebody would be out there at least every few hours--some of those calves will need pulled too and if you're not watching and if you turn 'em out and forget about them some will die without any coyote intervention at all. My dad always said that if you was down at the saloon moanin' about all the calves you lost, you weren't much of a rancher anyway.

I never was around too many sheep, but I know there was a time when a sheepherder lived with the sheep and run things off, or tried to at least, before too many sheep got ate.

Times have changed! Nowdays many ranchers live in town and do quick drivebys on their herd and hurry home to watch tv, even the ones that still live on the ranch like their tvs and their "interweb" as much as you or I do.

Now, I'm not in this instance taking a part in either side of this argument, but I know quite a bit about the guy that's complaining about all his livestock losses. I'm thinking if he'd of been somewhere nearby maybe firing a few rounds into the hill, or if noone is looking , popping a wolf or two, and every coyote that he sees, he wouldn't be losing near so many sheep or calves.

On the other hand if I was the guy that lost a bunch of livestock to coyotes or wolves, I'd probably keep it to myself partially out of embarrassment for my lackadaisical ranching practices , and partially because I wouldn't want to draw any attention to somebody counting or watching and trying to make sure that the livestock killers in my neck of the woods could be getting some extra protection.

You have LESS wilderness today than 100 years ago, and with the previous drought conditions of the west, you have less forage. Wolves drive game during the winter into areas that cannot sustain the herd. Hence wolves CAUSE weakness and sickness in greater numbers of the herd. How hard is that to understand?

I understand what happens to game well too, my post was entirely about livestock and I'm a long way from a 100 yrs old.

I know. I was referring to others' posts. I wasn't debating you, and for the most part, I agree with you. One thing you didn't mention though, in regards to ranchers. Some of the ones I know, work ranching and have a job off the ranch, to make ends meet. So their presence on the range 24/7 isn't possible. I live in the Riverton/Kinnear area.

This Alaskan is on board. Our Air National Guard needs some night runs..... especially in the summer- we can fly to dark....

Hell, we'll even put chutes on the crates....

That description seems to fit the author...just sayin'....always did suspect self proclaimed purveyors of fact who didn't live in the territory they espouse facts about.....

BearMC,
That's very true, but it may, as it did with our family, take everybody taking turns, you know a calf needs pulled when it needs pulled weather you gotta go to work in the morning or not, and if you aren't watching for that, you're not gonna see the coyotes out there that night either.

BTW, I just sold my little 20 cow herd that I ran North of Ft.Laramie last fall because of my real job too. It got to be too much, especially with the way gas was then. Fortunately for me bricklaying season usually wasn't calving season, but still . . .
I live in Torrington, but would camp out at the old ranch house or bring the cows in heavy to stubble closer to town when it was calving time. Seems like most calves that were born, if you just hang around and watch them, you can look around and more than likely spot some coyotes watching you watching the calving. If you can get them up and a few hours old their momma will stomp the coyotes for you.

Of course they go after the easiest meal. They don't like getting the chit kicked out of them better than anyone else. In sufficient numbers (some expendable in the course of things), and if hungry enough, or if they can place the prey at a severe disadvantage - like crusted snow that will support a wolf's weight, but not that of an elk, deer, moose, etc) they can take down the most prime elk or moose in NA. It's gonna cost someone, maybe, but the rest eat. They just prefer not to go that route if they can avoid it . If desperate enough, without any special advantage, they can still often pul it off. They ain't dumb. And they are the most prolific large predator anywhere in the world.

We who live with wolves pretty much like them- to a point. Past that point, we don't like them as much.

Jacquest,God Bless. You are a busy man. Heard that this was a hellacious calving season, with the spring storms and all.

There is/was a reason our grandads took the wolf to near extinction...........and if they could hear those that actually want the wolf to come back....they'd roll in their graves after kicking those people in the teeth.

Sorry, but Lewis & Clark's journals are filled with accounts of hunting and eating elk all across the Great Plains long before reaching the Western Mountains. The'd eat elk in preference to deer, and there were more elk than deer to. Elk were once found clear into the Eastern states. It was farming of the Great Plains that pushed them into the mountains and off the plains. They cohabited with wolves all across their range, along with grizzly bear and other apex predators. Wolves did limit coyotes to what is now the far SW US and NW Mexico by killing them whenever the opportunity came up. However, now that we hunt elk, and deer and grizzly, the system is out of balance. The fix is not to remove man from the picture, but to manage the population of wolves. Hunting is an income producing method to do that. No animal in modern times that is hunted for sport has ever gone extinct. The animal rights nazis and other environmental extremists don't want to help the wolf, or any other animal. If they truly wanted to help, they'd buy hunting licenses. They really want to end hunting and run the country in such a way that our society devolves back to the 14th century. I prefer not to participate in that lunacy.

I'm with you, Sam. I very seldom leave the house without at least one rifle. While out wandering around the countryside, I meet up with a rancher or two and ask about shooting coyotes on their property. The answer has always been a yes and they subtly toss wolves in also, referring to them as "them bigger coyotes."

So far, wolves are pretty skimpy around here. Kinda hard to see.

Not sure if this was mentioned but the rancher caught this on film then the OFWD guys had to come out and confirm that it was wolves no kidding. He had installed a camera on his pasture.

What I wonder is what is the rancher to do even if he gets the warning and then sees wolves in his sheep pasture. Call TRH?

I read an article in the Bend Oregon "Bulletin" the other day that showed the ODFW officials standing next to the wolf that they thought was a part of the slaughter.
I was shocked as hell to find out they hadn't killed it. They tranquilized it then fit it with a radio collar and let it go!

KC

Maybe if we had Wolves here in WV, Coyotes wouldnt be a problem

You would simply realize how little of a problem the yotes really were

Among the ranches where I lived about thirty-five years ago, a single unidentified canine critter kept killing ranch stock just about every night � some, like pigs and sheep, just by running 'em to death.

Never ate a bite of any of 'em.

Traps didn't help. Bounty hunters had no luck. Fish & Game couldn't positively identify the tracks.

Finally, a rancher caught it in the act and shot it dead � a fairly little dog with abnormally big feet.

A couple of decades later, in the same area, another rancher went to prison for killing a dog that he caught killing his chickens.

Times have changed everywhere.

Wolves do WHAT???!!!........Geeeez.....




Casey

That's why coyotes didn't really exist east of the Mississippi until the eastern wolf was exterminated....




Casey