Nice . . .

So, big buck contests are no big deal, but big wuff contests are bad. WTF?

http://www.adn.com/2012/11/20/26993...aws-criticism.html#storylink=rss#wgt=rss

B.C. wolf-kill contest draws call for Alaska Hwy. tourism boycott.

A northern British Columbia gun club and some local businesses are sponsoring a contest offering cash prizes to the hunters who kill the biggest wolves, and the idea has drawn emotional opposition from Canadian conservationists. The Vancouver Sun reports wolves can be hunted year-round in B.C., and the province is considering eliminating the bag limit, saying the wolf population is healthy.Hunters who kill the largest wolves stand to receive $250 to $1,000 and up, with a booby prize of $150 for the smallest wolf and draws for prizes such as a rifle and free taxidermy work.�It�s just kind of a social thing that�s gotten bigger every year,� said Rich Petersen, a hunter and realtor in Fort St. John who is co-sponsoring the event.�It�s not a contest to exterminate wolves, not an organized thing where we go out and shoot every wolf in the country. If you are driving down the road and see one and you happen to shoot it and you�re in this contest, you have a chance to win something.�Conservation scientist Chris Darimont of the University of Victoria told the Sun the contest gives all hunters a bad reputation.�This is not about putting food on the table or feeding families; this is about feeding the egos of small men with big guns,� he said. �There is this focus on size. I�ll leave that up to psychologists as to why, but it seems to dominate those interested in hunting for trophies.�Nature photographer John Marriott of Canmore, Alberta, is urging a tourism boycott of the Alaska Highway in response to the contest.

I've entered that contest for the last couple/three years. $50 entry fee. Well worth it up here, as wuff numbers are completely mind blowing the last few years.

Think I won a thermos last year.

(Interestingly enough, one of the founding companies of the wolf contest also does a coyote derby, but I think it's only for employees of that company, and it's only over a weekend.)

It encourages a bunch of local guys up here to actually shoot at wolves, as there seems to be a fairly high contigent of guys who'll bitch about moose/elk/deer numbers being down and in the same breath say they saw 2 or 6 or 15 wolves over the course of hunt and didn't shoot any...

I know alot of Municipal Districts & Counties in Alberta have a bounty on wolves....some up to $500 apiece.

To claim in some areas, you must own land within the district....good thing for me. Since my hunting season this year was only 6 days for moose camp and another 4 hour afternoon trip for elk or whitetails, I think I will be going a harder for wolves.....lots where I live.

If it was province wide I would be in.

The good news for those on the Alaska highway is that some are urging a tourism boycott in response to this contest. Since those who would support the boycott are exactly the sort of people most of the residents of northern B.C. would not like to see, it is really a win-win situation.
I see nothing wrong with the contest and doubt that it has a great impact on wolf populations. Hunting is hunting and as long as the population will support it, the hunt is OK.
It won't have nearly the benefit to big game populations that regulation of Indian hunting would but it won't hurt either. GD

No different than a buck pool. Good luck to all who joined!

-Z

I "know" Rich thru the internet and he has done FAR more for real wildlife management, than that pompous and pretentious Chris Darimont, ever has or will.

I wonder WHY it is that the "antis" like Darimont, ALWAYS make slurs of an obviously sexual nature in situations like this? My university "psych" course is long ago, I have read some Freud, Jung and other such pundits, but, I see no real connection between size in any human respect and this form of managing predators.

A cityboy "egspurt" like Darimont, should go into one of the pubs in Fort Nelly, on a late, wet Sat. ofternoon and tell a few locals that they lack ...size............... Makes me chuckle at the thought, having been in such places in my younger days.

Some blowhards on never-ending GRANT money to play in nature during nice weather need an attitude adjustment!

How is this one for size? :-). A contest is the last reason I need to thin wolves out.

Hey, Jim, how are ya, hope all is well, so ya can come here and keep me entertained, every so often!

That is a nice Wuff and looks worth skinning and tanning the hide for a wall hanging...or, maybe, you could donate it to "The Rainforest" whatever those azzholes call themselves, Darimont's gang of dipshidts.

What is the Ruger, a .22-250? I just got an older Ruger MKII laminate sporter with 4x12 Leupie up, a couple months ago, a .220 Swift and hope to whack some Coyotes and a Wuff or three in the New Year, after I do some loading for it.

Is that a Conquest, one of the best scopes at a "workin'man's price" that I have ever owned...and, I have six of them now and expect to buy a few more. What's the power range?

The Ruger is a 338WM, pushing 225gr NozlerAccubonds. I had the barrel shortened 2", fluted, and all the metal beadblasted, action polished, trigger @ 2 3/4 lb. mounted a conquest 4 1/2 x 14 x 44 and dropped it in a Hogue taken off a Ruger Alaskan.

From this, to this

Wolf populations are getting out of hand around here, I'm getting a little tired of them messing up my stalks and sets!! I just shoot everyone I see, and don't need a booby prize to encourage me to do so. Kill 1 wolf, save 20 moose every year!

Curious, here, what if anything ever became of this whole whoop-de-doo, has Darimont and his gaggle of old ladies of various anatomical apendages ( or lack thereof), "labrat" biologists and professional grant applicants managed to get it canceled or what had/is taking place?

The concept is a sound one and this is the most beneficial means of limiting apex predators to reasonable population numbers that I can think of, given the various and often conflicting demands on the habitat that must support all life.

Still in full swing. I talked a bit about the publicity with one of the organizers yesterday. Still business as usual, wolves are continuing to be brought in, and the front door and every counter top has copies of the rules....