Sportsmen need to weigh in to stop this bill allowing more of Idaho’s premier Big game to be put up for sale to the highest bidder.

Auction tags violate the North American Model of Wildlife conservation by allowing the very rich to take hunting opportunity and food away from the average Idahoan.

Auction tags De-value Our Hunting traditions and heritage.

Auction tags take away opportunity from our Idaho youth.

Auction tags are sold to the rich guy even though you have spent a life time trying to draw a special Big Horn Sheep, Goat or moose permit.

Fortunately our IDFG commission rejected this bill last year due to their strong conviction of supporting the North American model of Wildlife conservation and looking out for the average Idahoan.

Unfortunately persistent wealthy trophy hunters continue to push hard for the rich to shoot Idaho’s trophy big game.

Note the auction tag history of Utah from 1981-2012, for a graphical analysis of where we can be in a few years!

Arizona’s 2012 state legislature just killed a similar bill to Idaho’s proposed auction tags and note their commissioners response.

Auction tags haven’t’ been successful in Utah as their mule deer hunter harvest and hunter’s in the field have declined since 1981.

Guy Eastman provides a great comment on the hunting Washington wildlife forum echoing the feelings of many average Idaho Sportsman:

Please contact IDFG commissioner Chairman Tony McDermott at mcmule@msn.com and share your thoughts and concerns regarding this proposed bill.

I would encourage you to contact all the IDFG Commissioners and your State Legislators as well. Their addresses are in the following links.

Idaho Fish and Game commissioners: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/about/commission/?getPage=183

Idaho State legislators: http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/about/contactbyname.cfm

On what was called the “Full Wolf Moon” deceived wolf worshipers gathered to honor wolves that have died. How sick.

A guest blog by Barry Coe –

Having been born and raised in Idaho and as a lifelong sportsman of this state, I have had many issues with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) over the years. I have witnessed their actions on several issues that have directly lead to diminished fish and wildlife, and diminished sporting opportunities. In attempting to be involved and to protect our culture and interests, I have had one very consistent attitude and response from the agency that has become very proficient at taking whatever position they seem to think will best further their own agenda. That attitude is pure and raw contempt. And no other issue has exposed and proven this contempt more than the Canadian wolf introduction has.

IDFG has attempted to take the ‘we hold no blame’ position concerning wolves in this state. I feel it has been well proven that they, in fact, hold a large percentage of blame. A prior director actually wrote support letters to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and drafted an illegal permit that allowed the Canadian wolves to be dumped into this state in a blaring contempt for Idaho state code. It was so contemptuous that the Idaho state legislature actually reacted to the action, although they failed to implement accountability. Yet those were the days before the Internet and the ability to transfer information quickly and thoroughly throughout the population. Those were the days of running under the radar and outright collusion between state and federal agencies. There is little doubt in my mind, and I suspect anyone with more than a cursory knowledge of this issue would agree, that outright collusion between IDFG and the USFWS did, and continue, to take place. Wolves, grizzly bears, soon to be wolverines and all other claimed endangered species are a vast source of federal dollars and we all know, IDFG loves nothing like they love the federal dollar.

In a recent article, Jim (salt shaker) Hayden (IDFG Panhandle Regional Wildlife Manager) made yet another revealing comment. In this interview “Salt Shaker” Hayden seemed surprised that about 50% of the wolves harvested in this current wolf season have come from areas that IDFG didn’t even know contained wolves. Now, on the surface this comment may seem unimportant, yet when one considers the past 16 years, it’s importance is almost undefinable.

I have to ask this question of Mr. Hayden. Just exactly how can you manage a declining elk population when you obviously have no concept of the level of predation impacting those elk?

For years IDFG took the politically correct avenue of clinging onto the obviously and intentionally low official numbers of wolves. As hunters and outdoorsmen screamed from the rafters that those numbers were so far off it was incredible, IDFG turned a blind eye and a deaf ear. After all, the federal bucks were rolling in and the hunters were still buying licenses and tags. All was well and good at IDFG. Biologists were being hired (most directly out of the wolf introduction program) and the rumblings were contained to a small population of people who never knew how to get the truth out, especially in the face of IDFG and green eco-groups. The old tactic of ignoring and marginalizing was rolling along just fine.

It was only in the last year or two that IDFG was forced to admit that, ‘well, golly, okay, so our wolf population is around 1000 wolves’. Again the sportsmen and sportswomen of Idaho claimed that number was also an intentional down playing of the actual number of wolves in Idaho. As we witnessed the great elk herds disappear from first hand observation, IDFG still clung to the deceit that all was fine. They twisted a few numbers here, changed a few “objectives” there, rewrote a few algorithms, adjusted some seasons and continued to play both sides of the fence. After all, this has always been the status quo for this department. The level of contempt IDFG obviously has for anyone outside of the department or the federal system is amazingly apparent.

Wolf math just is not that hard. They breed like rabbits, yet have no predators. The lie just became too hard to cover up anymore and so, the science changed – I use science here with my tongue stuffed soundly into my cheek. For a decade we had manipulated science stuffed down our throats that exonerated their revenue generating wolves from any cause of any problem we were experiencing anywhere in the state they inhabited. When it became obvious that the truth was coming out, and that delisting was imminent, in spite of the department’s best efforts to keep them listed, and even drafting and submitting an illegal wolf management plan, they decided to flip over. In typical IDFG fashion, the wolves were now the cause of it all! Boy, aren’t we happy that they finally have seen the light! After all we have been telling them this for 10 years.

But, they now face a wiser and more connected sportspeople. We’re not buying it and they know it. We are now very informed and politically connected; we have communication outlets and media connections. But again, in true IDFG fashion, they have decided to try another avenue to generate their revenue. They want nothing worse than to have the hunters of this state out of the equation. We no longer forget past actions or play in the manner they want us to, paying more for less. They now turn to the tactic of pandering and collusion.

In what seems on the surface to be a politically correct action of seeking information concerning wildlife management in the state of Idaho, they have committed a few obvious mistakes that exposed their true intention. Their highly publicized ‘Summit’ was rolled out as that meeting. Conducted DURING hunting season, and with invitations extended to several anti-hunting, eco-green groups, and a group of actual past and present IDFG employees, IDFG now wants input on wildlife management. And, they want that input from everyone that doesn’t pay for it or expect the department to do anything other than perpetuate predators and sustain their job at all costs.

Rumor has it that this little summit has caused a rift in the ranks. It seems to have been generated right from the new director Virgil Moore; or at least that is where all the fingers are pointing. It seems that this long-time employee of IDFG, and new director, is attempting to return to the status quo of ignore and move forward. Instead of moving in the direction of attempting to get out from under the wolf issue, he now seems to want to change gears and get back in bed with the green, wildlands agenda, and he wants their money. Public input on management? How quaint! If only it didn’t reek of corruption, contempt and collusion. If, in fact, this is the brain child of Mr. Moore, he just flatly needs to go; it is far past time to get a director that is not a long time member of the IDFG’s good old boys club. We have flatly had enough! I suspect if our legislature is not willing to overhaul this department, the time has come to turn to the citizen and the ballot box. We have one very powerful tool at our disposal; initiatives, which are binding if passed and can be used to circumvent a lack of appropriate action by those in government. They do have the ability to change this department in ways that will both form the department in a manner the citizens of Idaho want and to also bring accountability to this long-time rogue department. The good old boys club must be dismantled.

Actual wolf numbers? Let’s return to Jim “Salt Shaker” Hayden for a few moments. I have heard sportsmen and women, who spend an immense amount of time in the outdoors, claim the wolf numbers in Idaho are at least double what IDFG claims. It now seems “Salt Shaker” Hayden has validated those claims. And in that claim, his statement speaks volumes. It is very sad that a department that is charged with the management of Idaho’s wildlife have failed so miserably, and stayed the course of ignoring sportspeople to the extent they have. There are but a few explanations for this miserable failure: Corruption, Collusion or outright incompetence. I will leave it to you to decide which it is or how much longer you are going to stand for it.

Barry Coe
Save Western Wildlife

December 30, 2011 For immediate release

Save Western Wildlife rejects proposed Idaho Fish and Game Wildlife Summit Save Western Wildlife recently learned of Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDF&G) plans
to hold a Wildlife Summit. We believe the department is attempting to change the direction and management of Idaho’s big game by removing hunters from the public process. The department has failed to manage wildlife as directed in Idaho Code: 36-103 and has violated the law by not first going to the Legislature as required. IDF&G has not followed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidelines, and the required flexibility studies have not been conducted. IDF&G has entered into collaboration with environmental organizations with the intent to bypass law and rebuild the IDF&G’s mission, without first going to the Legislators. IDF&G must go through the Legislative branch to make any changes to the mission statement, or the Legislature must pass law that gives IDF&G the authority to make the direction changes
they desire.

SWW was informed that IDF&G managers are secretly negotiating with non-hunting organizations to allow these non-stakeholders to change the mission of Idaho’s big game management strategy. It is hunters who have financed Idaho’s greatest wildlife success story, and Idaho’s hunters are the stakeholders of this institution. Idaho’s hunting residents and nonresidents have invested over 80 years of equity to build both sustainable hunting populations of wildlife and viewable wildlife for non-hunters. SWW charges the department with attempting to exclude Idaho’s wildlife investors, with contemptuous disregard for their on-going investment.

Clearly, IDF&G is in violation of Idaho law and NEPA and is using the collaboration process to bypass the duly elected representatives of the people of Idaho. We demand that this process stop immediately as it demonstrates contempt for both the people of Idaho, and their elected representatives.

MISSOULA, Mont.–In the Idaho panhandle, on the south face of the Cabinet Mountains overlooking Lake Pend Oreille, 921 acres of elk and moose wintering range have been permanently secured for wildlife habitat and public access in a land-exchange deal finalized Dec. 22.

The swap between Stimson Lumber Co. and the Idaho Panhandle National Forests was made possible in part by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Formerly owned by Stimson Lumber, the 921 acres are now part of the adjoining Idaho Panhandle National Forests. In exchange, Stimson received a similar amount of U.S. Forest Service acreage in the form of small isolated tracts that are not connected to the main body of the national forest.

All of the lands involved are in Bonner County, Idaho.

RMEF staff helped broker the deal and RMEF volunteers in Idaho raised money to help cover project costs.

“This project is good for elk, moose, deer and other wildlife because it protects habitat in a scenic area that’s disappearing beneath summer-home developments. Plus, larger contiguous public lands are more easily managed for elk than small, isolated tracts,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “We would like to thank the Bonner County Sportsmen’s Association and Litehouse Foods for their financial assistance with this project. We would especially like to thank Stimson Lumber for their patience through a long process.”

The project, originally dubbed the Rising Cougar Land Exchange, then renamed as the Hope-Sagle Land Exchange, took 10 years to complete.

The newly acquired public lands provide an ideal location for developing a new access point into the existing Idaho Panhandle National Forests trail system.

“This exchange provides excellent benefits to wildlife and recreation in north Idaho. We are thankful for the support of the partners to this transaction, especially RMEF and Bonner County Sportsmen, and the local communities who helped make this happen,” said Idaho Panhandle National Forests Supervisor Mary Farnsworth.

“This exchange benefits wildlife, the land and generations of people in northern Idaho. Our company has been patient over the past 10 years to complete this exchange. Doing the ‘right thing’ just took a while to complete,” said Stimson Vice President Ray Jones.

When every level of the United States education system is completely consumed by ill-educated, brainwashed teachers and administrators, little can we ever hope will come out of the classrooms in this country except more ill-educated and brainwashed little and big serfs to carry on the bidding. There is little hope in finding truth; only the perpetuation of myths and the complete destruction of the human mind to think on its own. What hope is there when all believe what they are told without question?

While some of us fight daily to combat the proselytization within small groups of soldier ants, the mass conversion exists at all levels of society. The individual battle fronts are important and serve their purposes but the root of despair is found at the very earliest of indoctrination institutions. From that point forward, it never ends. The successful annihilation of the brain is the goal; the first object is to deny independent thinking and questioning.

For the disbelieving, what can be more troubling than the exhibition of those efforts. A fifth grader writes in an editorial about what she has learned about wolves. This student’s class began its discussion about wolves by first reading “White Fang” by Jack London. The teacher thought it would be good for the students to see wolves so the “Wolf People”, as they are referred to and in capital letters, brought captive wolves to the class. (Note: If you fail to see why I emboldened “White Fang” and “Wolf People”, chances are you are a product straight off the assembly line of brain dismantling.)

In addition to the emboldened items above, the following are key phrases successfully used by the execrable propaganda machine and expressed by the student in her editorial.

1. We didn’t get facts from the Wolf People until after our debate.
2. Our teacher did not show us any pictures or videos of how wolves kill for sport and don’t eat the meat and go on to the next kill because that is not true.
3. Wolves kill when they are hungry.
4. They eat the sick and elderly deer and elk.
5. There are only about 1,000 wolves in Idaho.
6. Those numbers will go down fast if we keep killing them.
7. Humans are more mean and brutal then wolves
8. people are more brutal than animals.
9. When you use good research that isn’t from movies, then you see that wolves only kill to live
10. If humankind never started shooting deer, then we would barely notice the wolves
11. a wolf has never killed a human since they started keeping records in the 1800s.

The student is innocent. The crime here comes from those willingly cramming lies into the minds of our children. There was not one item this student listed in her editorial about wolves that was the truth. Not one thing. It’s far beyond disgusting.

Tom Remington

Since the start of the wolf hunting seasons in Idaho and Montana, as one might expect, I have received several photos of killed wolves. I seldom post the photos because I have no way to easily verify the authenticity of the information that accompanies the photo, so I just leave it alone.

Even dating back to the first wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana (2009), it seemed the most popular pose for photo taking of one’s trophy wolf, was very similar to that of the photo I’ve provided below.

This is a bit troublesome for the hunters and trappers, I was disappointed to think that I and others haven’t done a good enough job educating the sportsmen on a good and proper way of handling these critters.

Several years ago now, it was discovered through testing, that about 2/3rds of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies were carrying echinococcus granulosus (E.G.) eggs. These eggs get deposited all over the landscape through the feces droppings of infected wolves. The eggs remain viable for long periods of time under some very harsh conditions and can be deadly to humans if ingested.

In addition to finding E.G. eggs in wolf and coyote scat, these eggs can readily be found clinging to the fur of wolves, especially near the anal area of the animal. Or, as all of us are aware, canines do a lot of licking in places most humans wouldn’t care to lick, and as such these eggs could be found around the mouth and head area of the wolves.

When hunters and trappers choose to hold and pose with a dead wolf in the fashion depicted below, they run the risk of coming in contact with these viable eggs.

I sent a copy of the email I received that had the below photograph in it to a few scientists and authorities on wolves and canine diseases. Will Graves, author of “Wolves in Russia: Anxiety Through the Ages“, responded with: “At a minimum, hunters should handle bagged wolves carefully to reduce risk of picking up E.G.”

Also this morning, Dr. Valerius Geist, professor emeritus of the University of Calgary and well-known authority on animal behavior and has also studied about canine diseases, wrote: “over 50 years ago i was instructed as a budding wildlife biologist at the University of British Columbia to be careful bout wolves, as there was a possibility of contracting hydatid disease from Echinococcus granulosus eggs in the fur of the wolves. It’s the same warning issued officially to trappers in British Columbia. At the very least, wash hands as quickly as possible after handling a wolf and never eat without washing hands first.”

If hunters and trappers find it absolutely necessary to take up this kind of pose, my advice is to then use every precaution to reduce the risk of picking up any eggs on their own clothing and/skin. It poses considerable risk if those eggs are carried on the hunter or trapper back home with them running the possibility that a family member or pet could pick them up.

Please use extreme caution when handling these animals.

On November 13, 2011, an article appeared in the Lewiston Tribune in Idaho (subscription) in which members of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said they seemed befuddled as to why license sales had dropped. This, of course, befuddled many people because they believe they have a pretty good idea on why people, especially from out of state, are not interested in spending $900 for a hunting license to hunt elk. That idea is that there are not enough deer and elk left in Idaho to make it worth the expense and the bother.

But of course there are those who insist there are plenty of deer and elk left around and that predators, such as gray wolves, grizzlies, black bears and coyotes are not part of the problem. Actually, to them there is no problem.

In response to that article in the Lewiston Tribune, Terry Gregory of Moscow, Idaho, wrote a response. From the letter, it appears Mr. Gregory owns a wild game processing plant. Shouldn’t he know if hunter harvest is declining?

Here’s his letter:

I would state a few comparisons in response to Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s woes as printed Nov. 13 in the Lewiston Tribune.

My wild game processing plant has a large five-rail cooler for elk and a large five-rail cooler for deer.

Hunting season 2008 started with a loaded elk cooler (40-60 elk) and 60-70 deer out back. Long hours of cutting did not empty the refilling rails for six weeks.

Hunting season 2009 yielded only 60 percent compared to 2008 and in 2010 the numbers dropped another 20 percent.

Hunting season 2011 did not fill two rails of elk and only two rails of deer. From 2008 through 2011, wild game carcass numbers have dropped more than 60 percent.

My son has guided hunters on the South Fork, Middle Fork and Main Salmon River. In the last 15 years, he has witnessed the disappearance of elk in Chamberlain Basin and very depleted elk numbers on all main forks of the Salmon River hunting areas.

Hunters coming into the plant from Elk River and the Clearwater Drainage are not finding elk and most hear wolves howling at night.

It would seem the reason license sales are down is because there is no game left to hunt. I feel that Fish and Game and government have nobody to blame but themselves.

I hope the Lewiston Tribune’s Nov. 28 front-page doesn’t prove to be Washington’s trophy elk demise before some young hunters get to harvest one.

Terry Gregory
Moscow

This showed up in my email box this morning. Says it was taken near Idaho and Montana border but I have no way of knowing that. Whether it was or it wasn’t, that’s a BIG wolf, or so it appears to be in this photo.