# Are Wolves Big Game?



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

So we were talking about this question - Are Wolves Big Game Animals?
Idaho classifies them as a big game animal, and their management plan approaches them similar to Cougars and Bears. You have to buy a tag, just like the others.
Montana classifies them as a big game animal, same as Idaho. 
Wyoming classifies them as a predator, and they are managed similar to coyotes or foxes. 

Utah's wolf management plan calls for management similar to that for mountain lions or bears. 

So presents the question, do you consider the wolf, a big game animal?


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

In Utah, don't bears fall somewhere under small game? I agree with managing wolves, and if their numbers stayed small, I am sure I could live with that, but I don't think they should be allowed to reach the same numbers as those of bears or cougars. If the objective for Yellowstone was 300 animals, I don't see how Utah would be able to support those numbers, let alone more. I think if the DWR is going to do a tag system in Utah, there should be no hunting season, and each person who draws a tag should be allowed to harvest 2 animals each year. That would keep enough pressure on the wolves year round to keep their numbers low, and within the numbers our ecosystem can support.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

They are not big game, Wyoming has the best system of management of the those you mentioned.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Look like big yotes to me.


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## jahan (Sep 7, 2007)

I think they are more of an upland game. :? 8) I think they should be managed more as a big game animal. That is just me.


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## Petersen (Sep 7, 2007)

I think Gary asked this question because the moderators and I were talking about whether or not we should be moving all the wolf threads from the Big Game forum to the Other Animals forum. 

I was sort of on the fence because, even though I don't think of wolves as being big game animals, the main objection most forum member seem to have with them is that they kill big game, and that sort of makes the subject fit within the Big Game forum. Gary, on the other hand was arguing that wolves themselves might be considered to be big game animals.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

It doesn't make any diffference to me which forum that threads dealing them are in, I have noticed they were showing up in both.

I want them classified as a predator, because I want them managed like one, If we can't get something better thatn Wyoming's management plan, then that one is a good start.


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

I want them classified as vermin. But, since that won't likely happen they will be considered predators like bears and mountain lions, NOT big game. The topics related to wolves SHOULD stay in the big game section, IMHO, because the impacts on big game from wolves is BIG!


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

I think that it would depend on the individual wolf. If they are over 100 pounds, then they should be "big game". If they are 50 -100 pounds, then "medium game". Under 50 pounds, "small game".


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## Surfer Coyote (Jan 14, 2008)

This is how it was explained to me in hunter's safety so many moons ago. In Utah, if its got a hoof then it's big game. No hoof, "small" game. That's why bears aren't classified as big game in Utah even though they would certainly outweigh some big game animals. I'd say go by that rule of thumb for classifying wolves just to make it less confusing. It makes better sense to me to have wolves, bears, cougars, and hoofed beasts as big game but I doubt the state wants to go through the trouble to sound more logical. :wink:

Classifying bears, wolves, and cougars as predators makes even better sense.


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

I want them classified as zebras.


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## scott_rn (Sep 11, 2007)

With how much attention they have received there could be a dedicated forum just to the wolf.


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## James (Oct 7, 2007)

Wolves = vermin!

There was good reason they were hunted to extinction in the states years ago and those reasons are still valid. 

Wolf management = Open season year round! No tag required! No bag limit!


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

James, Very nice and simple!


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## HGD (Mar 5, 2008)

They should be handled like Bobcats. with a season and tags and a limit. Furbearer is the way to go. They have a pretty hide.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

The reason I posed the question is partly because the mods were talking about it. But as we discussed things there, it became evident that the states that have wolves, and have enough wolves that they have been delisted, there is a difference in how they are each approaching them. In Idaho and Montana, they are considered big game. Those states also classify bears and cougars as big game though. In Wyoming, wolves are set on par with predators such as coyotes, bobcats and foxes. So there is a distinct difference.

One approach - that of looking at them as big game, is a completely different philosophy of management. If a wolf is a big game animal, then it might be considered to border on a desireable target, or at least, something that a hunter might consider a challenge to *hunt*.

The other approach - that of looking at wolves as vermin - is a different philosophy. If they are vermin, then they have absolutely no value, and should be eliminated completely. They are not a worthy prey to be hunted, but an annoyance that should be *shot. *

In all seriousness though - sit back and think about it for a minute. Would you consider a wolf "hunt" a suitable challenge? Would you prefer a wolf "hunt" or a wolf "shoot." There is a difference.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

I vote vermin,SHOOT!, but I already have two from Alaska. 
Thought thay were kind of cool years back, now I don"t care much for them considering what is happening in the lower 48. I had the opportunity to help a guy who had 35 year"s exsperiance as an Alaskan biologist in the bookcliffs last year on a hunt. His take on introducing wolfes down here was quote "The worst mistake he had ever witnessed in game managment anywhere".


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