Letter: Coyote, wolf hunts: Association supports killing contests
At least three wildlife killing contests are scheduled to occur in Sanders County, Dillon and Belt on Jan. 16-18. Contestants pay a small entrance fee, and then usually compete for certain categories as to who will kill the most animals, the most females or the heaviest or the largest animal, before winning prizes.
One of the three organizations supporting the “1st Annual Sanders County Great Montana Coyote and Wolf Hunt,” is the Montana Trappers Association.
With that, the MTA has reached a new low by aligning themselves with such carnivore-hating organizations as Idaho for Wildlife (who just organized a wolf/coyote derby in Salmon, Idaho), Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, and a Facebook advocacy page called Montana Wolf Hunting and Trapping, a wolf-killing guide started by Jason Maxwell, one of the vice presidents of the Montana Trappers Association.
In Montana, no regulations against these wildlife massacres exist. Thus, likely no official employees from Fish, Wildlife and Parks will be present to monitor these organized wildlife mass killings.
The Montana Legislature sees nothing wrong with organized mass killings of our state’s carnivores who are doing more for the ecological health and integrity of ecosystems than these human contestants could ever do. Montana’s wildlife management, allegedly grounded in science, allows this slaughter driven by negative emotions such as disdain, seeking revenge and hate. The silence by The Wildlife Society and legislators condemning these unethical, unscientific and ecologically reckless killing contests is deafening.
Anja Heister,
In Defense of Animals,
Missoula
Exposing the Big Game 
Unethical Wildlife Agencies and Governments and “Sporting” Organizations
Barbaric idiots amongst us, no matter what their titles or rationalizations: It is a violation of public trust and ethics tor agencies, state or federal, in this country or another, to be having killing contests on public land as was the case in ID recently and such as is being planned in Sanders County Trout Creek Montana for Jan. 2015. ID hunts have occurred and are are planned. The ID hunts like the proposed Sanders County event was a contest targeted at wolves and coyotes. It is also inappropriate, unethical and violation of the public trust mandate to be hunting wolves, killing predators (lions, wolves, bears, coyotes), and manipulating normal prey-predator relationships, established through millenniums of time to follow the unethical and mythological hunter myth of bolstering ungulate populations for hunters to kill, such as is happening in the USA, Canada and other countries. This amounts to game farming in the wilderness and is a violation of the trust put in state and federal wildlife agencies to protect the natural balance of wild places, which is basically to leave them alone and protect them from humans. Wildlife viewing is usually much more remunerative than wildlife killing. The American public pays for wilderness, wildlife, preserves and national parks much more than hunters and trappers.The public pays for 94% of wilderness and wildlife management, not hunters and trappers. Nationally, hunters only represent 6% of the population and fishermen 15%. It may be higher in Alaska, as it is in a couple of western states, but not that much higher. Wolf viewing alone in Yellowstone brings in $35 million to the states surrounding Yellowstone. It is my understanding that the Denali wolf packs have already been diminished by hunters outside the park, indicating that there should be a buffer zone around Denali as there should be around Yellowstone, Glacier and other national parks, game preserves, and sanctuaries. There should be no hunting on preserves and state or national parks or near them or killing contests on public land. We are losing wildlife to encroachment on a large scale. Hunting per se is a major form of encroachment; and is way out of bounds in the areas and conditions described above. People come to states that still have significant wilderness to see wilderness and the wildlife that should not be diminished by an unholy alliance between hunters, trappers, their fees and sports game targets and wildlife agencies. The role of wildlife agencies: wilderness and wildlife conservation and protection, not slaughter. Such hunts and the attitudes and rampant ignorance and hate of predators, especially the wolf and coyote are prime examples of why wolf management should not be in the hands of states like MT, ID and midwestern states.
Excellent. There is much that is rotten and corrupt about these contests. First of all, the killing spree as a fun event, as “entertainment” by people who seem to have a pathological hatred of wolves and other predators. Then it is taking place on public lands, about which the public seems to have no say, even when most polls indicate people do not approve of killing contests and the destruction of the lives in the forest. And, yes, the wildlife agencies have adopted a management style by death, serving the needs and demands of the hunters, ranchers, and gun organizations. They have even opened up wildlife “refuges” to hunting and trapping! What a mockery is that! Unfortunately, the real passions and determination are on the side of the killers, and they are the ones driving the outcome. Until the rest of the people in this country starting caring as much about preserving life as the wolf haters are about taking it, these despicable displays will continue.