Tag Archives: Wyoming

First the Good News: Wildlife Services’ Plane Crashes

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…The bad news? The aerial coyote-killers on board survived.

[True to form, the anthropocentric media makes no mention that while “conducting aerial operations” the Wildlife “Services” agents were shooting coyotes from their plane.]

http://www.sheridancountyjournalstar.net/news/item/2259-crew-members-okay-after-plane-crash

Two crew members with the USDA-Wildlife Services escaped with only bumps and bruises Wednesday, February 12, when their plane, a government owned “Super Cub” crashed south of Gordon.

The pair were returning from western Box Butte County where they had been conducting aerial operations. Approximately nine miles out the plane’s engine started acting up and losing power. They coaxed the plane along until at five miles out the engine quit.

The pilot, Gregg Alan, from Ray, Colorado, was able to land the plane on the highway at which time it was hit with a gust of wind which caused the plane to skid off the road, hitting a power pole and two fence posts before coming to a stop.

Area rancher Paul Simmons saw the accident and gave the two a ride to town. Crew member Randy Benben, of Gordon, was treated at Gordon Memorial for back and hip pain. The plane sustained major damage and the accident is still being investigated by the Aviation Training and Operation Center (ATOC) of Cedar City Utah and the FAA.

Jim Robertson-wolf-copyright

Gray Wolf Shot and Killed within Grand Teton National Park

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[If not safe there, where?]

MOOSE, WY — A gray wolf was shot and killed at a private inholding within Grand Teton National Park on Monday, January 20, 2014. The person who fired the lethal shot notified Wyoming Game and Fish Department wardens and they reported the situation to park rangers at approximately 10:30 a.m.

Grand Teton National Park rangers and a park biologist responded to the area to investigate the incident. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is conducting a concurrent investigation.

The wolf was a two-year-old male and was not radio-collared; its pack affiliation is unknown. At the time of the shooting, this wolf was in the company of three to four pack mates.

The incident is under investigation by the National Park Service in consultation with United States Attorney’s Office, District of Wyoming, and no further information will be released until the investigation is concluded.

copyrighted Hayden wolf in lodgepoles

No Hunting! Because Fuck You That’s Why!

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nohuntsign

This blog site is a haven for wildlife and animal advocates, a wildlife refuge of sorts, that’s posted “No Hunting,” as any true sanctuary should be. Just as a refuge is patrolled to keep hunters and poachers from harassing the wildlife, this blog site is monitored to keep hunters from disturbing other people’s quiet enjoyment of the natural world.

It is not a message board or a chat room for those wanting to argue the supposed merits of animal exploitation or to defend the act of hunting or trapping in any way, shape or form. There are plenty of other sites available for that sort of thing.

Hunters and trappers: For your sake, I urge you not to bother wasting your time posting your opinions in the comments section. This blog is moderated, and pro-hunting statements will not be tolerated or approved. Consider this fair warning—if you’re a hunter, sorry but your comments are going straight to the trash can. This is not a public forum for animal exploiters to discuss the pros and cons of hunting.

We’ve heard all the rationalizations for killing wildlife so many times before; there’s no point in wasting everyone’s time with more of that old, tired hunter PR drivel. Any attempt to justify the murder of our fellow animals will hereby be jettisoned into cyberspace…

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

 

That statement appears on the “About” page of this blog for all to see. Yet every so often I still get comments from hunters desperately wanting to rationalize their murderous deeds. I received two over the past two days, including one from a Danish hunter who stated, “I take pride in my education and my gear, in which I have invested a lot of money, and I enjoy the thrill of the hunt. But that does not make me a serial killer! I am a friendly young man, with so many other hobbies…”

Sorry to say, but a lot of serial killers would come across as “friendly young” men. Though he may not technically be a serial killer by standard definition, anyone who lumps the “thrill” of the hunt in with his other “hobbies” certainly shares some of the characteristics, like rationalization, justification, depersonalization, compartmentalization, as well as a sense of entitlement, lack of remorse, guilt or empathy, with the average serial killer.

The other pro-hunting comment came from none other than Laramie’s city councilman Erik Molvar, the Wild Earth Guardians’ new in-house hunter-on-staff, described on their website as “an avid fan of the outdoors, and enjoys hiking, flyfishing, skiing, antelope hunting, and renovating historic homes.” He doesn’t sound like someone who needs to feed his family on pronghorn flesh any more than any other suburban Wyomingite (who number in the 100s of thousands). Erik wrote at great length in defense of himself and about the relative morality of killing and eating a pronghorn vs. a loaf of bread. Yet he didn’t tell us anything we haven’t heard before time and again from other hunters. Once again, this is an anti-hunting blog site, with a longstanding policy of not approving comments from hunters and I see no reason to start now. We’ve heard them all before—ad nauseam.

Mr. Molvar, as your comment is directed to Marc, the author of the article “Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing,” please send it to him at his website: http://foranimals.org/ (If you no longer have the text, I can retrieve it for you from my trash can.)

I appreciate your concern for wolves and Wild Earth Guardian’s hard work to stop wolf hunting. I love wolves the same as any advocate. But I also care about pronghorn, elk and prairie dogs just as much. If we wait until wolf hunting is ended before acknowledging the rights of any other species, hunting will only become more embedded, like a festering thorn in need of surgical removal.

Wyoming Game and Fish investigate killing of cow moose with calf by its side

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/26/wyoming-game-and-fish-investigate-killing-cow-moose-with-calf-by-its-side/

Published November 26, 2013/
Associated Press

LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is looking for information about a cow moose that was poached on state land north of Buford.

Laramie Game Warden Kelly Todd says the cow moose was shot sometime around the weekend of Nov. 9-10.

The cow was shot through the back legs and eventually died in South Crow Creek. A bull moose calf was spotted hanging around the cow’s body.

It is illegal to shoot a cow moose with a calf at its side that hunting area.

Todd says a hunter may have mistaken the moose for an elk. He says hunters need to be aware of what they’re shooting at. [Always good advice!]

The game department is asking anyone with information about the crime to come forward.

Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2013. All Rights Reserved

Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2013. All Rights Reserved

“Sportsmen” Against Wolves: “Wyoming is fed up”

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(Or did they mean to say, “overfed”?) Who do these people remind you of? (Hint: 3 letters, starting with K and ending with K.) Look at them hiding behind their Halloween masks. Sorry kids, we’re all out of candy; time to grow up. Note to wolf lovers: before you put a bead on the next childish bully wearing a white sheet over his face, you might want to wait until after the children’s holiday promoting that kind of thing is over. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=564330240283396

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A-Hole Hunter Parks With Wolf on Roof in J-Hole

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[One of the first wolves I ever saw in the lower 48 was in the Grant Tetons, near Jackson Hole, long before wolf hunting was allowed. Now, any ya-hoo a-hole who wants to can kill as many wolves as they want, any time they want—across 85% of Wyoming.

Note: Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks take up nearly 15% of the cowboy state.]

By Mike Koshmrl, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Date: October 18, 2013

Bill Addeo swears he didn’t park an SUV with a dead wolf strapped to the roof on the Town Square just for the attention.

Addeo  sat on a bench next to his Ford Excursion across the street from the  Cowboy bar Thursday afternoon, eager to answer questions posed by folks  passing by.

“It’s a neck shot,” Addeo said. “The bottom of the  neck is blown apart and there’s blood everywhere, so I didn’t want to  put him in the back.”

The Hoback Junction resident killed the wolf, a black 85-pound female, that morning while elk hunting near Bondurant.

Addeo  said he toted the still-warm canine to Jackson to register it at the  Wyoming Game and Fish office on North Cache Street. He parked it on the  Town Square, he said, while his wife was shopping.

At the time Addeo shot the wolf, she and four packmates were sitting around “satiated” after having eaten an antelope, he said.

“We saw them from about one mile away,” Addeo said. “Then we crawled to 375 yards.”

His  guide, Sammy L. Coutts, had forgotten shooting sticks to rest a rifle  on for a shot, so the duo needed to improvise, Addeo said.

“He kneeled down and I put it right on his shoulder,” Addeo said. “It blew the hat right off his head.”

Coutts  called the Jackson Hole News&Guide on Thursday afternoon to alert  the newspaper to his client’s position on the Square.

The day before, Coutts had a shot at the wolves, Addeo said, but the hunting guide’s rifle didn’t prove steady enough.

“Yesterday, Sam saw the big one at about 250 yards,” Addeo said. “He gets on the hood of his truck and misses twice.”

Coutts stewed all night.

Back on the Square, almost everybody passing by stopped for a look. Most snapped photos.

Despite the interest, nobody gave Addeo flak for putting his wolf on display.

“There hasn’t been one person that’s said anything negative,” he said. “Everybody’s happy.”

Because  Addeo was hunting in Wyoming’s wolf predator zone, where there are  virtually no rules, a license was not necessary. The free-fire zone  encompasses about 85 percent of the state. The southern edge of the zone  starts in Wilson, just south of Highway 22, for about half the year.

Addeo could have shot all five wolves if he had the opportunity. The other four packmates, however, scampered off.

“After the shot went off,” Addeo said, “we ran the draw and never saw them again.”

Wolf_kill_on_vehicle_1

Enthusiasts Encourage More Women To Give Hunting A Shot

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http://www.npr.org/2013/10/18/236366868/enthusiasts-encourage-more-women-to-give-hunting-a-shot

by   October 18, 2013 fromWPRN                

Tara Heaton (left) and Crystal Mayfield with guide Fred Williams at a women's antelope hunt in Wyoming. Before the event, both women had hunted almost exclusively with male relatives, not other women.

Tara Heaton (left) and Crystal Mayfield with guide Fred Williams at a women’s antelope hunt in Wyoming. Before the event, both women had hunted almost exclusively with male relatives, not other women.         Irina Zhorov/Wyoming Public Media

 
  

The departure time for Wyoming’s inaugural Women’s Antelope Hunt was set for 5:30 a.m. — but that was before a snowstorm hit. By 6 a.m., the electricity is still out, wind and snow are howling and antsy women in camouflage are eating eggs by candlelight.

Marilyn Kite, Wyoming’s first female state Supreme Court justice and one of the people who dreamed up the hunt, is among them.

“We’ve found it to be just great recreation, lots of fun, and the camaraderie of it is why you do it, really,” Kite says. “But we also really like the meat.”

Women still make up only a small percentage of all hunters, but that number has increased significantly in recent years. Now, organizations like the Wyoming Women’s Foundation want to encourage more growth through mentorship.

The group says hunting is an important way to teach self-sufficiency and economic independence — and taking meat home is a part of that, Kite says. “There’s a lot of young women who are single mothers, who are trying to provide for their families,” she says. “And [hunting is] certainly one way to do it.”           

 Just to show how outnumbered women currently are in hunting, most of the guides on this women’s hunt are men. One of them, Fred Williams, says women who try hunting usually do really well with the sport.

“I think women tend to be actually better hunters because they tend to be a bit more patient, and oftentimes are a much better shot, because they tend to be a bit more focused,” Williams says.

By 10 a.m., conditions outside have improved and the hunt is on. Williams and his team of two set off for a private ranch to look for antelopes.

Tara Heaton, a Navy veteran, already has some experience hunting, but she says this is different. It gives her an opportunity to meet “different women from around Wyoming, and more hunters, because a lot of my friends growing up weren’t hunters,” she says.

Heaton is partnered with Crystal Mayfield, a single mother. Before today, both women hunted almost exclusively with their fathers and brothers.

As the three drive through the snow, they spot some antelopes in the distance. They park and start stalking them on foot.

Williams has Mayfield load a bullet in the chamber and they proceed quietly through a snow-covered field strewn with cottonwoods and cows. When they reach a rise overlooking the grazing antelopes, Williams preps Mayfield for her shot. She takes aim, shoots — and misses.

In fact, both women miss their shots today. The 35 mph winds don’t help. But on the drive back to the ranch, Mayfield says she’s not upset. Even missing is easier in the company of women, she says.

“When I missed that shot, I didn’t feel like a loser when I went and told [Heaton] that, ‘Oh, I missed it,’ ” she says. “I didn’t feel like she was going to be like, ‘Oh, you’re a huge loser.’ … My brother easily would have been like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe you missed that. You’re stupid.’ “

As is typical in Wyoming, the next day is sunny, wind-free and beautiful. Both Heaton and Mayfield get their antelopes, and all but two of the 34 participating women come away with a kill.

One first-time hunter says she can’t wait to teach her son how to hunt