Hunters' Perspectives on the First Hound Hunt for Wolves

Theodore Roosevelt and General Custer did it. Now, over 100 years later, a handful of Wisconsin hunters can also claim they’ve successfully hunted wolves with dogs.

The controversial hunt — that’s still being challenged in the state’s court system — began on December 2.  Prior to that date, the wolf season was open, but not with the use of hounds.  The hunt ended on December 23 when Zone 3’s (northwest Wisconsin) quota of 71 wolves, of the state’s 251 total, was met.  Wisconsin has an over winter population estimate of 809 to 834 wolves and is the only state to allow the use of dogs when wolf hunting.

The Controversy

But some interest groups, anti-hunters, and even some active hunters, compare it to dog fighting. This is an uninformed opinion. Unlike in the recent Wisconsin hunt, breeds like the wolfhounds used in Roosevelt’s day often killed the wolves themselves.

But two of the hunters in the photo above, Jay and Jake, had a successful and safe hunt with their hounds this winter. These hunters used the same trailing hounds they hunt bears with. “Our biggest concern over having a bad encounter with a wolf isn’t during the December hunting season, it’s during the bear season, especially if we get near a rendezvous site,” said Jay. Rendezvous sites are locations where wolf pups are left for long periods of time while the adults are hunting. These sites are used from mid June until early fall until the pups are strong enough to keep up with the pack. 

“We’re not going to release our dogs on tracks of multiple wolves, we look for one animal. Single wolves aren’t as bold as packs of wolves will be. When we released our dogs, which are basically athletes doing what they’ve been bred to do, we expected them to bay up the wolf just like they do with the bear that doesn’t tree,” Jay continued. Baying up is a term used by hunters when an animal holds its ground as the dogs’ circle it. 

“We used Walker hounds. These aren’t fighting dogs, they’re family raised pets. The smaller dogs in the 40-50 pound range were the ones that caught and bayed up the wolves,” added Jake.  No more than 6 dogs can be used at one time when chasing a bear or a wolf, although these hunters used only 2 or 3.

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 Published: January 29, 2014

Story by: Dave Zeug

On: outdoorlife.com

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EMA outpost for illegal quarrying

Environment Management Authority (EMA) chairman Dr Allan Bachan says it will open a post very soon in Valencia to address illegal quarrying. Bachan, addressing a joint select committee in Parliament on Friday, however, admitted he was still waiting for police to be assigned to assist the authority there. 

He told the JSC, which was chaired by Senator Elton Prescott, that the EMA had received approval for the re-assignment of officers to the post, but was still waiting for acting Commissioner Stephen Williams to assign them. The issue of quarrying was also raised at the EMA’s last appearance before the JSC in July. At that session Bachan said the EMA needed 100 more police officers, since most of the work it did was very sensitive and in some instances had led to death threats. 

At Friday’s hearing, Bachan, together with EMA director Phillip Vilain, technical director Hayden Romano and environmental manager David Persad, re-appeared before the JSC to address questions  about its policies and procedures.

He stressed that the issue of illegal quarrying and the protection of natural resources is a major concern for the authority. He said the EMA had been collaborating with other state agencies, including the Energy and Energy Affairs Ministry, to address quarrying and the environmental degradation of the Northern Range. Bachan did not say how many police officers the EMA had asked for.

Contacted by the T&T Guardian, Williams said the EMA had asked for support. “We have given the undertaking that we will provide Special Reserve Police (SRP) to assist with the policing aspect and before the end of the year they will receive some of the officers that they have requested,” Williams said.

Bachan: We have many challenges

The EMA chairman admitted the authority was challenged in many ways to effectively carry out its duties. He said apart from limited manpower, the very legislation it has to operate creates a challenge. In fact, Bachan said, the current legislation is “soft.” “When the EMA Act came into being it was intended to be soft legislation. So it is cheaper to pollute and break the law than to follow good practice. It is one of the issues we have recognised,” Bachan said.

He said the air pollution rules and water pollution rules were being revised to make them more relevant and strong. The EMA, he said, has no laboratory and this, he said, makes it difficult for the authority to address complaints about pollution. Companies seeking licences to pollute have to do their own tests for three years and provide the information to the EMA to be granted a licence to pollute.

“It is unacceptable to say someone is providing data on themselves. It should be the responsibility for us to assess the tests. The legislation has not worked for us to ensure the proper protection of the environment,” Bachan said. Small budgetary allocations, he said, also prevented the EMA from being effective. He said it often had to rent equipment to do tests because the money it was allocated was not enough to buy equipment.

Tourism Minister Gerald Hadeed raised the issue of the five dead sea turtles that were entangled in gill nets this week and asked why the EMA had not stopped the use of such nets, which have been banned around the world. But Dr Amery Browne said in all fairness to the EMA, banning gill nets in T&T must be a government policy decision and cannot be a decision taken by a regulatory authority.

Bachan announced that the EMA intended to establish an office in Tobago to deal with environmental complaints there. He also said it would soon launch an environmental hotline and an environmental channel.

Story by Reshma Ragoonath

Published: Monday, November 10, 2014                                                                                                     Article reproduced from www.guardian.co.tt/

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Article reproduced here for archival purposes.

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