I recently became aware of this in Alaska. Apparently, a "hunter" will charter a helicopter, chase a wolf to exhaustion, then, after it drops, shoot it. What is the consensus among you, does this really qualify as hunting?
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I recently became aware of this in Alaska. Apparently, a "hunter" will charter a helicopter, chase a wolf to exhaustion, then, after it drops, shoot it. What is the consensus among you, does this really qualify as hunting?
No.
Definitely not.
Animal cruelty.
I can't believe it's legal but it's one way the AK F&W service controls the wolf population. They put a bounty on their hides and it's a bloody free-for-all.
And of course anyone with a vested interest in seeing the wolf population decline (ranchers) cries "wolf" at every opportunity.
They do the same thing in Montana on snowmobiles.
Cool. Thought maybe it was just me.
no way is that hunting.... any more than PAYING to shoot a deer that is penned up in small areas so the "HUNTER" can get his trophy..... FAIR chase is the ONLY way to go.....
A friend told me of shooting (not hunting) wolfs by helicopter on the Minnesota/Canada border in the 70’s. They would get $75 a hide for the bounty. They would shoot 20 plus an outing. The bounty would more than pay for the crop duster helicopter gas and ammo. No sport only population/ predation control and for the cash.
Lame.... That's not hunting.
Wolves are very hard to hunt by conventional means from what I have read ( an extreme challenge to call one in and actually see it for a good clean shot), they are also not all that easy to trap, esp in true wilderness, due to the huge territories they roam. A pack may not come back to a moose kill, or they take weeks to come back. Then they are wickedly smart and often avoid snares set in trails. However a really good wolf trapper that has things going for him/her can often pick up 4-5 wolves at once this way.
So this gunning method is how they control the wolf population to where it actually makes a difference for moose or caribou #'s, which are often herds the subsistance hunters live off of ( native peoples and other people who choose to live in the bush).
For the trapper, a very good prime wolf pelt with no damage can be worth $300-400 each on the fur market.