Nonresident Predator Hunting

[fattyboy70]

For some of you interested and needing a little motivation you can join
https://www.foundationforwildlifemanagement.org/join-us
and they'll reimburse you for expenses you may have if you are able to harvest a wolf. I know someone mentioned fur prices being down so this would help offset that. I know taxidermists have people that are looking for wolf mounts that would pay for a nice pelt too. I've got the bug and can't wait to try getting one.

 

[Whitetaildown215]

I love predator hunting and get more excited about it than deer hunting here in missouri. We have been looking at idaho for the 2020 season and I plan to have an elk and deer tag in my pocket. However the main reason we are looking at idaho is for the predator chances. Wolf, bear, and mt lion are at the top of my list for that hunt.

 

[Outlaw99]

I’d love to have the time and flexibility to get in deep somewhere and the panhandle, and run and maintain a solid line for a couple months. Like Ross stated, trapping is the best resource for controlling wolf populations. Don’t get me wrong, every wolf called in or shot helps, but to make a substantial hit, you have to go after the whole family unit and kill em all, and so on and so on.... The other thing that would make a huge dent would be to implement arial gunning....but I don’t see that happening. I’m rambling, but this wolf thing Is really frustrating to me. Like all states, they caused the problem, there’s a solution, but I don’t see anyone turning the reigns loose and allowing proper predator control .

 

[.204smokechaser]

Great thread here. I've been living here for 2 years and have been stopped by hunters while driving in my work rig.

Happy to give out wolf information for 10,10A, and 12, but for bear and cougar I am a little hesitant.

Bear numbers are great in the unit I work and hunt in, but there's too many people shooting Cubs and small yearling bears. Let them grow.

As far as cougars go, my buddies who have hounds and do quite well say there are too many female Cougars being taken and with the wolves killing cougars as well, it makes every single female we lose make cat hunting worse in the long run. We need to preserve hound hunting as well as keep predators under control, but there's multiple sides to the issue. Shoot Tom's if you're able to.

 

[Calbuck]

I routinely shoot at coyotes or whatever when I'm hunting in Idaho. Its tough to spend the coin to travel there strictly for predator hunting, although Ive considered it.

 

[Outlaw99]

Anyone interested in this topic, I encourage you to read “Alaska’s Wolf Man”. It’s the story of Frank Glaser. It talks about early wolf management in Alaska dealing with caribou and moose predation. Franks story takes place in the early 1900’s, but the principles and tactics from way back then hold true to what needs to be implemented today. One of the better books I’ve read as of late.

 

[CamoPirate]

I want to try mountain lion, but from my understanding you usually need hounds. While the tag is cheap, I don't exactly have the money (quotes I've seen have been like $2k+) to drop on the other stuff necessary to be successful hunting lions

 

[Rob5589]

What holds me back from a dedicated wolf hunt is time. Two trips to ID this year, family vacations, etc, limits my time and PTO. I am more than happy to do my part while there, however.

 

[idahohikker]

I’m hearing a lot of if it wasn’t so far I’d plan a trip to predator hunt but I’m all booked up with deer and elk. I understand the difficulty but it’s not impressive and I’d say the priorities are a little off. Plan a predator hunt every once in a while. Contribute and don’t just take.

And hunting predators during an elk hunt doesn’t count for much. Incidental take numbers are pretty low for a variety of reasons.

 

[KurtR]

Was talking to my brother who lives out there and he is thinking about trying to get some thing going where people help each other with coordinates on where wolfs were spotted and getting more hunters together to help each other be successful. We did a little trapping out here as kids but not much he is taking the trapping class and would like to find some on to learn from. I dont know what wolfs are worth but we were getting 50-70 dollars for coyotes last year. I am planning on a bear hunt next spring with my kid.

 

[Tod osier]

I’m hearing a lot of if it wasn’t so far I’d plan a trip to predator hunt but I’m all booked up with deer and elk. I understand the difficulty but it’s not impressive and I’d say the priorities are a little off. Plan a predator hunt every once in a while. Contribute and don’t just take.

And hunting predators during an elk hunt doesn’t count for much. Incidental take numbers are pretty low for a variety of reasons.

It seems like the residents who own the wolves should be responsible for managing them. .

 

[idahohikker]

It seems like the residents who own the wolves should be responsible for managing them. .

If you nonresident guys desperately want to hunt elk, you could hunt predators every once in a while. Maybe there’s less glory so that accounts for the decreased interest. Residents will be more willing to help with starting points.

 

[idahohikker]

Was talking to my brother who lives out there and he is thinking about trying to get some thing going where people help each other with coordinates on where wolfs were spotted and getting more hunters together to help each other be successful. We did a little trapping out here as kids but not much he is taking the trapping class and would like to find some on to learn from. I dont know what wolfs are worth but we were getting 50-70 dollars for coyotes last year. I am planning on a bear hunt next spring with my kid.

There’s an old Monster Muleys post with this info. It’s dated a couple years but still helpful. It died out because of selfishness. We could start one here.

 

[blackpowderhunter]

love idaho for the fact that spring bear is OTC compared to being draw here in WA.
I make separate trips the the places in idaho i elk hunt to bear hunt.
shot a bear this may..hoping i saved a few calves, not to mention the bear is delicious

 

[Brandon_SPC]

Posted here because the elk forum gets more traffic I believe. Nonresidents ask about elk hunting in Idaho way more than predator hunting. Elk tags are getting more sparse in the West. Predator populations are thriving. Residents would be more willing to help nonresidents coming here to help the elk rather than just take one home. Why don’t nonresidents start to focus just a little bit on intentional predator hunting?

I’m happy to provide some general info to nonresidents looking to bear, wolf, or lion hunt in Idaho. Cheap tags. No tag quota I’m aware of. Lots of public land to get after it. There are many other residents who know more than me who I bet would help also. Other western states have good predator hunting options to consider.

First suggestion for all the guys wanting to hunt the Frank but have no clue the elk numbers there are in the tank: do a fly in hunt in the late fall, winter, early spring and hunt predators back there. The Panhandle is a destination place for bear and wolf hunting with some strong densities up there. The southern desert units have a lot of lions. So many options.

Why don’t nonresidents start to focus just a little bit on intentional predator hunting?
Very Easy way to answer that question. Risk vs Reward.

I have been wanting to go on a Wolf, Bear, or Lion hunt but it just isn't feasible for a lot of us, money, work, family life etc. For a Non Resident like my self I am looking at possibly a minimal of driving 4000 miles round trip plane ticket which will also mean I need to pay for a rental. So lets do the cheapest way here driving our own vehicle:

Gas - Lets average it to be about $2.50 since it changes in every state and or county. So for me just to get to Pocatello, Idaho it would cost at least $250 so double that for a return home trip. Right now we are at $500 just to get to Idaho and that's not counting the driving around scouting, etc. So probably close to $600-$700 in fuel.
Tag - Bear $186 or $41.75 in certain units, Hunting License $154, Wolf tag $31.75, $41.75
Food -
Truck - Wear on the vehicle
Work/ Family - Leave from work and being away from everyday family stuff

For money alone I guarantee myself would be close to $1000-$1200 and this is probably bare minimum. That counting if you have vehicle problems, storms, emergencies, taxidermy, etc etc. Also I am probably going to add that it will be close to 2-3 days driving up and 2-3 days driving back. So 4 - 6 days right there in driving granted it probably can be down in 1 1/2 days of constant driving each way. With an elk there is a huge reward in regards of eating. Granted mountain lion and bear are great to eat but I tend to prefer to eat elk. And my three weeks of leave a year will be allocated to going elk hunting vs chasing predators.

The predator movement needs to be within by residents and possibly non residents in close driving distances. Because it's hard for a lot of working individuals to come up with time off from work or the money.

 

[idahohikker]

Why don’t nonresidents start to focus just a little bit on intentional predator hunting?
Very Easy way to answer that question. Risk vs Reward. I have been wanting to go on a Wolf, Bear, or Lion hunt but it just isn't feasible for a lot of us, money, work, family life etc. For a Non Resident like my self I am looking at possibly a minimal of driving 4000 miles round trip plane ticket which will also mean I need to pay for a rental. So lets do the cheapest way here driving our own vehicle:

Gas - Lets average it to be about $2.50 since it changes in every state and or county. So for me just to get to Pocatello, Idaho it would cost at least $250 so double that for a return home trip. Right now we are at $500 just to get to Idaho and that's not counting the driving around scouting, etc. So probably close to $600-$700 in fuel.
Tag - Bear $186 or $41.75 in certain units, Hunting License $154, Wolf tag $31.75, $41.75
Food -
Truck - Wear on the vehicle
Work/ Family - Leave from work and being away from everyday family stuff

For money alone I guarantee myself would be close to $1000-$1200 and this is probably bare minimum. That counting if you have vehicle problems, storms, emergencies, taxidermy, etc etc.

The predator movement needs to be within by residents and possibly non residents in close driving distances. Because it's hard for a lot of working individuals to come up with time off from work or the money.

But you spend that money on elk, right? Guys ask that without blinking an eye. Literally if a nonresident does one Western hunt per year, make it a predator hunt sometimes. Throw in a hunt sometimes. If that happened, we’d see huge benefits for everyone. It’s a systemic issue where hunters, particularly nonresident hunters in my experience in talking to many, care only about the prey animals. Predator hunting is really fun, can provide great meat and mounts, and is way more valuable from a herd health perspective.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

How about a big annual Rokslide wolf hunt party put on by area locals with some assistance in setup and methods? I bet if you and some locals got together you could make it happen and get a good following going.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

But you spend that money on elk, right? Guys ask that without blinking an eye. Literally if a nonresident does one Western hunt per year, make it a predator hunt sometimes. Throw in a hunt sometimes. If that happened, we’d see huge benefits for everyone. It’s a systemic issue where hunters, particularly nonresident hunters in my experience in talking to many, care only about the prey animals. Predator hunting is really fun, can provide great meat and mounts, and is way more valuable from a herd health perspective.

You do know money does not grow on trees right? This one elk hunt is my hunting for roughly the full year besides the occasional deer hunting here at the house on a weekend or two. Which a lot of nonresidents fall into this category. It's just not feasible for them to be able to do both in one year. Heck a lot of non residents can only afford to do the out of state hunt maybe once every two-three years.

Florida is also dealing with the same thing but with Bears and coyotes. But also lets turn the tide a little a ton of non residents come to Florida to fish for reef fish like Grouper, Red Snapper, AJs, Trigger fish etc but none of them will try and help eradicate the LionFish population. Each state has their issues with predators and asking for non residents to use their one only trip to predator hunt over elk, mulie, or pronghorn I doubt will go well.

If I had the money and the time to take off from work I would have like 10 different tags in my pocket but that is not feasible for me and frankly it's not for a lot of nonresidents. Predator control needs to happen from within the state. People that are actually there that can lay boots on the ground. Then once that foot hold is established branch out to nonresidents.

 

[Willdorf]

I would be very interested in getting some information about predator hunting ID, I have the elk, black bear, and wolf tags for first rifle in Unit 66. i was going to send you a PM but I am a little short on the post count

 

[bowtech840]

I’d love to come out predator hunting. Honestly would rather do that than the elk mule deer thing but the predators don’t generate the talk that elk and deer do. I could spend a few hours a night searching the web and making phone calls and start making a plan for hunting Idaho elk/deer and head that way feeling pretty good about my chances of just laying eyes on some but I wouldn’t even know where to begin on looking for places to hunt wolves. Just pick a spot on the map, drive the 1,200 miles and hope for the best? It seems winter is the best time to effectively call wolves and with little knowledge of an area I feel a guy could get caught in a troubling situation fast that time of year. I’ll start looking into it a little deeper.


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