Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting

Millions in research for a common sense conclusion. Every passing day I get increasingly disgusted with our governments reckless spending.

That doesn't really explain why they disappeared in NW M. There were no wolves back when they went from a lot to almost none in a very short time. I am sure they are part of the equation but too easy to just blame it on the big bad wolf.

I've seen wolves in NW MN for quite a while at my buddies grandparents farm in crookston. I know you are up in that area you didn't used to see many?

I never saw a wolf or even a wolf track until about 15 years ago. I am sure there were a few around. Nobody ever talked about them being a problem. Coyotes were thick and deer populations have cycled with the winters. There were 3500 moose in 1993 and 9 years later there were 400 in NW MN. During that period I personally found 3 sick moose walking in circles while out hunting. If there were wolves around they would have had easy pickings. The collared study back then showed sick moose.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/02/09_gundersond_moosedying/

It is easy and fashionable these days to blame everything on wolves (and the DNR). Nobody in NW MN complained when they went to a liberal deer harvest (5 deer) in Roseau and Kittson County. The locals didn't even have to buy expensive licence for every living family member, they just bought cheap bonus tags. When the deer were gone, it was the wolves fault. With a doe by permit for the last 3 years, suddenly there were lots of deer this year and a hunters choice season.....despite there being a healthy wolf population....not to mention the elk are thriving and expanding.

Actually I believe the whole bonus tag thing was meant to lower wolves population by having less food for them. Healthy population for minnesota should be at 1600 wolves and with the federal endangered bs the dnr had no other way to control the exploding wolf population.

sent while sniffing your sisters panties

Interesting statistic. One tough old cow.

Also, a 95% survival rate on the remaining collared moose in 2016.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/moose/adult.html#deaths

Twelve years is a relatively old age for a moose yet she was healthy enough to become fertile, be bred and carry a healthy male fetus to term.


That's an accomplishment for a healthy moose but Moose 192 did this while suffering from three serious health problems:

A winter tick infestation causing major hair loss and anemia from blood loss
A liver fluke infection, one of the worst encountered so far in the study, that weakens moose and predisposes them to other illness
The presence of brainworm, severe infections of which cause circling, weakness in the hindquarters, inability to stand, turning of the neck and head to one side, lethargy, apparent blindness, loss of fear and rapid eye movement.
Despite these conditions, the cow settled down in late April to give birth. While calving, which made her extremely vulnerable, wolves attacked and inflicted massive injuries to her head and rump.

Moose 192 fought off her attackers though and, with her bull calf still in the birth canal, wandered about 1,000 yards north and laid down in a watery ditch along the roadside, tucking her front legs underneath. She likely drew her last breaths when under water as she and her unborn calf died.

The mortality study will consider Moose 192's official cause of death to be wolf kill. But facts gathered from the GPS collar and results of the necropsy show that this moose endured serious health conditions. Calving – not sickness – made her vulnerable to a wolf attack. But it's likely that health conditions eventually would have killed her.