I am a person who agonizes about every decision that I make . Whether it is a simple task or a monumental business decision . I believe in due diligence and accountability ,in all decisions especially those affecting others . I think that there was not enough due diligence done with the introduction of the wolves in YNP. Having said that I would like to talk about the moose . The numbers in the main Wilderness drainages have plummeted to almost non existent ! I have videos of 17 moose in my camp. The last live moose I saw was 2010. The last fresh track I saw was in elk creek basin in 2013! What a shame that moose are not that fashionable as wolves . The fall of 1996 I found in buffalo forks and hellroaring creek 17 bull moose skulls . The velvet was still on the stub of the skull so they were killed or died in spring or summer . This is a lot of moose as they allowed less than ten killed in The wilderness area. I had a sick mule in 1996 at my hellroaring camp . One morning I went to check on him and all I found were his white and bloody bones. No meat left . The wolves 14 were walking single file up a ridge roughly .5 miles away. I cant say if they killed the mule or not but he was gone in one night . I can only imagine how quickly all those moose calves could disappear before anyone knew they were gone. I know that they say fire biology hurt the wolves but there is so much of this country didnt burn and the moose are gone . The wolves who came here were used to making a living killing a much bigger moose . Can you imagine wintering in snow up to your chest eeking out a living and have 14 wolves show up on crusted snow . No chance! There is no moose hunting in any of these areas now . I just miss seeing them and all the twin calves that hellroaring was famous for. Im optomistic with the elk though . With the new wolf season I see more calves and more spike bulls . There were eagles killing elk calves but for only a few weeks . The grizzly bear also kills elk calves but only for about six weeks a year. The black bear is about the same with baby calves. They cant kill them after a month . The mountain preys on elk year around but can get quite a few young ones early on but we dont have as many lions with the wolves here. I know that wolves hunt the elk year around but kill the most in winter and spring. So the elk never have a chance to regroup and keep their babies from aborting . They blame slow reproduction on drought etc. But in all my life Ive never seen bulls bugle and chase the cows so long into the fall . This results is small baby calves in the fall. ,not the best chance to survive the long winters. I want to also say that whenever we cross country skied in the park they would give us a pamphlet that said please dont get too close to the animals as it will elevate the heart rate resulting in stress resulting in reducing the chances of making it through the winter. Well what in the world does a pack of Wolves 38 strong , like the druids , do to the stress levels of elk? I think the elk will come out of this okay though . They have proven themselves time and time again . I admire them so much . We need a wolf season to keep the numbers down and to get rid of their habituated habits they learned in Yellowstone. I watched a video of a wolf trotting beside a car in Yellowstone. He was looking over his shoulder for handouts . The comments all thought how cute this was . A habituated wolf is a dead wolf . I know they are a necessary evil but I hate radio collars on any animals . As soon as I see them I personally dont think they are wild . I hate what they do to an animal. They rub the hair and I have seen them infect an area. Do they need to continue with big offensive collars or do certain people in Yellowstone have these frequencies to use them for their paid wolf watching . ? . Well I know that unauthorized individuals use them to find wolves in Yellowstone. The wolves are here and no we arent going to shoot them into extinction . They are to cunning but we can keep them wild and their numbers in check with a well run season like we have . I was the first one to kill a wolf , when they made it legal to protect your property, that was chasing my Zorse , half zebra half horse , I gave it a warning shot she looked at me and went back to chasing . I protected my property and she was no longer habituated . I have not personally killed a wolf for a trophy . Much is said about Native Americans revering the wolf and bear . This may be so but they also hunted and killed them for skins ,ornamental ceremonies , they used the wolf skins to put over their bodies and sneak up on buffalo etc.. and then scare them over cliffs . The eagles were caught from a dug pit and some bait was placed over it on logs . When the eagle landed they would grab him by the legs and kill him for his feathers to use in their head gear. I am sure there were some hurt Native Americans. They used the trophy bears, eagles wolves and other animals just like we do . It was different uses but they trophy hunted nonetheless. I have heard it said many times we should be like the wolf . Learn to act and live like them .Nonsense ! They kill each other over land and food disputes. They kill each other over finding a mate and have been known to eat their pups to survive . One wolf killed her sister to take over being the alpha. Doug Smith referred to them as border skirmishes . Well wait , upon reflection maybe they are like us after all . The wolf patrol wants a buffer zone . Well a line is a line . Geographically speaking all a line does is increase YNP . What happens when they wander out of the buffer zone .? Which they will as the elk migrate , . At first a buffer zone was only for wolf hunting . Now I see comments about small corridors closed that elk use … If we give up our hunting are they will want more and more . I will fight as hard as I can with every resource I have to not let this happen .If you read my early posts on this then you know I dont hate animals and look out for them as well as hunt them . I dont kill every animal I see , . Last week a hunter of mine stopped me ten minutes after shooting time . I was irritated because daylight only comes once a day and its the best hunting ever. He said I paid for this hunt and I want to sit in that rock and enjoy watching the sun hit the mountain tops . !! We did and a little buck deer came by and he shot it with his camera . What a great hunter . We need Yellowstone for all . Whether you like wolves , elk, buffalo, geysers or just to know its there! We also need the forest service land to get our meat,firewood, walk our dogs in the woods , hunt,fish pickberries,camp where we want etc,,, I like all wildlife but think a mistake was made when the wolf was brought here . He is the one that catches it while the advocates keep hoping that some miracle will happen to make it all go away . Like supporting terrorists to protect them .What a joke that was . They found an old buffalo hide from January and bones of the same vintage to say someone was baiting them . There are bones like this all over the woods. I am calling B.S. on this and their motives . They are professional terrorists ,convicted I might add., who never want to see a conflict resolved. Last week Legends of Lamar said they needed to get hundreds of people on the ground next year even if it means getting arrested . Yet they talk about me breaking the law . The wolf patrol got two citations last week for leaving a dirty camp with food storage laws being broken and cutting down green trees at a forest service campsite . Wow and this is the group who came here watching me to see if I was being unlawful. The food storage law is serious for it attracts grizzly bears and we all know what happens when a grizzly becomes habituated. They die . Thanks for respecting our wild grizzly guys. The three best wildlife images I have in my mind is number one a grizzly in 1992 Oct29th .It was at Monitor creek pass . He couldnt see me or hear me as it was blizzarding. But he knew I was there a 6th sense . His belly drug in the snow and he had a 6 inch beard off his chin . He looked like a ghost in the poor light . His big wild head head was going everywhere trying to make me . I knew by his actions he wanted nothing to do with humans . No radio collar just wild and free. I hollered he spun around , saw me and was gone in the swirling snow . I will never forget it . 1986 Dec. 5th 4600 elk in one line 6deep from the park line on deckard flats to hitching post . You could hear them talking all the way to my home. Unreal.The other was Haystack meadows on a frosty Oct morning . Bull elk bugling everywhere and cows squealing everywhere. I had Todd Frederickson paint a picture of this .The sights the sounds the action . You had to be there . This is why I shall always fight to protect our way of life and this land we live and recreate on .Shame on the people who say the hunters and ranchers and farmers and locals havent done this and are still doing it . We have all made mistakes but the good outweighs the bad . There are no simple solutions only intelligent choices! Dont spew hatred on these websites . Take the highroad and do something for our heritage . Nothing has ever been gained by words alone . Look in the mirror and do the right thing . Let them talk about breaking the law, Stay the course. I am proud of myself and my family and of where I live and what I do . I hope this makes sense thank you my friends for the kind words . Please share .
Respectfully,
– Warren Johnson