Written by Greta HylandI am not a hunter, but even I know the rules of hunting: don’t shoot unless you know what you are shooting at, don’t shoot if you don’t know what’s behind your target, don’t shoot unless you are prepared to kill what you are shooting at, to name just a few.
If I know these rules, how is it that “hunters” don’t? The recent shooting of the grey wolf in Beaver made me wonder if the same excuse that you couldn’t tell the difference between a coyote or wolf would hold if you happened to shoot an elk or a mule deer. My guess is probably not. But I decided to look around to find out.
According to the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR), “Poaching is a serious crime with penalties that include fines, paying restitution, jail time, confiscation of hunting equipment, and the loss of hunting and fishing privileges.” The Utah Legislature has set the following amounts as minimum restitution for Utah’s trophy animals:
• $30,000 for bighorn sheep (desert or Rocky Mountain)
• $8,000 for deer (24-inch antler spread or larger)
• $8,000 for elk (with six points on at least one side)
• $6,000 for moose or mountain goat
• $6,000 for bison
• $2,000 for pronghorn
Furthermore, DWR has a toll free hotline to report poaching. From a cell phone one need only dial *DEER to report an incident. Not only that, if you report poaching, you may get a reward. On their site they have an entire page of poaching incidents listed, with detailed location information, and petitions asking for help in catching the poachers.
This begs the question why then, the hunter who shot the “protected” wolf walked away scot-free. He shot a federally protected species, for which shooting is illegal, and didn’t even get a fine. The penalty for which is pretty stiff. Anyone who kills a wolf without proper cause in most of Utah can be fined to the tune of $100,000, get a year in prison, and lose the gun that killed the animal and the truck the hunter rode in.
While I understand that not every case deserves the full penalty under the law, the hunter should suffer some penalty, as anyone who shoots an animal illegally would. I personally think the hunter should have to serve community service by giving presentations to hunters about why it’s illegal to shoot wolves, why they are protected, and how to tell the difference between a wolf and a coyote. He and others might learn something.
I am not picking on the DWR, they have a tough job here in Utah. Animosity toward them is about as high here as it is for Federal Land Management Agencies. And with a lot less resources, both human and financial, coupled with anti-wolf politicians, they are sitting ducks. Politicians like Rep. Mike Noel from Kane County and Sen. Allen Christensen, both of which are backed by hunting and agriculture lobbyists and who are both anti-wolf, sit on committees that affect DWR employees’ jobs and funding. Which is a nice way of saying their livelihoods.
But enforcement of the law is one thing; fixing a misguided mentality is another – especially when it comes from the top.
On Nov. 21, 2014, a hunter took a photo of a “wolf” running across the road in Cedar Canyon while driving, and his friend posted the photo on Monster Mulley’s Hunting Forum, stating that he was certain it was a collared wolf.
The gentleman apparently contacted the U.S. Forest Service and talked to the biologist in charge of wolf reintroduction. According to the forum, the U.S. Forest Service was trying to track down the wolf or its scat to verify if it was indeed a wolf.
When I questioned DWR and asked if they were aware there was a wolf in the area before the wolf shooting (50 miles from the shooting), I was told that they were aware of the reports, but had not been able to verify it.
Many in the environmental community believe that if the Department of Wildlife had called off the bounty on coyotes, this shooting would not have happened. However, there is no law against shooting coyotes, so stopping the bounty would not necessarily have stopped a hunter from shooting a wolf by accident. But even if it was against the law to shoot coyotes, I’m sure they and wolves would continue to get shot by hunters who think they not only know better, but that they are above the law.
Thanks to the McKittrick Policy, they kind of are above the law. The McKittrick Policy came about when a man shot a wolf after mistaking it for a dog; never mind why he was shooting the dog. The policy is a virtual loophole that allows people “who didn’t mean to shoot a protected species” to avoid the stiff punishment for the “accidental shooting.” In other words, law enforcement has to prove that the person willfully shot a protected species, or the perpetrator has to admit it. No one is going to admit that. Can you imagine if this loophole existed for people who accidentally shot a trophy animal? Hunters would be up in arms.
With loopholes like this, one is left wondering what good the law is.
All that aside, I would suggest that a hunter who cannot tell the difference between a wolf and a coyote shouldn’t hunt coyotes. Anyone claiming to be a hunter who could not tell the difference between a mule deer or an elk would be laughed out of the room and probably have their gun taken away. But according to the hunting forum, it doesn’t really matter if they know the difference or not.
On the Monster Mulley forum, there was some debate about what the animal in the photo was, but there was no debate about what should be done if it was a wolf, protected or not.
After reading through the forum I am more convinced than ever that the prevailing mentality of shoot it, shovel it, and shut up among hunters is the real culprit and will be for years to come. They don’t care that the wolves are protected and they don’t care that it is against the law to shoot them. Here is a sampling of the comments made on the forum about the wolf sighting:
And the cancer spreads. Both in the mountains and in the Whitehouse.
Maybe it’s a younger wolf. I shot a wolf and I’m here to tell you, they’re big! I’m not sure if they get 250lbs but damn they’re hard to drag.
A friend of mine shot one too. He said he was surprised how long it took to dig a hole big enough for it.
nope. just a coyote in Utah!!!! s.s.s
The USFS was on scene yesterday, mile marker 16 up Cedar City Canyon Tracking this Wolf through the snow in hopes of finding scat. The other Wolf that has been seen on the North Kaibab, the Collar has malfunctioned and is no longer working. The USFS was going to continue to try catching this Wolf on the Kaibab to replace it’s Collar but have decided to wait until Winter is over. So yes, 2 Different Wolves within 100 miles.
How Deep’s the Hole gotta be so they think the Collar has Malfunctioned?
The SSS don’t work so throw it on a train headed east.
Tell that to the rancher in NM after he did a SSS and left the collar on and buried the Mexican grey dog and collar 10 ft down then parked his backhoe on top of it, They came right to the spot. Last I heard it cost right around a little more then $10 grand.
Whats the law for shooting a wolf in Utah??? Would one get in trouble mistaking it for a oversized coyote?? I wander what kind of trouble a guy would get into??
Looks like somebody killed one by beaver I wonder if it’s the same one from this post.
Hopefully it was the same one but I doubt it. There are probably more than we think migrating south.
I can’t believe the idiot turned himself in!
To bad there wasn’t a picture of the dead Wolf. I could have showed my grandsons what a “Good” Wolf looks like.
These wolves need to be shot on sight. Having wolves in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and most other states was never part of the agreement that got them introduced into Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
If you can’t tell already, it doesn’t matter to these hunters that wolves are federally protected, or that it is against the law to shoot one. These hunters think they know better. They think wolves should be shot and more than likely will take their chances with the law if they see one.
In an essay titled, “Looking for Wolves,” SueEllen Campbell said this, “Sometimes I think human life is a tug-o-war between two kinds of people: those who mostly destroy and those who mostly protect, restore, and create. And I often feel that the destroyers usually win, even if they are fewer in number, simply because it’s so much easier to break than to make something. So I suppose that maybe when the creators triumph over the destroyers, when we mend something we have shattered, a kind of miracle occurs.”
Hunters like those quoted above are destroyers, not just with guns, but with their mentality.
This year marks the 20 year anniversary of the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone. Wolf restoration has been called the greatest conservation success story in America’s history. It is because we have righted a wrong. We have tried to put back together what we tore apart and we are seeing success.
Many early explorers were sent abroad on their voyages to look for resources because Europe had used up most of its own. America was literally a treasure trove of resources, including wildlife. Let’s not make the same mistake Europe made. It’s not just unwise or unethical to use up all of the resources of the land, it is stupid. One need only look into the annals of history to see why.
It is hard to ignore the prevailing stereotypes of hunters in this case and without any ethical, conservation-minded hunters speaking against poor, illegal, and unethical hunting practices like this, one is left to conclude that it is more accurate than not. Clearly these hunters do know what they are shooting at and even if they don’t, they don’t care when it comes to wolves. Law enforcement should enforce the law. The selective enforcement of the law only makes a mockery of it.
Greta Hyland has a Masters degree in Environmental Policy & Management and has worked for the BLM and the NPS as well as for non-profit organizations. She is a regular contributor to the Utah Adventure Journal and is the Copy Editor at the Independent. She writes regularly on her blog about environmental policy issues affecting the southwest, as well as personal narratives about outdoor recreation and simple living. Her blog can be found at www.thesouthwestjournal.wordpress.com A Utah native, Greta is a consummate desert rat and loves exploring the southwest. She can be reached at [email protected]
