Gotta like a guy who hangs it out there.

Montana to Kill Wolves that Prey on elk.

Good for the Governor. He is doing what he thinks is right for the people of his state, regardless of the consequences.  This decision is NOT going to make him popular with the North Eastern Liberals who think wolves are cute when they see them in the zoo. 

The only thing that really annoys me is how it is going to be done.  The State PAYING people to do it is all wrong.  I remember back in the late 90's when I was stationed in Connecticut, there was a big brouhaha because many townships on the East Coast were paying for contractors to come in and control their deer populations using night scopes and silenced .223's. 

Even as a 20-something year old guy, I KNEW there had to be a money making opportunity in their somewhere...being a hunter, I know that hunters will pay A LOT of money for a chance at an extra deer or two.  At the city and county level, ANY amount of revenue that can be brought in instead of being payed out is a significant gain. 

Finally, that seems to be the case in some locations.  Hunterdon County in New Jersey brought in $24,000 last year selling 800 hunting permits.  350 Deer were collected, 81% of them antlerless.  The city of Hillsdale, Michigan is running a month long culling program, allowing hunting until 11pm at night, WITH artificial light.  67 of the 100 permits have been filled already, with 1 week left. 

Frankly, I think they should trap about 200 of those wolves and let most of them go on Long Island, a few in Maryland, and the rest in Massachusetts...let them meet in the middle, and we will see how long people think they need to be protected.