BigGameHoundsmen.com

Last weekrnd a hound was eatten by a wolf while it was bear hunting.
The Idaho Fish & Game told the dogs owner after looking at the pictures that it was definely a wolf kill. When the game offical was asked by the Coeur d Alene paper the game offical played it down stateing that he didn't know what killed the hound. The wolves are killing the elk & deer herds and seasons are being cut back. Idaho is begining to be dangerous place to run your hounds.

Now the anti's in Coeur d Alene are jumping all over us about this.

Help us by getting Get on Google and do a search for the Couer d Alene Press newspaper to read the article that was printed on the front page on October 3, 2008.

The anti's are putting in thier comments. Please help a fellow houndsman by giving them your comments ....

Here's the article.



Couple claim wolves killed pet
Posted: Thursday, Oct 02, 2008 - 11:01:17 pm PDT
Email this story Printer friendly version By TOM GREENE
Staff writer
JEROME A. POLLOS/Press
Rebekah Ottosen, 9, plays with Bones, one of the dozen hound dogs raised or trained by her father, Brent Ottosen, at their home near Worley on Thursday. Ottosen's hunting hound was killed recently by what he believes was a wolf.
Fish and Game official can't confirm how animal died

COEUR d'ALENE -- Brent and Connie Ottosen say they're not taking any more chances of wolves killing another bear-hunting dog.

The logger and avid hunter said he, his wife and his three children have lived in the area all their lives, but they can't afford to lose another dog and plan to move to where there aren't any wolves.

"It's a family deal," Connie said. "We're an outdoors family and there's no hunting here anymore."

The Ottosens, who live about 20 miles south of Coeur d'Alene, believe wolves killed their 4-year-old hound, Blackjack, Sunday night along the Coeur d'Alene River in the Steamboat Drainage.

"They ate the head and neck and face," Brent said. "The collar just fell off."

Brent took his 9-year-old daughter, Becky, last week to a trailer he has set up on the river off the Kingston exit on Interstate 90.

"She got all her books and homework assignments and she went hunting with me. Just the two of us," Brent said.

Brent has 10 hunting dogs and took seven when they caught a bear scent Sunday. At one point, the dogs split, with six going for the bear and Blackjack heading for another smell. They treed the bear and videotaped it, but did not shoot it. Brent said the dogs all wear radio collars so he knew where Blackjack was and "he was too far in and couldn't make it out that night."

"It gets you really nervous," Brent said. "Years ago it didn't bother you to leave a dog in the woods for a night."

When they left to go back to the trailer about 9 p.m., Brent said, he could tell Blackjack was still moving around by his radio collar.

"When I got back early Monday morning (about 7 a.m.), it had quit moving," Brent said.

After searching with the radio for a few hours, Brent said, he zeroed in on a spot, but Blackjack wasn't running to him.

"I heard some flies and bees and then I got sick to my stomach," he said. "I looked down and there was a collar right where I was standing.

"We're talking not even a 12-hour period."

About two-thirds of the 65-pound dog was gone. It had been eaten through the ribs to the spine.

"What canines do is eat through the rib bones. A lion or bear would go for a heart or liver," Brent said. "A typical wolf would eat about 20 pounds. There was never enough time for a mountain lion to eat that much."

Jim Hayden, Fish and Game Panhandle wildlife manager, has seen photographs of the carcass, but could not confirm it was killed by wolves.

"The only thing we know is something killed his dog and ate it," Hayden said. "I don't have a problem saying it could be a wolf. I do have a problem saying a wolf killed that animal."

Brent said he is willing to take anyone out to the killing site and believes Fish and Game officials are covering up wolf kills in the area.

"They don't want to know the truth and don't want the public to know," Brent said

Hayden said his department has to be certain before confirming wolf kills.

"There's nothing to hide. Wolves are killing dogs," Hayden said. "We've had dogs killed in Mullan. We've had dogs killed Calder. We've had dogs killed in Avery."

Wolves are currently under the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act because of a court decision, but there is litigation pending. Wolves had been delisted by the state earlier this year before the courts put them back on the endangered species list.

Hayden said the next official wolf count is expected to be released by the end of December. The number of wolves in the Panhandle last year was 87, he said, and "undoubtedly, we're looking at more now."

"Last year was the all-time record elk harvest in the Panhandle," Hayden said. "We had a nasty winter last year, of course, and the numbers are definitely down this year. Are they down more in areas with wolves? Yeah, where you have that extra pressure. We'll just have to wait to see where we are at the end of the fall."

The Ottosens aren't waiting. Brent is hunting this weekend in Northern California and he plans to price real estate while he's there and make a move next spring. Blackjack was worth about $5,000, he said, and he can't afford to lose any more.

"All three of our kids bawled," he said. "I don't know if that counts for something. But it should."

I went to Idaho this year for an elk hunt. My dad and I go every year for around 15 years now. This was the first time there were no elk in the area we hunt. What we did see was huge wolf tracks all over the place and I did see 2 wolves that watched me from about 100 yards away. Both were black one was around 100lbs but the other one was a monster, I know they are not suposed to be over 120lbs but I would put this one at around 175lbs. It was at least 7 feet long and 3 feet tall. The wolf prints we saw were 5-6 inches across. Saw only big bull moose in the small lakes and ponds where we normaly see cows and calves...

The pack of wolves also came into a camp and the people were able to get some video. They sure are not scared of man... Anyhow they had alredy reduced the number of tags by 40%. We don't plan to hunt in idaho anymore... just not worth the travel time to look at wolves.

Everyone I talked to up there didn't want the wolves... these are people in the woods including people that were not hunting. So where are all the wolf huggers? They shoud be out there "enjoying" thier wolves but sadly I don't think most of them even leave thier cities so will never see a wolf in the wild.