And Sal, I appreciate your last post a lot.

When it comes to wolves I have my opinions, and that's all they are...if I'm going to kill something it will be for a few specific reasons, no matter what the animal is.

If it's something I can eat, and I enjoy eating it, then I'll participate in a hunt.

If it's a depradation hunt that I think needs to be done, then I'll participate in that, too, but again only if it's something that can be eaten.

I won't kill a wolf for killing things. It's what wolves do, it's their nature and beauty, and I won't kill a wolf for being a wolf. Same goes for a coyote.

I've killed and eaten black bear, thought it ate like crap, and never killed another one. Don't need a rug, or a mount, so I don't need a black bear.

I haven't killed an elk since the last one I killed took three of us two days to move the good parts 1.5 miles out of a steep canyon to the nearest pickup point...it wasn't fun, and if it's not fun then what's the point? I like eating elk, though, so have no problem with borrowing a few steaks every year from my hunting buddies

In the extreme my "killing schit just to kill schit" comment would go to hunts like safari hunts...there's no reason to shoot a water buffalo, or a rhinoceros or elephant, unless it's to be the Great White Hunter. Drive out there with your guide (who picked out your animal a month ago for you and has been keeping tabs on it), he says "there's your animal", shoot it, pose for pics...not sure that there's any point to that except to prove that you can't hunt.

Trophy hunting to just collect more things on the "look what I've killed list" goes in the same category, if that's your only motivation to do it.

I really enjoy the hunting aspect of it, I'll admit, and I've been known to take my elk calls out and mess around with the elk without ever carrying a gun...I can get the satisfaction of calling them in and checking them out just fine that way, too.

The wolf issue gets me a little wound up every time it comes up because I hear from hunters who express dismay for the poor farmer and cattle, when what they really mean is "I want to kill a wolf", and their sincerity about it is paper thin.

If you want to kill a wolf because it is a problem animal, or is in place/time where a pack needs to be thinned for some management reason, then there's your time to do it...if a hunter just wants to put a check mark on his list of dead animals then I think that's creepy.

I hunt and fish for the same reasons you, and presumably most everyone else does...there's a reason I live in the Pacific Northwest where fish and game and the opportunity to pursue them is a year long and life long endeavor.

Fishing, of course, is a little different...while it is indeed a blood sport and fish do die, intentionally or otherwise, you do have the ability to let them go and the great majority of them will live to spawn. I mostly participate in kill fisheries when it comes to river and salt fisheries, and I love bringing home fish to eat...and my neighbors and non-fishing friends love it when I do, too

Fishing for wild steelhead is pretty much the only non-harvest fishery I participate in, and not surprisingly it's my favorite thing to do, too.

I've certainly caught a pile of "trophy" wild steelhead that could have been bonked, and would have made nice mounts, too, if I was into that...nowadays most of the fisheries require the release of those fish, and I'm fine with that since I haven't bonked one since the early '80's (bonked two way back in the day ).

A day in the woods...or a week, or a month...with my buddies, and a few pics if we bring along a camera and take the time to use it...good food, good company, good times. That's why I'm out there, too.

Fish on...

Todd