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Yup.

I went to the fur buyer yesterday and saw the pelt from one of the wolves killed locally.

Junk.

Short hairs, belly bald. Rubbish.

One of the lies of course, spewed by the Fish and Game Department was the high value of wolf pelts and how this would be a benefit to hunters. A few years ago, the then-The Large Predator Manager for the State, a notorious wolf lover, once told me they would be worth $450 and lots of guys would hunt them for that and love them for the money the hides would bring in. I didn't believe him then, and of course, don't now. FACTS ALWAYS BELIE EVERY MADE-UP PRO-WOLF TALE TOLD.

Of course, the seasons run during poor weather for high prime pelts, and there isn't any money in them anyway. PERFECT SCENARIO: A perfect pelt, with one caliber-sized hole and no exit, in perfect, prime condition, skinned perfectly and stretched, will pay about $110. There are more spawn of the Loch Ness Monster than there are wolf pelts in such condition here in our forests.

Such a hide will almost never exist. Shot with a highpower rifle, an exit knocks down value, condition is ALWAYS a problem for us {coyotes, too which are more or less worthless around here}. Brought in on the carcass, skinning costs $95 by the fur buyer, and that is not gouging the market as far as I'm concerned as I've skinned enough coyotes to know how hard and long they take, wolves longer.

So the hides will be worth between $5 to $40 on the upside to the hunter.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE RARITY OF WOLF HIDES??? MOST IMPORTANTLY, ONE MUST REMEMBER THAT THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF WOLF PELTS IN THE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRY. NO LIMITATION ON SUPPLY THAT WOULD DRIVE PRICES UP. THE WOLF IS NOT AND NEVER WAS ENDANGERED. THE MARKET PROVES THIS WHERE CANADIAN WOLVES PROVIDE SUFFICIENT PELT NUMBERS TO SATISFY THE MARKET, AT RELATIVELY CHEAP PRICES. OURS ARE, IN EFFECT, WORTHLESS.

I should add that though my son and I took elk this year, elk numbers taken are poor in our area. VERY poor. The fur buyers salt shack has a short pile that should be three times as large now, but isn't. The best elk hunters I know, a group of 4 fellows who take 4 bulls every year just returned from elk camp. ZERO. Not one elk taken. Small numbers of track seen, with wolf track in it. The post season numbers produced by the state will help tell the tale, but the future of elk hunting in thE ENTIRE state is bleak.

We need to take back our States, and that is going to start with killing wolves, worthless pelts or not.

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