Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-02-25
HUNTER
FOR WOLVES
One of Proposed Means Of
Exterminating NOxiOns
Animals
Boise Statesman

one OF the important measures That
will be before the legislature for SER
ious consideration is the bounty on
noxious wild animals. There are four
bills in the house covering part of or
all the subject. but so far only one
has been recommended and it covers
only part of the field. This is Finstad's
cougar bounty bill. which was recon-
mended for passage by the committee
having 1t in charge. r
One other measure, the most COM
prehensive of all, was Saturday re-
ported on adversely by the committee
on livestock. A minority report was
also handed in favoring the enactment
of the bill into law.
This bill H. D.. No. 81 is by Web
ster, Stanford and Johnston, three of
the big sheep men OF the state, and
representative stockmen of the west.
1t embodies a number Of features that
! are believed to be new and novel in
all the western state laws. One Of
these is the employment Of hunters
who shall receive regular salary from
the state, and who are to pursue the
noxious wild animals until the same
are exterminated.
Bothered by Wolves.
While this measure is believed to
entirely new and novel in state laws
it has the merit of practical expert
ence on the smaller scale, with most
fattering success.
Six years ago the stockmen of FREE
mont, Blaine and Iother south and
central counties of the state were
cursed by an influx of wolves and coy
otes that threatened to put the sheep
business to the wall. The stockmen
met and agreed to plan of hunting
| the animals along the lines of the
proposed law. District commissioners
were appointed to supervise the hunt
ing operations, and these hired the
men who actually did the work They
hired hunters for 80 day who secured
the whole country. wherever there
was a trace Of wolves, coyotes. lynxes.
/ wildcats or cougars, and they practi-
cally exterminated the marauders.
Hurting Operations Successful
| So successful were these hunting
operations that the regular losses dur
ing the lambing season dwindled down
to a figure variously estimated at one
half to one-tenth the loss that had
been prevalent when the coyotes had
been allowed to run unheeded.
The experiment was tried on a large
enough scale to insure Of its opera
ltion in the whole state, and now it is
proposed to try it on the whole state,
\ and to include all noxious animals
within its provisions, so sa to give all
classes of domestic or range stock .
fair share of it's benefits.
That the bounty system has not
been an unqualified success has been
proven by many costly experiment
UP in Montana a few years ago there
was a large state bounty, while the
cattle associations, as well as the
sheep men in the sheep sections, adj
ded large bounties, making a wolf
scalp worth more than a fine horse.
Large Sums From Bounties.
The bounties alone in some sections
amounted to $50 or more, in a day
when horses and cattle were low in
price, especially horses Regular
gangs of wolf hunters with hounds and
guns, secured the country making good
money picking off the wolves.
But there were not a few who saw
beyond the present, and it came to be
more or less practice to spare the
females, especially in the spring before
they had brought forth their young
so as to give a new crop Of high priced
wolves. While the total number OF
wolves killed was considerable. still
the system was recognized as very ex-
pensive, and in the end it did not ex-
terminate the wolves.
Shipped in scalps.
one of the results OF a high bounty, |
high enough to really make 1t an OBJ
ject to hunt and bring in the scalps'
is the great opportunity 1t offers for
fraud. In Montana, frauds aggregate
ing up to hundreds of thousands OF
dollars were unearthed,
Wolf scalps were shipped from all
over the country; some were said TO
have come as far as from South Am
erica. The same has happened IN
Utah. where a high bounty was paid;
and in New Mexico, where oounties
have been paid as high as $50 scalp
In view of the ineficiency OF the
bounty system, sheepmen and other