Cook County News Herald

Concerned about declining deer and moose population




Why is no one concerned about the extra tags being allowed on hunting the doe deer and why did no one say anything about not hunting the moose well before their dramatic population drop?

Growing up, my brother and I would count the deer driving from Grand Marais to Silver Bay. We always counted more than a hundred, but usually we couldn’t keep count there were so many deer! Now I see maybe one or two deer in about a hundred miles. I have seen as many wolves as deer along Highway 61 this year.

If the deer and moose become virtually nonexistent what are the wolves going to eat? If it comes down to a mouse or their dog the wolf will take the dog. I know people who have had wolves take their dogs right in front of them in their yard. If I had small children I would be very worried about them playing in the yard by themselves.

It would be very sad if someone was killed by a wolf knowing that it should never have gotten that out of control! When a young man in Colorado was killed by a cougar they made an excuse that the cougar must have had something wrong with it! Whoever came up with that excuse was either ignorant or too proud to admit they made a mistake!

Don’t make that mistake here— you can still do something! Only take the deer you absolutely need when hunting and try to shoot bucks or a fawn because if you shoot a doe that has fawns the wolves will get the fawns as well.

I wouldn’t trust the DNR’s wolf population count. Don’t be afraid to push for more tags to take more wolves. When wolves are so confident that they follow people down the road when they go on walks and take dogs right out of front yards there is something wrong. They need to relearn the fear of man!

I am not saying anything about destroying the wolf population and I am not saying no one should be allowed to hunt deer. People should use good judgment and wisdom when deer hunting.

I also think that the moose population is in serious trouble and no one should be hunting them.

Karyn Watson
Grand Marais



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