I used to be a member of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA), the largest deer hunting advocacy group in the state. I started deer hunting as an adult as a way to harvest meat for my families’ consumption.
Not long after joining MDHA they started sending emails promoting wolf killing. I also noticed that on their website there was a lot of talk about supporting the upcoming wolf season. I had given them membership dues so that I could learn more about deer hunting and here I find out the MDHA is lobbying heavily for a recreational wolf season!
I have always had great pride in Minnesota’s gray wolf population. Wolves make the wilderness alive and healthy. Wolves and other predators serve a critical role in the health of an ecosystem and without them we can expect to see fewer and fewer animal and plant species. In Yellowstone National Park, after wolves were reintroduced biodiversity increased greatly.
I left MDHA and have serious concerns for wolves in Minnesota. Our hunters need education around ecology and they need to let go of old hatreds for any animal that “competes” for deer with them. Wolves only have one choice, they need to hunt for food. They can’t go to a grocery store and pick up food for their families.
Did Minnesota really spend all these decades and money to restore our wolf population only to have a small mob of uneducated hunters and trappers take them back to the brink of extinction? For those of you who feel comfortable because the DNR is managing it, take a look at the moose, it’s facing extinction in Minnesota.
This misuse and abuse of the wolf should not be acceptable to the people of Minnesota. If you want to join the conversation and work to end the recreational wolf killing, then contact one of the Minnesota-based groups actively fighting this year’s recreational wolf kill.
Matt Johnson
Minneapolis
Leave a Reply