A new hunters group is pushing for a hunt of wolves cause they believe they are killing too many deer in Northern Minnesota.

Could these hunters benefit by learning how predator-prey dynamics work to keep ecosystems in check?

Organizers of a new group called Hunters For Hunters are holding meetings dubbed “Wolf Versus Deer: Who Will Win.” Steve Porter, a board member, is a deer farmer who recently defied the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources by transporting deer in violation of an emergency order intended to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease. Yet Porter wants to kill off the medicine (wolves) that may save the deer.

Anti-wolf verbiage is a common occurrence this time of year. White-tailed deer hunting seasons recently ended in the upper Great Lakes. So, who gets the blame if the deer hunting harvest is lower? The wolf, of course! At a packed meeting, Porter asked the crowd:

…how many (people) knew someone who had killed a wolf, most in the crowd raised their hands.

“What we’ve done is we’ve created an environment where people are willing to go to prison to keep their land safe. What are we doing turning God-fearing people into outlaws?” Porter asked. (News Source Click Here)

Wolves are considered threatened in Minnesota and are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act. That means they can only be legally killed in self-defense.

“There is reason to think wolves are the best wall of defense against Chronic Wasting Disease in Northern Wisconsin.” Peter David, Wildlife Biologist

Here it goes again: another conservative group forming a nonprofit, soliciting donations to force a hunt of gray wolves. To accomplish that, first, they need to get everyone scared and angry, creating the rhetoric that the “Big Bad Wolf” is killing all the deer! This same scenario took place in Wisconsin’s 2021 wolf hunt season. They killed 218 wolves in three days during a legislative-mandated hunt when a conservative group, Hunter Nation, filed and won a lawsuit.

They want to hunt so they can feed their families. Right? They want to see plenty of deer while up in their stand—no mention of how they hunt compared to years ago. Hunters moved through the woods a few decades ago, driving the deer in a large hunting party. Also, hunting has declined over the last decade. And harsh winters are a factor as well. When deer herds fight to survive during deep snow events, it is certain death.

The deer harvest was down this year, especially in northeastern Minnesota, where hunters killed 21 percent fewer deer than last year and 37 percent fewer than the five-year average. Is killing off predators the answer?

Wolves and deer have co-evolved together for centuries and have kept each other healthy. That was before Western civilization settled the areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin. When the settlers arrived in the 1800s, vast herds of ungulates roomed through Wisconsin. These settlers hunted off the prairie & woodland; antelope, buffalo, elk, and wolves lost their prey. And a bounty was placed on the wolf. By the 1960s, wolves were considered extirpated in Wisconsin.

This story continues, repeating the mistakes made in the past that extirpated gray wolves from the landscape. I call these conservative groups “fringe hunters” because they operate outside of ethics. This new group in Minnesota is stirring the pot again, just like Hunger Nation did in Wisconsin in 2021. But does their harsh view of the wolf represent all hunters? I think not.

Many hunters know the gray wolf’s value to the ecosystem, especially when wolves keep deer herds healthy. Unlike these fringe hunters, they see the wolf’s trickle-down effect; by keeping the deer alert, they move more and less overbrowsing, resulting in a healthier forest, and an apex predator in the forest makes all of it possible!

Finding solutions avoids creating more fear for a native predator by understanding how predator-prey dynamics work to benefit the ecosystem as a whole. Thus avoiding the same mistakes that led to killing off an integral part.