A few weeks ago, Cody Roberts of Daniel, Wyoming, purposely ran down a wolf with his snowmobile, injuring the animal, something the state's laws allow for. However, rather than doing the responsible thing and putting the injured animal out of its misery, he duct-taped the wolf's mouth, bound it, and then proceeded to parade the wolf through a local bar.
Only after he and his fellow patrons took selfies with the animal did he either beat it to death or shoot it, depending on which sources you read. He was later fined a measly $250 for the misdemeanor of "Possession and transportation of live, warm-blooded wildlife," according to CBS News.
I don't think it needs to be said, but I'll say it. This guy deserves jail time for the cruelty he showed. That may still happen, though, as my friend and former RideApart editor Wes Siler from Outside reported, "As of April 10, however, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office announced that they—along with the Sublette County Attorney’s office—are now investigating Roberts."
This Isn't Hunting
As a hunter, I think what he did was not only morally reprehensible but not in line with any sort of hunting code of conduct hunters follow toward wildlife. You respect the animal, not show it this sort of barbarism.
Full stop, this isn't hunting. Nor is Roberts a hunter, the fact of which has seemingly been lost in the media blitz.
And now, because of the incident, groups from around the country are asking the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the state of Wyoming to change the laws so something like this can't happen again. Honestly, I agree with them, though I also think that what Outdoor Life wrote about hunters taking the reins of the narrative needs to be how those changes come about.
At present, Wyoming's laws on predators are vague beyond belief. In a statement about the Roberts event, "The incident occurred in a part of the state where gray wolves are legally classified as predatory animals. Predatory animals are not managed by the department and animal cruelty laws, per Wyo. Stat. Ann. 6-3-1008 (a)(vii) do not apply to predatory animals," relayed the state's Game and Fish Department.
As such, you don't need a hunting license, permit, or anything to "take" an animal, nor are there statutes relaying specifics about what "methods of take" are permissible. So running it down with a snowmobile, or any other vehicle for that matter, is perfectly OK in the eyes of the law.
You shouldn't, however, be able to do that, and I believe the laws around such "predator zones" should be changed. Adding such language to bar people from using a snowmobile or any other vehicle to run an animal down would be a great start, as the practice is cruel and, again, not in line with any of the hunting ethics I've learned, nor that any hunter I've met professes.
I hope Roberts is prosecuted for what he's most definitely guitly of and gets the punishment he deserves, though I'm not holding my breath given Wyoming's present laws.
But where I differ from others proposing changes is that I'm not saying we shouldn't have hunting regulations for predators. Nor am I saying we should ban predator hunting altogether.
Where We Go From Here
What Roberts did wasn't hunting, nor is he a hunter himself. And predator hunting can, using the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, prove to be a net benefit for a species when it's well-regulated by trained biologists who understand both a population and an ecosystem. I highly recommend this talk with Professor Brock McMillian of BYU where he talks about how predators can be net benefits for populations depending on the circumstances.
What we can't have, however, is ballot-box biology proposed by anti-hunting groups hellbent on using whatever dubious means they can to sway public opinion on the topic, something that's already occurring thanks to the outrage cycle that Roberts' actions are causing. And indeed, folks should be outraged.
What we shouldn't do, however, is fail to use logic when deciding what course of action we take next. Throw the book at Roberts, sure, but let's have an honest conversation about Wyoming's lack of appropriate regulations and do something real.
