Full stop, the practice known as 'wolf whacking' is not hunting.
Hunters live by a code of ethics, one where we're stewards of the land. We're conservationists and want the animals we hunt to live, thrive, and enjoy life. And in the moment we harvest one, we want them to suffer as little as possible. It's why we practice in our backyards with our bows, why we go out to the range with our rifles, and why we sweat making sure that whenever we're presented with the opportunity to take an animal's life, we do so with all our faculties so it's quick for the animal involved.
'Wolf whacking', however, flies in the face of that ideology. Of that basic hunting tenet. It's not quick, it's not ethical. It's not hunting. Yet, the state of Wyoming's work group that aimed to look at revising the state's language on the practice, decided to conflate it with hunters when it announced that it had come to the conclusion of its investigation.
I'm sorry, but they're wrong and hunters need to speak out against being lumped in with this practice.
If you're unaware of 'wolf-whacking' or why we're talking about it, a few months back a Wyoming resident by the name of Cody Roberts ran down a juvenile wolf with his snowmobile, but instead of killing the animal after running it over and putting it out of its pain, he taped the wolf's mouth shut, dragged it into a local bar, had the patrons take photos with the animal, and then got bored and likely shot it out back. The latter of which is still un for debate.
But the story went viral as, being a very smart person, Roberts posted the pictures to Facebook. Good job, Cody! Great idea. As you'd expect, the post went worldwide and countless folks called in to express their concern over the practice, as well as demand Wyoming do something so this act of animal cruelty never occurs again. The vitriol directed at Wyoming became so bad, the state responded by putting together a working group of lawmakers and governmental workers to address the situation.
Yet, rather than actually doing something, the group was reportedly pressured by outside interests (i.e. the agricultural industry within Wyoming) to not do anything, as they believed it was the best tool to curtail wolf, coyote, and other predation of their livestock. So in the end, which was announced this week, the group really didn't do all that much to soothe the public's concern or disdain for the practice. And worse yet, they lumped hunters in with the yahoos that run down predators on snowmobiles.
According to Wyofile, which has done an excellent job detailing the group's progression on the matter, the "Animal abuse-predatory animals" draft, won't ban the practice. Instead, it says not only can people still use snowmobiles to run down predators, but adds other vehicles too, including ATVs, UTVs, and any driven motor vehicle. It does, however, increase the penalty for those who don't kill the animal after they've run it down.
The updated language states, " all reasonable efforts to kill the injured or disabled predatory animal. Any person who fails to immediately use all reasonable efforts to kill an injured or disabled predatory animal as required by this subsection commits cruelty to animals." As for the penalty for such animal cruelty, here's where it gets really messy.
If the person fails to immediately dispatch the suffering animal, they're subject to "up to six months in jail, a fine of up to a $1,000 and the loss of hunting and fishing privileges for up to 3 years." And it's that last part I take umbrage with.
By lumping hunters into the same group as 'wolf-whackers', we give animal rights activists, anti-hunters, and even those who really don't care one way or another the ammunition to say we're the same as these folks who run down predators with vehicles. That we don't live by a code of ethics to humanely and ethically take an animal. That we're just a bunch of oranged-up yahoos ourselves, going all Yosemite Sam and rootin', tootin', shootin' in the backcountry. In a time when there's mounting pressure to ban certain hunts, i.e. the Colorado lion hunting ban that's currently heading to the polls, Wyoming just gave those folks the best bullet to take everyone's hunting rights away.
It's not hard to see how those people will use this to their advantage.
As a hunter and snowmobiler, I expressly condone 'wolf-whacking'. It ain't either. And I hope that more hunters speak out against this language being included in the final draft of the law, as it's set to be decided upon the legislature early next year. I agree there should be some form of punishment, but it can't be something tied to hunting rights. Because this isn't hunting.
