Got wolves?

[PBAngusOkie]

What about all the cattle killed by disease, lightning, cars, and their own sheer stupidity? Do we ban lightning next?

As was said in Montana "shoot, shovel, and shut up"

 

[PBAngusOkie]

What about all the cattle killed by disease, lightning, cars, and their own sheer stupidity? Do we ban lightning next?

"Shoot, shovel, and shutup" as said in Montana.

 

[farmerjan]

You are totally right @Dave ; different problems for different areas. I cannot imagine not being able to hunt deer every year because here the eastern Whitetails are a total nuisance. Between vehicle kills that cause probably millions of dollars of insurance payments; to the loss of the winter cover crops that we have had, they are something I just want someone to keep killing. I am not a good shot anymore due to the hand damage from an accident. We have too many houses around so being a good shot is imperative. Have several friends that are good shots. I think that we were allowed 5 last year, 2 with horns and 3 does? But landowners do not have to have tags for deer killed on their own land... and many process their own... yet we have had a continued increase in the deer herds. I watch 10-40 nightly in the field across from my house. We stopped planting a winter cover crop there because they ate it to the ground the last 3 years we planted it. It was supposed to be a harvested spring hay crop (wheat or barley), and there wasn't enough to justify cutting it. One guy said he stopped counting at 50 one evening...going by, he thought there were cows that had gotten out in the field on first glance. It is absurd. Owner will not let us hunt, says he has guys to hunt, then last year we found out that they were all too busy to come by and hunt.... I am going to have to put deer fence around the yard to have the fruit trees.....
Every night the motion detector lights come on... a range of maybe 50-75 ft... from the porch... from deer in the yard. They have to walk right along the car and truck parked there in the driveway....
We don't have the wolves or cougars... we have the coyotes, and black bear are getting more numerous but are not a problem with livestock so far in general. If the coyotes would get more of the deer no one would complain... but they don't make a dent.
A few friends have gotten "their fair share" and given meat to others. Son has them come on the farm and said shoot the does..... we allow 2 bucks per person... the rest need to be does and we don't set a limit... just cut the numbers some. There is an average of 2 deer a month killed by vehicles, just on the road I live on. During the fall, they pick up 1 a week at least. I have an altercation with at least one a year... mostly running into my vehicle as I try to miss them on the way to or from work.
We get at least 2 or 3 fawns mowing hay every year. After awhile, you just don't feel so bad for the innocent babies or watching a doe circling a field looking for her now dead baby....We still go out of our way to avoid getting a fawn in the mower and we try hard to not cut and destroy a turkey with a nest... often mowing around an area so a hen can get her eggs hatched out and just mowing that spot later when we do 2nd cutting.... but there needs to be a better balance and we are seeing more and more coming into the fields with the cows in the winter to eat hay.... because there are just too many.

 

[Dave]

As was said in Montana "shoot, shovel, and shut up"

I believe gut shoot, let them run off and die somewhere else, and shut up. Big enough gun that the bullet goes all the way through. That method leaves no evidence. Our local DA told several ranchers to remember you do have the right to remain silent.

 

[greybeard]

Say a person is having a problem with theft on their property. They install cameras, alarm systems, fences, locked gates and add other methods to deter thieves. Maybe a few barking dogs. If the thieves see that and move on to a less secured place, is that person responsible for pushing the thieves onto their neighbors? Everyone can have their opinion, but I don't see it that way.

There is passive and there is active discouragement.
What you are describing is passive.
The difference?
1. What you described above. (passive)
vs
2. Me telling a burglar "I don't have much here. My neighbor is on vacation in Hawaii all week and he keeps lots of jewelry, guns and cash in his house. Go over there." (active)
That would be me actively doing something to make my problem someone else's.

I have a water problem here. Over a decade ago, my father suggested I push up a 2' high berm along the west and north side of my property and build my fences on top of the berm because those are the directions the majority the rainwater drains from. I thought about it, even laid it out but realized I would be temporarily diverting 6" of water onto a county road to the West and even worse, holding 2' of water on to the 17 acres homestead immediately North of me. But, it sure would have made my life easier (and drier) but that isn't who I am. Me and mine just aren't so much more important than those around me. I'm old school and still believe in 'Do unto others..."

It's a little different here because I have a National Forest as some of my property boundary, but I still would never do anything to make my neighbors on the receiving end of MY problems.