Misinformation Driving Wolf Hunt In Michigan, Too

Seems it is the wolf hunters who cry wolf.

In Wisconsin, a former State Senator-turned-lobbyist claimed no hunter could kill a wolf without the help of hunting dogs - - a statement proved wrong by, to date, 321 killed wolves while the dog issue remains in court: 

And remember when hunting lobbyist and former Redgranite GOP State Sen. Bob Welch predicted that without dogs, not one hunter would be able to kill a wolf?

Bob Welch, executive director of the Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition, an organization that was active in lobbying for the season and also in authoring the legislation creating the hunt, said hunters who cannot use dogs won't kill wolves.

"I think it would be very unlikely you'd even get one," Welch said.

At least in Michigan, wolf hunt advocates are admitting they made things up:

There is more fallout this week in the wake of the MLive.com investigative series exposing politicians and state officials who made up stories out of whole cloth in order to prompt Michigan’s first wolf hunting season in half a century.

A leading booster of the wolf hunt, Sen. Tom Casperson, took to the floor of the state Senate yesterday and apologized to his colleagues and to voters for including a fictional account about wolves at a daycare center in a resolution he authored in 2011.

Welch's approach throws other things into question, principally the antiquated belief that a Wisconsin wolf population of 350 - - a figure put out ago by hunting advocates anxious to radically thin packs - -  is scientifically justifiable or sustainable.

But is aimed politically to satisfy the hunters, and help bring about a new elk hunt and more trophies for members of organizations which control the DNR's so-called citizen advisory panel on wolf policy.