The following statement, excerpted briefly in the accompanying story, was sent by Carl
Schoettel, president of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, in response to Star
Tribune questions about the history of bear-hunting with dogs, why the number of dogs
killed by wolves has gone up recently, Wisconsin’s program to compensate hunters for
dogs killed by wolves, and what can be done to ease the conflict between wolves and
hunters. PEER is the Professional Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a
national watch dog group that is pushing for an investigation into hunters who it alleges
illegally harass wolves in Wisconsin.
First, nobody refers to our way of hunting as “hounding.’’ It is hunting with the aid of
dogs. Since the dawn of time, people have hunted with the aid of dogs. Ours are pursuit
dogs, which chase the prey with the aim of putting the bear in a position to be
harvested, not to actually engage with the prey.
It is like bike riding or hunting deer or any other activity -- we as free people get to
choose what we like to do. It also is a form of hunting that is very easy to involve your
family and young people. Bear hunting traditions are no different than traditions of
hunting that others participate in -- other than our sport is even more family-friendly than
most hunting pastimes; it is the norm that you see entire families with children from 1
through 25 out participating in the sport. PEER understands that and has targeted us
because their ultimate radical agenda is to eliminate all hunting.
There are no science based facts available that any biologist from Wisconsin can state
that the elimination of class B [hunting dog training license] has indeed increased the
conflicts. Don’t forget, the amount of depredations for agriculture has gone up and
nobody is making the excuse it was because of the elimination of Class B license.
It is also absurd to say that there is an expansion of access to public land; instead there
has been a significant contraction. Many of the state's private timber leases expired in
the recent past and the majority of that land is up for sale or is sold in small 40 acre or
more parcels. At the least, this is tens of thousands of acres of land that we cannot hunt
on. Road maintenance expenses are an area that counties are cutting, which also
reduces the amount of land to hunt on.
And last, if you see how they count wolves in this state only a fool would agree that the
population is the same as 2012. There are many more wolves, period. Also, as the
wolves have now devastated the deer population in Northern Wisconsin, they have
become more aggressive in their search for food and thus more likely to target our
dogs.
As I stated before, with freedom you also have the freedom to make bad choices. And
to hunt in the exact same place that your hunting dogs got killed and eaten is your
choice. But I know the vast majority of hunters do not. I will say that there is not an area

 in the northern half and some of the south central part of the state that does not have
wolf packs -- you can view this on the Wisconsin DNR web page.
Back when the management number was 350, which is the number at which wolves
were de-listed, there was a lot less conflict. There was a much better balance where all
parties are concerned.
To state that people knowingly are doing this to make money [from Wisconsin’s
compensation program] is also absurd coming from people who have no idea what it
costs to raise feed and maintain a good hunting dog; it is a fraction of what the loss is,
plus the emotional cost to your children’s hunting dogs and yours also. It also is kind of
like hunting and worrying that your dog might get hit by a car- there is no place to hunt
in this state that does not have roads where we bear hunt, and there is no place to bear
hunt in this state that there are no wolves.
This is not a hunter vs. wolves issue; farmers and other landowners also suffer wolf
predation. It is an out of touch judiciary and groups like PEER, which is not from our
state, telling us how to manage our wildlife.
The people who know best how to do this, Wisconsin Hunters, Farmers, Landowners,
Taxpayers and Wisconsin DNR all agree with the US Fish and Wildlife biologists who
for a decade have concluded that the gray wolf has recovered and is no longer in need
of protection and should be managed per the DNR state management plan.
With proper management we are 100% sure that depredations will be greatly reduced if
not essentially eliminated.
Thank you.
Carl Schoettel
President
Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association
Neosho WI 53059
Phone: (414) 531 2296
E-mail cschoettel@discoveryworld.org