The controversy over an online wolf-trapping photo prompts new scrutiny and could influence November’s Right to Hunt vote.
BY ROCKY BARKER
Idaho’s laws to ensure humane treatment of domestic animals don’t cover wild animals — hunted, trapped or fished.
Those activities have always been exempted from Idaho’s animal-cruelty laws. The new felony penalties for animal cruelty signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Butch Otter don’t change that.
Trapper Josh Bransford of Grangeville broke no laws when he posed in front of a trapped wolf — bloody snow surrounding the wounded predator — and posted his smiling face on a website in March. The photograph went viral, prompting calls from environmental groups for charges against the Forest Service employee.
Rules that require hunters and trappers to kill their quarry quickly are designed to ensure that suffering is kept to a minimum, Fish and Game officials say.
Idaho trapping rules require a trapper to check his trap at least once every 72 hours, and Bransford checked the trap March 17, the night before he found the wolf.
In his original Internet post, Bransford wrote that hunters might have shot at the wolf while it was in the trap 350 yards from Red River Road near Elk City.
But Fish and Game officials said they have no evidence that the wolf had been shot before Bransford killed it, said Director Virgil Moore.
Nicks on the wolf’s hind legs that Bransford identified as possible bullet marks were inconclusive, officials said.
“Until we get an eyewitness, we won’t be able to verify that anyone took a shot at this wolf,” said Mike Keckler, a Fish and Game spokesman.
Even if someone did shoot the wolf while it was in the trap, it might not warrant charges, because a hunter could have fired not knowing the wolf’s predicament. Idaho law says no one can harass a trapped animal.
Noah Greenwald, endangered species coordinator for the Center for Biodiversity, dismissed Fish and Game’s effort as a “drive-by investigation.” He wanted a more thorough attempt to find the hunters who he and other environmentalists believe shot at the animal from the road.
“This seems emblematic of the attitude that led to the demise of wolves in the first place,” Greenwald said.
He and other critics say that wolf trapping and the killing of 375 wolves this season show that Idaho is ignoring the concerns of millions of people worldwide who support the recovery of wolves in the Northern Rockies.
The incident has brought unwelcome attention to the state, which 30 years ago attracted national ire for its jackrabbit drives near Mud Lake, at which Boy Scouts and others bashed tens of thousands of bunnies with baseball bats.
TRAPPING IN SPOTLIGHT
The Bransford incident has brought the most attention to trapping itself. Idaho Fish and Game, with the prodding and support of the Idaho Trappers Association, made all wolf hunters take a mandatory class that combined training on techniques with trapper ethics. More than 900 people went through it.
“This kind of stuff is the reason we pushed for it,” said association president Pat Carney of Mountain Home. “We knew everyone in the nation would be looking at us.”
Bransford’s mistake was not posing with his trophy, Carney said. It was posting it online, the sort of thing instructors in the trapping class discouraged.
The problem with posting photos of trapped animals online is that the wolf issue is so polarizing right now, said David Linkhart, the National Trapping Association director of national and international affairs.
He said that such displays are a way for trappers to celebrate their success in overcoming a skilled adversary.
“The trapper is not showing disrespect for its prey; he’s showing respect,” Linkhart said.
“I don’t see any difference between this and a hunter or angler showing off their trophy.”
Meridian archer Debbie Shurte bristles at Linkhart’s comparison with hunters. She grew up hunting and has had her share of trophy pictures with deer.
“I never did it with the animal alive,” she said. That shows disrespect for the animal because it stresses the animal, she said.
Shurte said she didn’t support wolf reintroduction, but now that wolves are in Idaho, they need to be treated like other game animals.
PUBLIC SENTIMENT
Carter Niemeyer is the retired Idaho wolf program manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He grew up as a trapper and became one of the federal government’s most skilled wolf trappers before changing jobs.
The leghold traps used today are designed to minimize animal suffering, he said. Trapping has a long history in American rural society, putting food on the table and money in the bank.
“Our urbanized society does not understand this, so it puts the responsibility on the people who engage in trapping to be aware that trapping is an ugly scene and it shocks people,” Niemeyer said.
He personally does not support a 72-hour trap check, which is the law in Idaho and other western states. Trappers should have to check traps more frequently, he said.
“Too much can happen in that amount of time,” said Niemeyer, author of the book “Wolfer,” which details his career trapping and protecting the animal.
A trapped animal is traumatized, can break its leg and will become dehydrated, he said. Niemeyer said he always checked his traps every 24 hours.
“This is where I draw the line,” he said.
RIGHT TO HUNT VOTE
In comments posted at IdahoStatesman.com and FieldandStream.com on the first Bransford story, many hunters expressed outrage not only at his behavior, but also at trapping in general.
At the polls in November, Idahoans will vote on a constitutional amendment that would make hunting, fishing and trapping a right that cannot be banned.
Shurte said she has always defended the right to hunt and fish, but she’s starting to question her support for trapping.
With the long time between trap checks and the threat that traps pose to her dogs when she goes into the woods, she’s leaning against the amendment.
Lisa Kauffman, Idaho state director for the Humane Society of the United States, said she’s not sure what her group will do. She personally opposes the Right to Hunt measure, and trapping is the main reason.
“If you are an ethical hunter and humanely dispatch the animal, we don’t have a problem with that,” she said.
Linkhart said hunters need to stand beside trappers in protecting their shared cultural values.
“I think any hunter that is condemning this is missing the big picture,” Linkhart said. “These groups are out to end all hunting, trapping, fishing and eating meat of any animals.”
BRANSFORD QUIET
Bransford, the man whose picture started all of the discussion, has not returned phone calls for comment. He continues to be harassed by animal-rights activists and others. One Texas group started a campaign to get his wife fired from her job with the Nez Perce Tribe, which has been a key supporter of wolf recovery.
Fish and Game’s Keckler said he spoke briefly with Bransford.
“He said he was sorry that he posted this photograph,” Keckler said.