To the Journal editor:

Two months of baited deer blinds really works in the wolf’s favor. The wolf only has to find a blind that is chumming, in deer, on a steady basis.

Twice I witnessed a situation where a doe came into my bait, while bow hunting. When a wolf shot out of his hiding spot, toward the doe, shocking both the doe and me, the doe was visibly shaken, as it took off running, with the wolf in hot pursuit.

Whether the wolf killed the doe or not, I don’t know? I do know, I never saw the same doe again. I did notice fewer deer tracks in the area.

Without snow on the ground and the hunters gone the bulk of the time, the wolf can pick his own time to watch a bait site, which can be during the night, day, times when the hunter is not present, etc.

Two months of baited blinds give the wolf an excellent opportunity of finding baited deer blinds holding the most deer for the easiest kills. When the wolf finds trouble getting his next kill, he simply moved onto another baited blind and that allows him to kill the first dumb deer coming in for the bait. The wolf only has to repeat this same pattern, again and again, in his home range.

The hunter does all of the hard work of buying the bait and hauling it to a bait site, etc., in hopes of harvesting a deer.

The wolf only has to wander around in his home range, finding the best blinds holding the most deer and picking the best time to ambush a deer.

When the few deer that return to their winter deer yard the wolf also follows the deer to their winter deer yarding area. The deeper the snow, the colder the weather, the weaker the deer get, etc., the easier it is for the wolf to kill a deer for lunch.

On behalf of the wolf, he should “thank you” for your time, money and trouble for chumming in his lunch!

Why did the hunters back in the 1950s get rid of the wolf? It resulted in record numbers of whitetail deer in the Upper Peninsula. Hunters came from downstate, from all corners of the U.S. all seeing deer, shooting trophy bucks, having a great hunting experience, etc.

Hunters pay attention to one thing: No deer tracks, no deer.