26 December 2018 — 1458 mst

Rep. Bob Brown, helping those who would kill wolves

For Montanans who want to kill wolves, Rep. Bob Brown (R-Thompson Falls, HD-13) is their man in the legislature. So far, he’s requested four bills to make killing wolves easier:

• LC-2007, Allow wolf hunting at night.
• LC-2012, Allow nonresident deer and elk tag to be used to hunt wolves.
• LC-2013, Allow resident bear tag to be used to hunt wolves.
• LC-2014, Allow for additional wolf tags to be purchased online after harvest.

I place hunting wolves at night on the same ethical plane as shining deer. To me, it reeks of poaching, of unsavory characters sneaking around in the dark with the latest technology for finding and killing wolves — or killing Fido by mistake, if he’s loose in the woods after dark (which he shouldn’t be).

These are blood bills. The legislature ought to reject them.