WINTER PARK, Colo. — Colorado has had gray wolves for six months, and ranchers have been living in a gray area.
It is legal in Colorado for someone to kill a wolf, if they see it in the act of killing their livestock, but it is illegal in Colorado to hunt with night-vision equipment. So what happens if a rancher uses a night-vision scope to see a wolf killing their livestock?
"I'm the one that was stupid enough to ask the question," Walden rancher Don Gittleson said to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission at a meeting Thursday morning in Winter Park.
He said he first asked about this hypothetical scenario in December.
"I thought I was going to get an answer much sooner than I have," he told the commission.
It might seem far-fetched, but Middle Park Stockgrowers President Tim Ritschard assured commissioners it was not.
"Our producers have had chances to eliminate these wolves," Ritschard said. "We've had that chance to eliminate them ourselves, but we are law abiding citizens, and we are trying to follow the law. We feel like our confidence with CPW is falling by the day."
For months, CPW has advised ranchers not to take the shot.
"Shouldn't this have been done before we dumped off wolves," asked Grand County Commissioner Merrit Linke.
It's an important topic to ranchers. They explained how wolves have not just affected their livestock but also their lives.
Doug Bruchez disclosed to the commission that his family was the first in Colorado this year to have livestock killed by a reintroduced wolf, or wolves. He told commissioners he needed to start taking blood pressure medication due to acute stress and a lack of sleep.
"Many of us were physically living and sleeping with our cattle," Bruchez said. "Protecting our livestock became a 24-hour a day job."
After several hours, ranchers got the help they sought. It was a day spent away from their livestock, but a workday nonetheless, advocating for themselves.
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