Idaho parachutist shot at wolves from sky

[Are_grits_groceries]

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A shotgun-wielding motorized parachutist fired on a pack of wolves earlier this year from the eastern Idaho sky, something forbidden even under a state permit that allows aerial gunning of foxes and coyotes.

Carl Ball, a sheep rancher, was flying his aircraft June 5 near St. Anthony above a 160-acre sheep pen when he saw at least four wolves, according to an Idaho Department of Fish and Game law enforcement report.

Ball reported he believed one animal outfitted with a radio collar had been killed, though state and federal wildlife officials who arrived hours later never found a carcass.

Even though the federal government earlier this year lifted Endangered Species Act protections from more than 1,000 wolves in Idaho and Montana and both states have a legal hunting seasons, that's only for people shooting from the ground or trees.

Blasting wolves from the sky remains off limits - because they're considered big game animals by state wildlife managers, not predators like foxes or coyotes.

Idaho Fish and Game has dropped an investigation, however, citing lack of a wolf carcass.

http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=11243369

Black helicopters? Meh. Now it's motorized parachutists with shotguns.

[Wilms]

1. .

[theHandpuppet]

3. Hmmm... from that photo of the motorized parachute....

I wonder why (a) anyone would carry a shotgun while parachuting, and (b) how in the hell could you accurately fire one while operating the motorized parachute? Seems to me the recoil alone could cause an accident.

[vadawg]

2. without a body its kinda hard to convict, though it looks like he admitted to shooting at them

kinda funny that he was mayby smart enough to dispose of the carcass