Wyoming rancher Chris Wark, whose cattle are used to process fur for fur trapping, says he and his family are in a unique position.
Wark says the wildlife industry has been “a real big part of my life,” and the fur industry has given him “a lot of opportunities” in the past.
In fact, his son, Todd, has become a part-time fur-processing supervisor for the Wyoming Department of Fish and Game.
WARK, who is an avid hunter, has hunted coyotes and other wildlife in the state for decades.
But in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wark’s son and a fellow rancher noticed a new trend in hunting the coyote.
Warks son’s father, who was in the cattle business, told Wark to stop killing the animals, because it was a distraction from his ranch business.
But Wark insisted.
“I said, ‘You know, you’re a part time rancher, and if you’re going to have to do this, why don’t you try to do it in the right way?'”
Wark recalls his son telling him.
“And I said, well, you’ve been part of the story.”
Wark has been hunting the deer for the past 15 years.
His son and his son’s colleague have become a family friend, and Wark and his wife, Karen, have raised their son as a “hunter.”
The Wark family has hunted cattle in Wyoming for generations, but they have always hunted coyote and bobcats.
It is a family tradition.
Wartalk’s son, who’s a part owner of a local ranching company, has had his own brush with the law.
But it was only after the Wark ranch was closed down that Wark saw the importance of the fur-production process.
In the mid-1980s, the Wyoming Division of Fish & Game said Wark violated the state’s wildlife laws when he shot deer with a rifle.
Waring’s son was charged with unlawful use of a firearm and fined $1,000.
Wares son, in turn, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Washington attorney Bill Fagan filed a lawsuit, alleging that Waring was using his position as a public figure to illegally hunt.
The case was eventually settled in 1988.
Wearing a cowboy hat and a cowboy beard, Waring spoke to the media after the case was settled.
“We had a big win in that case,” he said.
“They didn’t even have to prove anything.”
Waring said he is now retired, and Karen Wark said her husband has been working for the department for 20 years.
“He’s been doing this job because he loves it, and we love him for it,” Karen Wartak said.
But now that he’s retired, Wartark is focused on working on his own ranch, which has about 150 animals.
WARTALK’S STORY Wartalker’s story can be found on the National Geographic website and at The Washington Post.
The Wartalks, who have three sons and four daughters, were not always hunters.
Waving grew up hunting deer, but his father said it was because of a hunting obsession he had with his son that drove him to become a professional hunter.
Waryak said his father always wanted to know if the animals were hungry or not.
“My father always said, you know, if the animal is hungry, don’t kill it,” Waryack said.
Warming, now 78, said he loves the sport of hunting.
“Hunting is my life.
And I have been a hunter all my life.”
Wartank says he is happy to have had the opportunity to become involved with conservation efforts.
“You know we’re doing a lot of good things,” he told The Washington Sun.
“If we’re going back, if we’re still alive, I want to be involved.”