Wolf Hunting in MN?

[Ice Shack Baby]

Minnesota sketches fall wolf hunting season

By Dave Orrick

Updated: 01/06/2012 03:23:30 PM CST

Minnesota wildlife officials are moving ahead with plans for a hunting and trapping season on the iconic timber wolf.

Today's announcement by the Department of Natural Resources that a November-to-January season is in the works follows last month's announcement by federal officials that they plan to remove federal protections from the animals, which have reached stable and healthy populations in the northern Midwest.

Barring any legal action to block the animal's de-listing, the DNR needs no further authority to open the predator to hunting and trapping. Officials said they do need state legislative approval for a number of aspects of their vision, such as a special wolf permit, and they plan to seek public input.

"It creates a lot of emotional feelings in people, from people who hate wolves, to people who think they're the greatest animal there is," DNR commissioner Tom Landwehr said today in St. Paul at an annual forum of major DNR issues. "We know this is going to be an issue that's going to create a lot of controversy."

Landwehr and others cautioned the agency has no formal proposal yet, but two key staffers stood beside him at a news conference to sketch out where they're heading.

Large carnivore specialist Dan Stark and Ed Boggess, director of the Fish and Wildlife Division, described what they termed a "science-based" approach to allow hunters and trappers the chance to kill wolves while allowing the population to sustain itself.

"The goal is to ensure the long-term survival of wolves and reduce conflicts between wolves and livestock," Boggess said.

Minnesota's wolf population, which never was entirely killed off when federal protections were granted in 1974, now hovers around 3,000. That figure is believed to have remained stable since 1998. Stark said studies from other areas where wolf hunting is allowed - including Canada, Alaska and some western states - show wolves could be killed off by 20 percent annually, perhaps more, without any significant impact on the total population.

However, he and Boggess said the DNR's approach will be "conservative" this fall because little data exists to know how many hunters would be interested in killing wolves.

Before 1974, wolves, like coyotes, had no state protections, so important numbers, such as hunter success rates, didn't exist.

"We know success rates will be low, but we have high hunter densities," Stark said. "We don't know how high a success rate will be. Our approach will be to learn from the initial season and use that information to adapt future seasons."

In what Stark described as a "tentative option," the DNR envisions the following:

-- A hunting and trapping season from "mid-November through mid-January." This would coincide with trapping seasons for furbearers such as bobcats and come when the wolves are growing a winter underfur, Stark said. Such pelts could fetch the highest prices. Such a season would not overlap with the state's most popular hunting season, the firearms deer season, when more than 500,000 hunters take to the land.

-- Wolf hunters would need to apply in a lottery to buy a special wolf license. Officials said this would allow them to ensure too many wolves aren't killed. Such a plan would also require approval of the legislature, since wolves currently are classified as small game.

-- Different parts of the state would have different quotas for how many wolves can be shot or trapped. One likely breakdown would fall along the transition from the northern forests to the western farms. A decade-old state wolf management plan affords landowners in the agricultural areas more leeway in shooting a wolf on their property, since the area is outside of their traditional range and wolves kill livestock. More wolves probably would be allowed to be hunted in agricultural areas than forested ones.

-- Animals would have to be registered with the DNR, which would take flesh samples for research. In addition, the agency said it needs to develop a plan to monitor the population annually. Currently, that's done once every five years.

-- Out of state hunters likely would be allowed, but officials had few specifics on any numbers of hunters, thresholds for the number of animals killed, or costs associated with the program, which would be funded, at least in part, through sales of the special licenses.

Other specifics, such as what sorts of techniques - luring the animals with food or decoys, for example - had yet to be discussed, officials said.

Boggess and Stark said the decision to allow hunting was driven by a combination of factors, including the desire from hunters for the opportunity and the need to reduce conflicts with humans, especially livestock in some areas.

"It's a sustainable resource out there that can be harvested," Boggess said.

Landwehr said allowing the animal to be hunted and trapped should not be seen as a diminishment of its stature.

"This animal is a trophy animal...trophy from the standpoint that it is a worthwhile species and not vermin," he said.

[K_Josh87]

I think this would spark the interest of a lot of people, and MAYBE cut down on the wasteful killing of these critters that goes on now... If there is a season in which these animals can be legally harvested, and sold for pelts or made into mounts, then hopefully the, "whoops, this one happened to run by my deer stand and died, but no one will ever know" incidents would slim down....

[Bowfin]

Good move - the wolf will gain more respect among hunters now if they are managed. Much like the bear did when they started a bear season in the 80's.

[i'majigger]

Minnesota DNR says GREAT another license we can add to the other gazillion we already have it will not be much longer and our regulation book will be the size of a copy of the book War and Peace. This animal is a predator just like a coyote or fox, a small game license should be all we need to hunt Timber wolves. Any animal that is harvested must be tagged by the DNR and when quotas are met for the year season will be closed. I knew this would happen when the wolf was delisted they have to make everything so difficult. I do not believe we need a lottery system to hunt these animals as I do not believe there will be that many people out there hunting them as they are not that easy to hunt. Yes this is a nice winter with warm conditons to hunt in but most winters the temp is cold and not to many guys are going to brave that to hunt. I am a predator hunter and I usually find that the colder the temps the better the hunting is. The people that have been illegally shooting the wolves probably are not going to fight through the lottery sytem to keep shootin them so why not give everyone an equal chance if they should happen to decide the want to try for one. As I said earlier when the quota has been met for the year season is closed and then if someone is caught shooting after season is closed make the fine substantial enough so that they will think twice before they pull the trigger.

[Saw557]

Great idea letting everyone hunt/trap wolves until the quota is met . I think other states do this with cougars and have a window of time once the quota is made. Otherwise what I see happening is a lot of people will apply and it may take years to draw a permit. I could also see some of the winners of the lottery finding out just how hard it is after the first time or two out and give up denying others the chance to give it a shot