Wisconsin wolf hunters exceed quota in abbreviated hunt

It’s kind of ironic that the pack of six wolves that came down to northern Colorado from central Wyoming are in Colorado due to hunting in a way. For years, the Red Desert in WY acted like a geographical buffer because the WY mountains are separated from the CO mountains by the Red Desert. Even with high populations of wolves in west central and northwestern WY, the wolves just were not making it down to CO, except for the occasional single wolf. Once wolf hunting started in WY, the packs started moving around and a pack set up shop near the Snake River. I heard that some WY hunters shot up the Snake River pack pretty good, causing some of them to disperse and end up in Colorado now. I’m definitely not blaming those hunters for going out wolf hunting but it is ironic that these wolves crossed the Red Desert likely because of hunting.

The soon to be developed new wolf management plan for CO is being discussed. The Chairman of the CO Wildlife Commission is a friend and tells me he hopes to see “triggers” put in the plan that will automatically trigger wolf hunting seasons and quota when populations increase. Time will tell.
I have a problem with the funds for the re introduction of wolves here in Colorado, coming from the DOW’s budget (hunters and fishermen) when the voters who voted for this don’t have to spend their tax dollars funding it. And many (most) of them don’t hunt or fish. The depredation payments to ranchers from wolves killing cattle will also come out of the DOW’s budget. They just dramatically raised license and hunting fees here and now this! When is Colorado going to force the taxpayers here to have some “skin in the game” and start funding the State Parks and DOW with general fund tax dollars?
 
February 2020, I went to the Rockin' G Ranch. I also looked at western Oklahoma to possibly find Lesser Prairie Chicken to add to my life birding list (viewed, not hunted). I was surprised to find that to enter state wildlife properties there was an entrance permit for anyone beside hunting or fishing license owners (birders, photographers, hikers, etc.) of $20. I contacted a state coordinator and verified this and applauded this move then. Possibly and unfortunately, this also skews the influence of non-hunting decisions in the DNR? I hope not.
 
With wolves, the only easy year is the first year.
It sounds like a lot of successful hunters were using dogs. I wonder if many got chewed up? Here in Idaho we lose quite a few bear and lion hounds to wolves.
 
I have a problem with the funds for the re introduction of wolves here in Colorado, coming from the DOW’s budget (hunters and fishermen) when the voters who voted for this don’t have to spend their tax dollars funding it. And many (most) of them don’t hunt or fish. The depredation payments to ranchers from wolves killing cattle will also come out of the DOW’s budget. They just dramatically raised license and hunting fees here and now this! When is Colorado going to force the taxpayers here to have some “skin in the game” and start funding the State Parks and DOW with general fund tax dollars?
Well, we need to be careful what we wish for in this regard. Nearly all of us in the Colorado hunting industry don’t want to see general fund tax dollars used to fund wildlife because that will lessen our voices and control. The current and previous democratic governor have both been attempting to lessen our voice and influence. Hickenlooper started it by combining the Colorado Division of Wildlife with Colorado Parks. This was detrimental to our voice because we now have Parks people on the Wildlife Commission that have little or no connection to hunting. Polis has recently appointed some real doozies, such as a former lawyer from the Center for Biological Diversity (anti-hunters). At the last meeting, he voted against all the unit harvest quotas for mountain lion. Polis has also appointed some hobby farmers/ranchers to the commission that are supposed to be representing real agricultural stakeholders. It’s becoming a mess. This is all part of a long term plan to take over! Once the granolas are also allowed to fund the CPW through the general fund, we are in BIG trouble.

Right now the CPW is an “enterprise agency” meaning that it is somewhat financially independent from the general fund and the control of the state legislature budget. As hunters, I think it unwise to give that up, wolves or no wolves.
 
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With wolves, the only easy year is the first year.
It sounds like a lot of successful hunters were using dogs. I wonder if many got chewed up? Here in Idaho we lose quite a few bear and lion hounds to wolves.
Maybe but I hope it will be different in the northern big woods of MN, WI and MI where it’s not nearly as open of country, hounds can be used and wolves can be shot from a deer-less deer stand. Lots of deer hunters see wolves without even trying.
 
people that don't live with wolves love em. id like to drop 300 grizzly's or brown bears into california and make them wait 15 years to have a hunting season, oh and 100 -150 wolves too. i suspect they will figure out what "stupid is as stupid does" means
 
Well, we need to be careful what we wish for in this regard. Nearly all of us in the Colorado hunting industry don’t want to see general fund tax dollars used to fund wildlife because that will lessen our voices and control. The current and previous democratic governor have both been attempting to lessen our voice and influence. Hickenlooper started it by combining the Colorado Division of Wildlife with Colorado Parks. This was detrimental to our voice because we now have Parks people on the Wildlife Commission that have little or no connection to hunting. Polis has recently appointed some real doozies, such as a former lawyer from the Center for Biological Diversity (anti-hunters). At the last meeting, he voted against all the unit harvest quotas for mountain lion. Polis has also appointed some hobby farmers/ranchers to the commission that are supposed to be representing real agricultural stakeholders. It’s becoming a mess. This is all part of a long term plan to take over! Once the granolas are also allowed to fund the CPW through the general fund, we are in BIG trouble.
Right now the CPW is an “enterprise agency” meaning that it is somewhat financially independent from the general fund and the control of the state legislature budget. As hunters, I think it unwise to give that up, wolves or no wolves.
people that don't live with wolves love em. id like to drop 300 grizzly's or brown bears into california and make them wait 15 years to have a hunting season, oh and 100 -150 wolves too. i suspect they will figure out what "stupid is as stupid does" means
You know, that’s not too far fetched of a plan? I bet they would take them and pay for their relocation to Californicate with the Covid stimulus money the states’ about to get. But they will have to be close to the big cities so the people can bond (petting/feeding) with them? I call their Governor tomorrow! Oh wait, he’s about to be recalled. I’ll have to wait for the next bozo to be elected.
 
These are all from this year in zone 4 which is where I live. I never have a problem finding sign as you can tell.

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Here we go...

Wisconsin hunters kill 216 wolves in less than 60 hours, sparking uproar​

46a1d0132754949b05301ed168e41973

Victoria Bekiempis
Wed, March 3, 2021, 10:34 AM·3 min read


Hunters and trappers in Wisconsin killed 216 gray wolves last week during the state’s 2021 wolf hunting season – more than 82% above the authorities’ stated quota, sparking uproar among animal-lovers and conservationists, according to reports.
The kills all took place in less than 60 hours, quickly exceeding Wisconsin’s statewide stated limit of 119 animals.
As a result, Wisconsin’s department of natural resources ended the season, which was scheduled to span one week, four days early.
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While department officials were reportedly surprised by the number of gray wolves killed, they described the population as “robust, resilient” and expressed confidence in managing the numbers “properly going forward”.
Most of the animals were killed by hunters who used “trailing hounds”, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The state’s overkill was exacerbated by Wisconsin law that mandates 24-hour notice of season closure, rather than immediate notification.
Natural resources department officials also sold 1,547 permits this season, about 13 hunters or trappers per wolf under the quota’s target number. This equated to twice as many permits as normal – and marked the highest ratio of any season so far.
State authorities had a total culling goal of 200 wolves, in an attempt to stabilize their population. As Native American tribes claimed a quota of 81 wolves, this left 119 for the state-licensed trappers and hunters. Because the tribes consider wolves sacred, they typically use their allotment to protect, not kill, them.
“Should we, would we, could we have [closed the season] sooner? Yes.” Eric Lobner, DNR wildlife director, said, according to the Journal Sentinel.
“Did we go over? We did. Was that something we wanted to have happen? Absolutely not.”
The overshoot, which has never exceeded 10 wolves in prior seasons, spurred criticism.
Megan Nicholson, who directs Wisconsin’s chapter of the Humane Society of the United States, commented in a statement: “This is a deeply sad and shameful week for Wisconsin.”
She added: “This week’s hunt proves that now, more than ever, gray wolves need federal protections restored to protect them from short-sighted and lethal state management,” Nicholson also said.
This hunt comes in the wake of federal policy, and local litigation, that stripped gray wolves of protection.
In the 1950s gray wolves, which are native to Wisconsin, were extirpated from the state due to years of unregulated hunting. Heightened protections, such as the federal 1973 Endangered Species Act, helped the population rebound.
Following the implementation of these protections, gray wolves emerged and spread from a northern Minnesota “stronghold”, the Journal Sentinel said.
The implications of these protections were sweeping: while the gray wolf population had dropped to about 1,000 by the 1970s, the number now totals about 6,000 in the lower 48 states.
The gray wolf was delisted for protection in 2012, however. Wisconsin officials subsequently provided three hunting and trapping seasons. In 2012, 117 wolves were killed; in 2013, 257; and in 2014, 154.
A federal judge, in response to a lawsuit from wildlife advocates, decided in December 2014 that the gray wolf must be put back on the Endangered Species List. In October 2020, the Trump administration removed the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List.
A Kansas-based hunting advocacy group filed suit against Wisconsin’s department of natural resources in January over its decision not to provide a gray wolf hunting or trapping season this winter. This legal action reportedly “forced” the department to hold a season before February ended.
The season was also the first to take place in February, the gray wolf’s breeding season. Advocates have worried that killing pregnant wolves could have an even greater impact on their population, possibly disrupting packs.
Because officials rushed to open the season, there was dramatically limited opportunity for legally mandated consultation with Native American tribes, the newspaper also notes.
“This season trampled over the tribes’ treaty rights, the Wisconsin public and professional wildlife stewardship,” a representative for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission reportedly said.
 

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No matter what you say or do they will complain. We all knew it was coming.
No doubt.

Also they do not seem to understand that that actual "overkill" is 16 wolves statewide, not 97.

The total cull number the state put out was 200 in order to "stabilize their population". The fact that the tribe chose to not hunt their allocation of 81 wolves means that, overall, taking 216 when looking to take 200 is actually hitting it very close.
 
Is it legal to use a bait dog like that?

I do wonder what he would do if he saw a live wolf.

Funny enough he loves following wolf and coyote tracks and sign as it gives him lots to do and will watch them from a distance without freaking out. Put him in the presence of a dead coyote and he doesn't want anything to do with it. He'll blood trail to it but then tries to get as far away from it as possible. Probably because they smell like sh*t.
 
Amazing to get that many so quick, well done those guys, I would love to get a big Wolf myself, only saw them once in Alaska for a fleeting second & missed a huge Coyote, as when I hit the ground to shoot my giant Alaskan Pack drove me into the ground !

@CJW that is a Terrier of some type isn't it, lot of fight in a small dog I think, would equal a Coyote & hold off one Wolf maybe for a bit ?
 
I'm kind of surprised by the reported numbers harvested, I've hunted wolves for a here in BC. And they are bloody hard to hunt, skittish as hell. So taking 200 in a short period of time seems a bit odd to me.
 
Amazing to get that many so quick, well done those guys, I would love to get a big Wolf myself, only saw them once in Alaska for a fleeting second & missed a huge Coyote, as when I hit the ground to shoot my giant Alaskan Pack drove me into the ground !

@CJW that is a Terrier of some type isn't it, lot of fight in a small dog I think, would equal a Coyote & hold off one Wolf maybe for a bit ?

Yeah, he's supposedly half jack russel, half wire hair fox terrier. Got him at a year old and that's what I was told and I can see both in him but never saw the parents. He's only 28 lbs but pretty feisty. A coyote he might be able to hold off but a wolf might be a different story. I have seen him put a 95 lb GSD in his place more than once and that terrier attitude is pretty impressive. He bayed a fox for over an hour on time and chased them off many times so he isn't scared of those.
 
I'm kind of surprised by the reported numbers harvested, I've hunted wolves for a here in BC. And they are bloody hard to hunt, skittish as hell. So taking 200 in a short period of time seems a bit odd to me.

Honestly it is a bit surprising and suspicious even for me. Our agricultural areas down south make it easier to see them obviously but even then it's another thing to actually kill them when they know you're after them. I have never called one in or seen one while hunting up here. The three times I've seen one have been along the road. They say that 90% of the successful hunters used dogs so that definitely helps but to run down a wolf in the snow even with dogs is quite a feat, especially up here in the northwoods.

The last times we had a wolf hunt there were a few successful parties whose wolves looked suspiciously like coyotes.
 

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