Hunters, trappers kill 117 wolves during Wisconsin season

As reported last week, Wisconsin closed its inaugural wolf hunting and trapping season last Sunday after hunters reached the quota for the last remaining open zone.

By: Compiled by News Tribune staff , Duluth News Tribune

As reported last week, Wisconsin closed its inaugural wolf hunting and trapping season last Sunday after hunters reached the quota for the last remaining open zone.

Hunters and trappers killed 117 wolves across six wolf management zones statewide during the season, which opened Oct. 15. That’s one more than the target harvest.

Sixty-two of the wolves, or about 53 percent, were taken by trappers using foothold traps. The remainder were taken by hunters using firearms. Fifty-nine percent of the wolves taken were male, and four of the animals had worn radio collars.

Hunters and trappers in Wisconsin were required to submit the carcass from each wolf kill to the DNR for analysis, including age, health and reproductive status. Test results will be coming back to the DNR over the next seven months, said DNR wolf biologist Adrian Wydeven.

“We’re looking forward to all the information that will be coming in,” Wydeven told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s going to add substantial data to our wolf management program.”

Minnesota

Wolf hunting and trapping continues in the Northwest Zone in Minnesota; it was closed in the state’s Northeast and East-Central zones earlier this month after hunters and trappers reached the late-season quotas for those areas.

The late-season target harvest for the Northwest Zone, which includes parts of western St. Louis County, Itasca County, Koochiching County and much of Aitkin County, and points west, is 187 wolves; 137 had been harvested as of Friday afternoon.

Through Friday afternoon, hunters and trappers had registered 204 wolves so far during the late season, which opened Nov. 24. The season target for all Minnesota zones is 253 wolves.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

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