WI Wolf Hunt Wants to Kill 201 Wolves

Wolf hunt permit applications available starting Aug. 1

  Jul 25, 2012   |  

Written by Wausau Daily Herald

Hunters and trappers can begin applying for wolf permits Aug. 1 as the state prepares for its first wolf hunt in decades.

The Department of Natural Resources wants to kill 201 wolves this season, including those killed by American Indian tribes, who will announce how many they plan to kill — which could be as many as 100 — within the next month. The DNR plans to issue 10 times as many permits as the number of wolves other hunters are allowed to kill.


Laurie Groskopf, a town of Harrison resident who has been a strong advocate for wolf population control, says expecting a 10 percent success rate is too restrictive. Western states that have allowed wolf hunting, such as Montana and Idaho, have seen a 1 percent to 2 percent success rate during the past two years, according to each state’s Department of Natural Resources.

“The number of permits needs to be much higher because hunting wolves is not easy,” she said. “It’s just peanuts that they’re giving the people who want to control the population.”

Scott Loomans, a wildlife regulations specialist for the DNR, said the department looked at success rates in other states, but it also factored in differences between Wisconsin and other wolf hunting states.

“The hunt zones here have better access and more roads than other states,” he said. “There’s a good chance our success rate will be higher.”

Because this is Wisconsin’s first legal wolf hunt season in decades, officials wanted to be cautious in their estimates, Loomans said. They’ll learn a lot more this year about success rates and the use of hunting as population control to factor into next year’s quotas and permit totals.

The department isn’t sure how many people will apply for permits.

“It’s just hard to guess how many people will be interested,” he said. “This, obviously, is not something we’ve been through yet.”

Loomans expects the number of applicants to be somewhere between the number of bobcat permit applicants — 12,000 in 2010 — and bear permit applicants — nearly 100,000 in 2011.

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