While only 15 wolves have been killed in the first month of hunting in Idaho, that number could increase significantly as the remaining eight of 12 wolf zones open Thursday. Still, the relatively low early numbers have some people thinking that hunters may face a tough challenge to reach the quota set for the state.
"I don't see 220 coming really soon," said Ed Mitchell, spokesman for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. "But it will be interesting to see what happens when the other big game hunts open."
Wolf hunting in the Wood River Valley—the home range of the Phantom Hill pack—will be open from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. The valley falls into Idaho's Southern Mountains wolf zone, which extends east across the Pioneer, White Knob, Lost River, Lemhi and Beaverhead mountain ranges to the Montana border. Ten wolves can be killed in that zone.
To date, six wolves have been killed in the Sawtooth zone, which has the highest quota of 55, four have been shot in the Middle Fork zone, two in the Lolo zone, two in the Selway zone and one wolf was illegally killed in the McCall-Weiser zone.
In Montana, the hunt opened Sept. 15 and so far six wolves have been killed out of the state's limit of 75.
Mitchell said that although the dates vary among big game zones across the state, deer season opens in most zones Oct. 10 and elk season on Oct. 15.
"I think there could be quite a few wolves shot once the other seasons open and there are a lot more hunters out there," said Terry Ring, owner of Silver Creek Outfitters in Ketchum. "Wolves are a very difficult animal to hunt on their own and I think most kills will be incidental."
While Mitchell agreed with Ring's assertion that hunting will increase throughout fall and into winter, the Fish and Game official said he wouldn't "hazard a guess" as to what the final take would be in the Southern Mountains zone or throughout the rest of the state.
"I don't think that there will be any particular difference in the hunt within the Wood River Valley than in any other zone in Idaho," Mitchell said. "However, there is a fairly healthy population of wolves there and you can usually count on having wolves around areas where big game is fed."
Mitchell's hesitancy in making a prediction stems from the fact that this is the first time there's been a wolf hunt since the predator was reintroduced almost 15 years ago.
However, based on the activity over the past month, Mitchell said the number of wolves shot so far has somewhat tempered the heated arguments that were seen in the run-up to the hunt.
Conservation groups failed in their attempt to obtain a last-minute injunction against the hunt. They had contended that wolves in the northern Rockies should remain on the endangered species list since they had not achieved population levels high enough to sustain the species.
However, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, in Missoula, Mont., left the door open for placing wolves back under the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act by stating that delisting wolves along state lines—in Idaho and Montana, but not in Wyoming—seemed "arbitrary and capricious."
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
