Friday, October 16, 2009

Montana closes Yellowstone area to wolf hunting

Rate of hunter success starting to climb


By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission closed wolf hunting along the border of Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday after nine wolves were shot there since the backcountry hunt opened on Sept. 15.

The commission had suspended hunting in a section of the state's Wolf Management Unit 3, which runs across southern Montana from Dillon east to its border. Hunting in most of the unit opens Oct. 25, but was opened more than a month earlier in backcountry deer and elk hunting District 316, in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness north of Yellowstone National Park.

The quota for that entire unit is 12, meaning only three more wolves can be killed in that area. The total quota for the state is 75, about 15 percent of the state's wolf population.

"We're learning things every day as Montana's first-ever, fair-chase wolf hunt progresses," said Joe Maurier, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, in a news release. "We were always a bit unsure about the level of hunter success we'd see in the remote, early-season backcountry areas."

According to a report from The Associated Press, the commission said that because of the state's conservative quota, an overrun would not cause a significant impact to Montana's wolf population.

In Idaho, 52 wolves have been killed, with the numbers spread relatively evenly throughout the state's 12 wolf hunting zones. The quota for the state is 220.

Idaho Fish and Game spokesman Ed Mitchell said in an interview that the number of wolves killed could jump as hunters take to the woods for deer and elk season, the latter opening on Thursday. A hunter caused a stir Thursday in Stanley, allowing spectators to view in the back of a pickup truck a large gray wolf killed in the region.

Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com




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