Lincoln County bagging fair share of wolves

Ninety-six wolves have been taken, with eight harvested by trapping, during Montana’s wolf hunting and trapping season.  

In region one, which encompasses Lincoln County, 30 wolves have been taken by hunting and two have been trapped. Those numbers were from John Fraley at Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks office in Kalispell.

Montana wolf trapping season got underway on Dec. 15 and will run until Feb 28. Archery season for wolves ran from Sept. 6-14, and general rifle season began Sept.15 and continues until Mar. 15.

Local taxidermist Gerry Mercer said trapping season starts to take-off when the snow falls and it starts to get cold, which should be soon. Last year he had a dozen wolves come through his shop.

According to 2013 numbers from Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks, the total number of wolves taken during the season was 230, 143 were hunted and 87 trapped.

Wolf Management Units 100 and 101, which include Lincoln County and a portion of Flathead County, were the areas with the highest numbers of harvested wolves in the state. The number of wolves taken in those two areas was 28 in 100 and 38 in 101.

Last year 24,479 wolf licenses were issued, 22,169 of those were to Montana residents.

Senate Bill 200 is a new bill that allows for landowners in Wolf Management Units 200, 400, 310 and 390 to take up to 100 wolves total that may potentially be a threat to humans, livestock or dogs. The quota will be examined in four 25-wolf increments throughout the year, with increases needing to be approved by Fish Wildlife & Parks.

The first fair chase wolf hunting season in Montana was 2009. Before then, no rules existed to regulate the number or means by which wolves could be taken. That year 60 wolves were taken during the season lasting from Oct. 25 to Nov. 15.

In 2011, the number of wolves harvested rose to 166. The total number of wolves killed during the 2012 season fell to 128.

Court challenges barred the 2010 wolf hunting season.