On the brink of Wisconsin's second regulated wolf hunting and trapping season, attention is focused on a substantially higher kill goal and the highly controversial use of dogs to hunt wolves.
The 2013 season begins Tuesday with a non-tribal harvest quota of 251 wolves, up from 116 in 2012. The increased quota is necessary to meet state plans, according to Department of Natural Resources managers. But some wolf experts have called it irresponsible and unsustainable.
State wildlife managers are attempting to reduce the state's gray wolf population toward the goal of 350 animals spelled out in the 1999 management plan. "In order to meet management objectives, putting downward pressure on the population, the number of wolves removed from the landscape needs to increase this year," said Dave MacFarland, DNR large carnivore specialist. "The 2013 quota is designed to start doing so in a responsible and sustainable manner."
The 2012 wolf hunting and trapping season did not reduce or only slightly reduced the wolf population, according to state data. Wisconsin had an estimated 809 to 834 wolves in 214 packs in late winter 2013. Hunters and trappers registered 117 wolves in the 2012 season. Fifty percent were young-of-the-year animals born in 2012.
The higher kill goal for 2013 is worrisome to several wolf experts, including Adrian Treves, a University of Wisconsin associate professor. "The quota is not sustainable nor responsible in my view," Treves said. "It could drive the wolf population back to threatened status and close the hunting season after just a couple years."
The 2013 season may include the use of dogs to hunt wolves. Wisconsin is the only state to authorize the practice, arguably the most controversial and most opposed aspect of the state's wolf hunting regulations. Wolf hunting with dogs will be legal Dec. 2. A lawsuit seeking to prohibit the practice is in appeals court. A decision in the case is expected this year.
A group called Wisconsin Mainstream Hunters has filed a brief in support of the lawsuit. It maintains wolf hunting with dogs is likely to turn the public against hunting and therefore poses a risk to the future of hunting.
The number of applications for a wolf hunting permit or preference point this year was 16,672, down from 20,270 in 2012. The recently passed state budget set the cost for a resident wolf hunting and trapping license at $50; it had been $100. In addition, the budget removed the night wolf hunting provision. Since the passage of Act 169 in 2012, revenue from the sale of wolf hunting and trapping licenses and permit applications pays for wolf management and wolf depredation.
The season will include six wolf harvest zones, identical to 2012. Quotas by zone for state licensed hunters and trappers will be: Zone 1 — 76; Zone 2 — 28; Zone 3 — 71; Zone 4 — 12; Zone 5 — 34; Zone 6 — 30. "We do expect population decline in all areas of the state, though decline will be less in areas considered core habitat for wolves," MacFarland said. "The zone quotas concentrate hunting pressure more in areas with higher potential for agricultural conflicts, which is generally outside of core habitat areas."
The 2013 wolf season starts Oct. 15 and will run until the quota is reached in each zone or the last day of February, whichever occurs first.
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