Idaho's First Wolf Hunt is Over

Idaho's first regulated wolf season is closed. Hunters took 188 wolves. The harvest limit was 220. Idaho Fish and Game set wolf harvest limits for each of 12 management zones. Seven zones closed when the limit for that was reached. The season closed statewide Wednesday, March 31. Idaho Fish and Game sold a total of 31,400 wolf tags - 30,619 resident and 781 nonresident tags - for the seven-month season that ran from September 1, 2009, in some zones to March 31, 2010. Harvested wolves ranged in size from 54 to 127 pounds - males averaged 100 pounds, and females averaged 79 pounds. Of the wolves taken, 58 percent were male, and 15 percent were juveniles less than one year old. About 86 percent of the wolves taken, were taken by resident hunters. Twelve of the wolves checked in were wearing radio collars. Most wolves were shot in October and the fewest in January. Two wolves were taken in the Southern Idaho zone, and 49 were taken in the Sawtooth zone. At the end of 2009, Idaho had a minimum of 843 wolves in 94 packs, and 49 packs are considered breeding pairs. The average pack size was 7.8 wolves. A total of 142 wolves are radio-collared. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission objective is to manage wolves at the 2005 population level when the year ended with 518 wolves. In addition to hunter harvest, 138 wolves were killed in livestock depredation control actions and from other causes. For more information on the wolf hunt in Idaho, visit the Fish and Game wolf management Web page: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/hunt/wolf/.