Wolf harvest

Assuming a birthdate of May 1 for pups, during the current wolf hunting season, which opened July 1, 2013, 146 wolves were taken by December 1 of that year (representing 7 months from the May 1 birthdate).  Idaho Fish and Game asks employees who are checking in harvested wolves and completing Big Game Mortality Report forms to assess the age of the wolf they are checking to the best of their ability.  However, the abilities and experiences of these employees do vary and some are not comfortable assigning an age.  Fish and Game relies on the age to be determined from evaluations of teeth removed from harvested wolves.  All teeth are sent to the lab at the end of the hunting season – typically in June, and results do not come back for several months, meaning complete results for the 2013 season will not be available until late this year.  Of the 146 wolves taken between May 1 and December 1 of last year, 55 had not age description recorded on the mortality form.  30 of the 146 wolves were described as pups.  All 30 were taken by hunters, none by trappers.  It is likely that when lab results come back later this year, more pups’ bill be included in the harvest.