Wolf hunt bag limit increased to five

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission voted to increase the bag limit for the upcoming wolf hunting season during their July 10 meeting in Helena.

With the goal of bringing down the state’s wolf population, the commission increased the bag limit from one to five wolves per hunter.

While no statewide quota was set, the quota for the North Fork area will remain two, in deference to Glacier National Park, and the total number of wolves that can be killed in two special management units north of Yellowstone National Park was set at seven. Last year, hunters and trappers killed 225 wolves statewide.

The rifle season for wolves was extended to six months and will run from Sept. 15 to March 15. The wolf trapping season will remain the same and will run from Dec. 15 through Feb. 28. The archery season for wolves will run from Sept. 7 through Sept. 14.

Nearly 25,000 people submitted comments on plans to loosen wolf hunting regulations for the upcoming season that the commission announced in May.

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks estimates the state’s wolf population was 625 at the end of 2012, a decline of about 4 percent from 2011. FWP’s statewide wolf management plan calls for maintaining at least 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs in Montana.