Wisconsin hunters took nearly twice the number of wolves than the Department of Natural Resources was hoping for during an extremely brief 3 day wolf hunt this week.
DNR Wildlife Administrator Keith Warkne said the agency to close the season nearly as fast as it opened.
“As of 3 p.m. today 216 wolves have been reported in GameReg. The harvest breakdown was 86% taken by dogs, 5% taken by trappers, and 9% by other hunting methods,” Warnke said. “We monitored the reported harvest constantly. The decision to close zones was made using the best available harvest data, and, following the law, we issued a 24-hour notice of closure.”
The total kill was 82% above the state-licensed goal, according to Department of Natural Resources data released Thursday. Licensed hunters and trappers had a harvest quota of 119 spread across the state, excluding Native American reservations.
“By Tuesday, we announced the closing of the first three zones at 10 a.m. followed by announcing the closure of the remaining three zones at 3 p.m. that afternoon. Those zones then closed 24 hours after the announcement,” Warnke said.
A court ordered the wolf hunting and trapping season – just the fourth in state history – to begin this week following a lawsuit from an out-of-state hunting group. Legislative Republicans claimed that the DNR was trying to delay it until wolves were put back on the federal endangered species list.