State wildlife officials have set regulations for the upcoming wolf hunting season.
The Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a quota of 334 wolves to be killed by hunting or trapping in the 2024-2025 season, which starts later this fall. It’s an increase from last year’s quota of 313 wolves.
Wildlife managers were directed by the 2021 Legislature to reduce the state’s wolf population by 40%, a guideline that’s been met with strong backlash from conservation groups.
The Commission unanimously passed two changes to wolf hunting regulations this year, brought by Region 3 Commissioner Susan Kirby Brooke. One reinstated the boundaries of two management units bordering Yellowstone National Park. The other explicitly bans the use of motion tracking technology in wolf hunting.
Brooke said the changes came at the request of her constituents.
“The public, I think, weighed in in a pretty big way that they did not like the concentrated harvest that close to the city of Gardiner and, and the impact to the businesses of the wolves being harvested,” said Brooke.
They were also supported by Yellowstone National Park’s superintendent. Earlier this year the park had requested the commission make changes after 13 Yellowstone wolves were killed just outside park boundaries last season.
The commission will set regulations for the wolf trapping season in its October meeting. Those could be subject to change pending ongoing litigation.
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Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has released proposed regulations for the 2024-2025 wolf trapping season. The draft is available for public comment from now until November 12.
