Minnesota’s DNR reports that 147 wolves were killed in the early season for Minnesota’s first-ever managed wolf hunt. A quota of 200 wolves was set for the early season.
The 15-day season closed November 18 with 59 wolves taken from the northeast zone, which includes Cook County. The quota was 58 wolves for the northeast zone, and the DNR closed it one day early after hunters brought in more wolves than anticipated.
The second phase of the hunt will open to hunters and trappers on November 24. It will extend to the end of January. The limit is 200 wolves for the second season; a total of 400 wolves was set for both seasons.
The DNR sold 3,600 permits for the early-season hunt and 2,400 permits for the late season.
Following the second season DNR wildlife biologists will conduct the first comprehensive population survey for wolves in five years. It will be completed in April and an assessment of the hunt and its affects on the wolf population will be held soon after. Wildlife biologists estimated the wolf population at about 3,000 wolves at any given time in the state.
Wolves were on the endangered list for about 40 years and protected from hunters and trappers before being de-listed last January. Wildlife groups and all of Minnesota’s first nation people protested the hunt. The wolf is sacred to Minnesota Ojibwe and no hunting or trapping has been or will be allowed on native lands.
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