The 2013 wolf hunting and trapping season in northeastern Minnesota closed at the end of shooting hours on Wednesday, Dec. 18, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Notice of the season closing was posted Tuesday evening, Dec. 17, when hunters and trappers had harvested 30 wolves. By Wednesday, wolf harvest in the northeast had reached the target of 33.
Wolf hunting and trapping continues in the northwest and east-central wolf zones for anyone with a valid license. As of Dec. 18, hunters and trappers had harvested 51 wolves in the northwest zone and two in the east-central zone during the late season. The late season in those zones is scheduled to end on Friday, Jan. 31 or whenever the target harvest is met, whichever comes first.
During the 2013 early hunting season, which concluded Nov. 25, hunters harvested 32 of 33 wolves in the northeast; 56 of 73 wolves in the northwest; and no wolves in the east-central zone.
In the inaugural 2012 wolf hunting and trapping season, 413 wolves were harvested in the state.
Minnesota’s wolves transitioned from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act to state management by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Jan. 27, 2012. According to the Minnesota DNR, Minnesota’s Wolf Management Plan will ensure the wolf ’s long-term survival. On its website, the DNR explains that the plan gives owners of livestock and domestic pets more protection from wolf depredation. It splits the state into two management zones with more protective regulations in the northern third, considered the wolf ’s core range.
DNR has not established a maximum population goal. A statewide winter population of 1,600 wolves is the minimum goal. If Minnesota’s wolf population falls below this minimum, DNR said it will take immediate and appropriate management actions to reverse the decline and restore the population to its minimum level in the shortest possible time.
As required by the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will monitor wolves in Minnesota for five years after de-listing to ensure that recovery continues.
Leave a Reply