MN Wolf Season – East Central zone CLOSED.

Well, that didn’t last long. East Central Zone is now closed after hunters took 8 of the 9 allocated wolves in the first 3 days.

http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2012/11/05/wolf-hunting-season-in-east-central-zone-closes-end-of-day-monday-nov-5/

As I’ve said all the long, there are VASTLY more wolves than the DNR’s population guesstimate (by their own admission) indicates. This wolf season is a grain of salt in the ocean as far as the overall population is concerned.

For those of us who have waited a long time for wolves to finally be leagal game again, it’s very disappointing to have such a tiny quota when the population would obviously sustain a much larger harvest.

BTW, a big thank you to The LTL (Long Term Lurker) for pointing this out to me. These overly complicated season-within-a-season regulations are very tough to keep tabs on.

Grouse

So the 9th wolf doesnt get taken there?

Quote:

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So the 9th wolf doesnt get taken there?

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I can’t find any information on how this works or why it’s set up this way.

Aparently, the quota isn’t really the quota because the “count” is biased toward not allowing the quota to be met in order to prevent it from being exceeded?

Welcome to the wacky world of politicized hunting.

Grouse

Actually a 9th Wolf potentially may be taken. The DNR has a quota of 400 animals for the entire state. The idea for each zone or hunt is to stop the hunt when the quota is close to being filled but in order to make that happen, the DNR announces the end of season 24 hrs in advance. Meaning, hunters might still take additional Wolfs in the 24 hrs following the “close of season” announcement. (Make sense??)

The DNR also takes into account that there may be a Wolf that was taken and not registered. Anyone who takes a Wolf is required to register the animal within 24 hrs.

So, if a Wolf is shot on Nov. 4th and the DNR closed the season the same day, hunters have until Nov. 5th to register the animal. The DNR isn’t trying to cut the season short, they are just taking every possible situation into account when meeting the quota. In fact, they believe the quota of 400 will be met and likely in the 415-420 range after the final announcement is made.

I heard this on talk radio from one of the DNR advisors and not sure where to find it on the website.

So, take this info “as is” and don’t quote me on it. I’m just passing along the info that I heard.

Damn wolves ruin deer hunting if in an area. Shoot more I say