The same guidebook notes that adult gray wolves are about twice as tall and can be three times the weight of adult coyotes, but the animals have similar shapes and coloring.
Still, the hunting and trapping regulations state, “Shooting a wolf because you think it is a coyote is illegal and punishable by Minnesota game and fish laws.”
The DNR estimated in 2021 that there were roughly 2,770 wolves in Minnesota.
Young of the year wolves are very easily mistaken for adult coyotes at longer distances… depending on when they were born and what time of the year it is. Especially by inexperienced hunters! There is NO mistaking an adult wolf, You can tell at first glance!
A now retired CO told me B4 they went back on the list that if they were near my livestock I had every right to shoot them and I had 48 hours to call him after I killed one! They are WAY too plentiful in Mn. We see them here on a regular basis. Not to mention their tracks in the snow and very few deer tracks. The fact that tree huggers can run to any liberal judge to further their agenda is bogus. We have way more wolves than say Montana and they get a season on them! How is that fair or better yet scientific?? They are not endangered whatsoever. There are tens of thousands in Canada and Alaska!