On Jan. 28th The Montana FWP Commission voted to close Region 3 to wolf hunting once the harvest quota of 82 wolves is met. As of Jan. 31st, the harvest of wolves in Region 3 was 76 wolves. The Commission voted unanimously for this Region 3 closure.
The driving force behind this closure was concerns over the harvesting of several wolves that had migrated off of Yellowstone National Park into Montana. As of Jan. 31st, 23 wolves that were known to inhabit the park have been taken by hunters. These harvest numbers pushed Yellowstone Park officials, and some business owners near the park to press the Commission to close hunts in units that border Yellowstone Park. During recent discussions, proponents of the closure told the Commission that they fear the killing of Yellowstone wolves will affect tourism dollars at the park. They stated that with fewer wolves to see, fewer tourists overall will show up at the park.
Yellowstone Park & Wolves
Park spokesperson Morgan Warthin stated that the Park believes they are now down to 91 wolves that typically call the Park home. Likewise, Park officials believe that the Phantom Lake Pack has been eliminated. Likewise, Yellowstone Park officials also believe that the Yellowstone wolves that have been killed only spend between 5% to 10% of their time outside the park.
Despite the concerns of Park officials, the wolf hunt in Montana this year has remained consistent with previous years’ harvest data. This year, hunters have taken 184 wolves statewide.
For now, wolf hunting in the rest of the state will continue as normal and will end on March 15th. Montana has laws on the books that allow the Commission to review the viability of hunting seasons if a harvest objective of 450 wolves is met.
You can read more about these closures by clicking here. You can also read more Montana hunting news by clicking here.
