A Long Hard Season on a Montana Wolf Line

Whoever still believes wolves only kill the sick and weak should see the elk carcass I found last fall.

-  Dan Helterline

Wolves killed the healthy young bull and then ate only a portion of the rump, leaving the remainder to rot. People who are opposed to wolf management might not care. They usually live nowhere near wolves and never get a firsthand view of how the alpha predator ravages local elk and moose herds.

When the wolves were left unchecked, they multiplied rapidly and wiped out elk and moose in many drainages. I used to be surprised if I encountered a single moose during my winter travels. In the 10 years that wolves have been managed in Montana with hunting and trapping seasons, a difference has been made. Last winter was the first in many that I saw moose sign in a lot of those drainages.

The Montana legislature passed and the governor signed into law a statewide wolf season that opened earlier than previous seasons so that more wolves could be trapped when conditions were more conducive to trapping. The 2021-2022 season was set to open immediately after the close of big-game hunting season.

Then, just weeks before the season was to open, the state wildlife commission voted unanimously to have a "floating" opening day in areas deemed occupied grizzly habitat. Wolf trapping in these areas would have to wait until state biologists determined that the grizzlies were in their dens, reducing the chance of a bear being accidently caught in a wolf trap.

The probability of this is extremely low. I know of a single grizzly bear caught in a wolf trap. It occurred in Region 4 in 2018. The adult bear was released without harm or incident. To my knowledge, that is the only confirmed report of a grizzly being caught in a wolf trap in more than 10 years of wolf trapping in the state.