The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources closed its third of six wolf-hunting zones around the state Sunday, continuing the trend toward an early end to the inaugural wolf-hunting season.
The DNR closed Zone 1, which encompasses the far northeastern portion of the state, after the 32nd wolf was killed in the area Saturday. According to a DNR statement, the official announcement was delayed a day because DNR policy mandates hunting areas be closed 24 hours after the last allowed wolf is harvested.
The hunting season, which opened Oct. 15, was originally set to run until Feb. 28, but with three of six zones already closed, there is speculation the hunt will end sooner than expected.
Half the designated hunting zones remain open, but the number of wolves killed in the remaining areas is nearing prescribed quota levels. Zones 5 and 6 cover the lower two-thirds of the state and are both within two wolves of closing.
The DNR set its original quotas based on known wolf populations in each of the six areas, according to its website. The agency hoped to reduce the state wolf population by 116 wolves Kurt Thiede, the DNR Lands Division administrator, said in a statement.
Thiede said the wolf hunt and the prescribed harvest level is a learning process the agency hopes to use to better control the wolf population in future years.
“This is Wisconsin’s inaugural season,” Thiede said. “We are learning much about hunter and trapper success rates that will help us draft permanent rules that continue to move the wolf population down toward levels in line with social carrying capacity.”
