The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources released the details yesterday for the state’s first regulated wolf hunting and trapping season to be held later this year.
Find all the details in THIS DNR media release.
Several changes were made to the plan the DNR originally proposed in May as a result of input received since that announcement, the agency said. Namely, the season will run until January 31, rather than January 6 and hunters and trappers will be required to register their kills by 10:00 p.m. on the day of harvest, rather than the following day.
Another notable change is that the wolf hunting range will be divided into three zones for the purposes of harvest targets, registration, and season closure. The northeast zone and the east-central zone closely parallel the ceded territories from the 1854 and 1837 treaties between the United State and the Ojibwe. These zones will allow the state to allocate and manage wolf harvest in consultation with Indian bands that have court-affirmed off-reservation hunting rights.
The northwest zone will be the other area open to wolf hunting. Overall, only that portion of Minnesota where rifles are legal for deer hunting will be open for taking wolves. When harvest targets are reached in any zone, that zone will be closed and hunters will be able to continue to hunt in any other open zone.
The state’s first regulated wolf hunt will begin Saturday, November 3. The early wolf season will last up to nine days in the 200-series deer permit areas of northeastern Minnesota and up to 16 days in the 100-series deer permit areas in northwestern and east-central Minnesota.
The late wolf season, which also allows trapping for those with a wolf trapping license, will begin November 24 statewide.
The overall target harvest is 400 animals total. Target harvests are 265 animals in the northwest zone, 117 in the northeast zone, and 18 in the east-central zone.
In January, wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan were removed from the federal threatened and endangered species list and wolf management became the responsibility of each respective state.
Additional information on wolf hunting and trapping and wolf management in Minnesota can be found HERE.