Bridget Ryder TVN staff
Wolf hunting season opens on Aug. 30, to shoot a wolf, and new this year to the area is the chance to trap a wolf.
The trapping season on wolves starts Nov. 15. This year marks the first time trapping wolves is permitted in the Island Park zone, which includes Teton County, since wolves were re-introduced. Both seasons go through March 31. Wolf tags cost $11.50, and hunters and trappers are permitted up to five tags each.
Petersen said permitting trapping reflects the growth of the wolf population and trapping is “just another management tool.” Wolf quotas this year are similar to last year’s numbers, though hunters didn’t fill the quotas for the 2012-2013 season. They probably won’t this year either, at least according to the predictions of one local, experienced trapper.
“Wolves are very hard to trap,” Rick Phillips said.
Philips started trapping in Teton Valley at the age of nine.
“I started out fur trapping here in the valley and then when I was 24, I went to work for US Fish and Wildlife and predator control,” Phillips said.
Philips was the district supervisor for the predator control program in Pocatello when wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park. In his work, he learned a lot about wolves.
“We all kicked the thing around,” he said of the species’ re-introduction. “We thought it was going to be a slaughter.”
Live stock depredation numbers were much lower than he expected, however.
“I had to finally change my ideas about wolves after dealing with them.” Said Phillips, “They don’t kill as much livestock as I thought they would. It seems like they select more for wild game.”
He also said he has never felt hunted by a wolf.
As a professional trapper he has also trapped beaver, raccoon, mink, muskrat, pine marten and coyote. But in Philips experience, wolves are especially smart, perceptive, observant and fast. “They have wonderful noses,” Philips said, and “are more sensitive to wrong things in the right place.”
“If you’re using a flat set [trap], you have to make sure that the ground appears like it’s never been disturbed,” Philips said. “But the thing that really makes wolves hard to catch is that they are really unpredictable and travel such a wide area.”
Traveling 25 or 30 miles in a night is nothing to wolves, according to Philips. With their shuffling trot they can disappear into the mountains in no time at all. He recalled following a set of tracks not more than ten minutes old, but never caught a glimpse of the wolf. He predicts that wolf packs will lose a member or two to trappers but that ultimately the trapping season will be more beneficial to wolves than hunters.
“I think the end result is going to be that there’s going to be a lot of smart wolves,” he said. “This is going to educate them.”
Not that bagging a wolf has ever been easy.
“It’s been just a matter of luck if anybody managed to shoot one,” Philips said.
Kathryn Ferris, at the Victor Emporium, notices hunters hoping to have luck on their side. Ferris sells hunting tags and fishing licenses at the outdoor goods store and ice cream shop in Victor. In her experience at the register, wolf tag purchases accompany elk tag buying. Most of her customers are locals who buy their elk tags and then a wolf tag “because you might see one out there.” Ferris said the general sentiment among hunters is that wolves have reduced the number of elk in the region. Philips, however, doesn’t want to give the wolves all the credit.
“As near as I can tell, from what I’m seeing, you just don’t see elk sign like you used to,” Philips said. “I don’t know if I’m going to blame it all on the wolves.”
Philips observes less elk than before wolves were introduced, but said a number of factors could be contributing to the reduced population. He also said elk are likely pulling back deeper into the timber of the forests where they are less accessible to hunters and hope to better protect themselves from wolves.
Of course, hunters and trappers also have to play by the rules of the wolf hunt, which the Idaho Department of Fish and Game sets out as some of the following:
No hunting or trapping wolves with in one-half mile of an active IDFG big game feeding sight.
Electronic calls may be used, but radio-telemetry is prohibited.
Dogs may not be used to attract or pursue wolves.
Bating wolves is illegal, but they may be taken incidentally to black bear baiting.
Ground sets are the only legal traps and must be set beyond 30 feet of naturally killed game.
For complete information on regulations visit fishandgame.idaho.gov.
Hunters and trappers are required to report a wolf harvest within 72 hours and present the hide and skull within 10 days. Any radio collars found on a wolf should be returned at that time. The zone will be closed for hunting when the quotas are filled, call 1-855-648-5558 for up to date information.
TVN en Español
La temporada de caza del lobo se abre el 30 de agosto, pero ahora los tramperos también tienen la posibilidad de despedir un lobo. La temporada para atrapar lobos comienza el 15 de noviembre. Este año marca la primera vez que permiten atrapar lobos en la zona de Island Park, que incluye el Valle Teton, desde que los lobos se presentaron de nuevo. Ambas temporadas pasan el 31 de marzo. Las etiquetas del lobo cuestan $11.50. “El lobo es un bicho bastante reservado. Si caza el lobo o atrapa un lobo realmente tiene que saber lo que hace para tener éxito,” dijo Doug Peterson del Ministerio de Idaho del Pescado y Caza. Petersen dijo que la permisión para atrapar refleja el crecimiento de la población del lobo y atrapar es “sólo otra herramienta de gestión. ” Los números limites para despedir lobos este año son similares a los números del año pasado, aunque los cazadores no llegaron a los limites.