By BETSY BLOOM
Two areas in the region known to harbor wolf packs will be off limits to the state’s upcoming hunt.
Officials at Fort McCoy in Monroe County and Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in north Juneau County said Friday they will not allow wolves to be taken during the season that starts Monday and extends to Feb. 28, 2013.
Both areas are in the state’s Zone 5, which has a Department of Natural Resources-set kill limit of up to 23 wolves.
But details of the state’s wolf hunt weren’t finalized in time to seek approval on federal lands, which would require a public comment period and notice in the Federal Register, said Dave Trudeau, deputy refuge manager at Necedah.
Fall hunting is allowed in about 20 percent of the 43,696-acre refuge, though most parts remain closed to accommodate human visitors and allow migrating birds to rest and feed.
The hunt expands to the entire refuge for the state’s gun deer season in November and beyond, when most birds have moved on, Trudeau said.
But those who come across a wolf during that deer season can’t shoot it, even if they have a permit, he said. Nor can the predators be taken in traps; the refuge, in fact, didn’t allow coyote hunting in the past for fear coyotes would be mistaken for the previously protected wolf.
Fort McCoy has the same ban on hunting wolves, though trapping is allowed for coyotes, a spokeswoman said. Wolves have been caught in traps in the past but were released without injury.
Fort McCoy earlier this year had the largest wolf pack in the state at 10, according to the DNR, and in 2011 had 12 roaming the North Post and a litter of 10 pups recorded at a den site on the fort’s South Post.
Trudeau said staff in 2013 will look at their regional wolf population in the coming year to see if refuge will be part of the 2013 hunt.