by Pat Livingston
LANSING — Wolf hunt licenses have sold out twice since Saturday, but because of cancellations, some have become available again.
According to the Department of Natural Resources, the first sell out came at 2:05pm Saturday, all of the 1,200 licenses were sold across the state. 960 of them were sold in the first hour.
Some hunters have since cancelled their licenses, allowing the DNR to open up sales again.
“It is a moving target,” said Ed Golder, the Public Information Officer for the Department.
Michigan residents were charged $100 for each license, while out-of-state residents paid $500 for a license.
The Natural Resources Commission is allowing 43 wolves to be killed in seven Upper Peninsula counties. Hunters who get a wolf must report it by day’s end. Others must check daily to make sure the quota isn’t exceeded.
Although a controversial issue, the Department of Natural Resources said the hunt is necessary to keep the wolf population under control.
Hunting areas and the number of wolves to be harvested was determined through population studies completed by a wolf management specialist and local biologists. They studied the number of conflicts/density of conflicts in certain areas.
“Wolves are native to Michigan and they are certainly part of the biological community, however, being able to harvest a certain amount of wolves gives us the ability to manage that population and prevent human wolf conflicts,” said Steve Griffin, a Wildlife Habitat Biologist for the DNR. “That’s the intention – to have wolf hunts as a tool to manage the wolf population at a level where it can coincide with the human interests and biological interests of the U.P.”
The wolf hunting season is scheduled for Nov. 15 through Dec. 31.