Justyna Tomtas/Valley Press
SANDERS COUNTY – Predators are high on the wish list as hunting seasons slowly winds to a close. Currently both mountain lion and wolf season are well underway with numbers on par from previous seasons.
In Sanders County so far 36 cats have been harvested. The season continues until April 14, although hunting success typically declines dramatically in mid March because of the lack of snow.
“We beat the numbers from two years ago,” Sterling said. “If we get another inch or two in snow I’d anticipate getting an uptake.”
He explained snow is the ideal condition for mountain lion hunting.
Tom Chianelli, game warden for region one, said so far of the 36 lions harvested, 25 have been males. In all, hunting region 121 has filled 22 out of 37 available tags, 122 has filled eight out of 14 tags, 123 has filled three of six available tags and region 124 has filled three of the five tags.
“The season started out good and with that huge period with the lack of snow, it really slowed down,” Chianelli said. “Then with the snow in the last couple weeks or so, it picked up again.”
If a good dusting of snow hit Sanders County, chances would be better for hunters to fill more of those tags.
As for wolf season, numbers beat last year’s total. So far 16 wolves have been harvested, while last year only 13 were taken.
Currently two wolf seasons are running, with a trapping and rifle season. The trapping season will end at the end of the month on Feb. 28, while rifle season continues through March 15.
Wolves are very elusive and both Sterling and Chianelli said they were tough predators to track down. The spike in numbers shows hunters are learning what works.
“They are getting a little better at hunting wolves,” Sterling said. “(Wolves) are pretty wily and pretty cagey and they don’t particularly like humans so they are hard to find.”
Sterling said it was harder to trap wolves and more were gunned down partly because during the general big game season, wolf hunting is opportunistic often times.
According to Chianelli, 11 wolves were shot and five were trapped so far this season.
“More people are hunting them as opposed to trapping them,” Chianelli said.
He explained trapping is tough because it is especially hard to pinpoint their travel patterns.
“Sometimes it’s weeks before they return back to an area to where their trap line is,” Chianelli explained.
So far the numbers are on par to seasons before this one. He explained the harvest usually sits between 16 to 20 wolves.