Laura Lundquist, Chronicle Staff Writer
On Thursday, wolf hunting ended in Wolf Management Unit 313 north of Yellowstone National Park after three wolves were killed within 24 hours on Wednesday, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
One wolf killed in Beattie Gulch had a Yellowstone National Park radio collar.
FWP wolf specialist Abby Nelson said the wolf was identified as an alpha male of the Cougar Creek Pack.
The other two wolves included a black wolf killed in the Jardine area north of the park and a gray wolf killed in the Cinnabar Creek area.
Most of Montana has no wolf quota, but the two wolf management units north of the park have hunt quotas of three wolves each.
WMU 313 extends north of Gardiner, and WMU 316 extends along the park border east of WMU 313 in the Beartooth-Absaroka Wilderness.
Another wolf with a GPS collar was killed on Wednesday near Cooke City in WMU 316.
The wolf was a young female from the Junction Butte Pack that had been on her own north of the park, Nelson said.
The hunting season is still open in WMU 316 with one wolf remaining until the quota is filled.
This year, the FWP commission shortened the notice period to 12 hours after the quota is confirmed as filled.
Previous seasons had a 24-hour notice, but that led to some hunters taking advantage of the extra time to kill other wolves before the season closed.
Hunters must report a wolf kill within 24 hours, and then wardens must verify the district where the wolf was killed and confirm it was a legal kill.
After a quota is reached, the public notification window is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., after which the 12-hour notification begins, said FWP Region 3 Warden Chief Sam Sheppard.
The Yellowstone Wolf Patrol has been back in the Gardiner area since Sunday to monitor the hunt in the quota districts.
Wolf Patrol organizer Rod Coronado said the group did not witness the recent kills.
With one wolf to go before both WMU’s are closed, Coronado said the group’s mission is transitioning into one of preventing wolf poaching.
The group will talk to hunters over the next few days to make sure they know the wolf hunt ended in WMU 313, Coronado said.
They could get a hostile reception. Coronado said he’d received around 250 text messages saying “I kill wolves,” and another 75 with the message, “We are watching you through our scopes.”
Once the last wolf is killed, Coronado said the group would probably return to monitor the wolf hunt that allows the use of dogs in Wisconsin.