Fine possible for man who shot wolf
By Brian D. Bridgeford, Capital Newspapers
Department of Natural Resources officials are considering whether to fine a Sauk County hunter who shot a rare and protected gray wolf after he said he mistook it for a coyote, which are not protected from hunters.
With many hunters planning to be in fields and forests for the gun-deer season beginning today, wildlife officials are urging them to look carefully if they plan to shoot at a coyote and make sure it is not a wolf.
On Nov. 10, a bow hunter killed a wolf in the Pine Island Wildlife Area just across the Columbia County line in Sauk County, according to a statement by DNR Warden Supervisor Chuck Horn. It was the second killing of one of the rare canines in a month after a hunter in Iowa County shot a wolf during the mid-October chronic wasting disease deer hunt.
Several wolves have been spotted in Sauk and Columbia counties in a little more than a year. They include a wolf killed on the interstate in late spring, the one killed in the Pine Island Wildlife Area and another spotted last year in Columbia County’s town of Newport across the river.
Reedsburg-based Sauk County Warden Mike Green said Friday he completed an investigation of the Pine Island incident and his report is being reviewed by his supervisors, who will decide if the hunter should be given a citation.
A person found guilty of killing a protected species such as Wisconsin’s gray wolf could pay a forfeiture of between $300 and $2,100, according to Horn.
Green would not reveal the identity of the hunter before a decision is made on the possible penalty and would not say if he recommended one.
“It’s still an open investigation as to whether he is going to be (fined) or not,” he said.
“He turned himself in and he thought he was shooting at a coyote when he shot it,” Green added. “I’m always reluctant to cite anybody who turns themselves in.”
In southern Wisconsin, property owners and people with small game-hunting permits can kill coyotes with very few limits, Green said, so it is important for hunters to know the difference between coyotes and wolves before they pull the trigger.
The southern third of Wisconsin and even nearby states sometimes get visits from wolves because young males wander off from their home pack to explore, said Bill Ishmael, a Dodgeville-based DNR wildlife expert. They come through Sauk and Columbia counties because they follow the cover and food provided by the Wisconsin River corridor.
“They can cover hundreds of miles,” he said. “We’ve had wolves that were originally tagged in Wisconsin that have shown up in Illinois and Indiana. It’s pretty rare, but it does happen,” Ishmael said.
There are no known wolfpacks south of areas such as Black River Falls and the community of Warrens near Jackson County’s southern border, Ishmael said.
Because Wisconsin’s wolf population is limited to the north, there is nothing to interest a young wolf, such as a mate or a new pack, in this area, said Brian Woodbury, a DNR biologist based near Spring Green. Wolves also typically avoid contact with humans.
“Sometimes wolves will just go for a jaunt, disburse looking for a new territory, find there’s nothing here for them and go back to join a new pack,” he said. “They’re trying to establish new territories, and if there’s nothing down here, they’re obviously going to go back and try to establish one up there or rejoin a pack that it came from.”
Wolves vs. Coyotes
“Two key differences are compared to a coyote, a wolf appears massive and very long legged while the coyote’s ears are pointed and much larger in proportion to the size of its head,” said Warden Supervisor Chuck Horn of Dodgeville.
Wolves
— Rarely weigh less than 50 pounds
— Height at shoulder 28 to 34 inches
— Total length of 59 to 66 inches
— Massive, extremely long legged
— Ears are moderate sized, more round
Coyotes
— Rarely more than 45 pounds
— Stand 20 to 24 inches
— Height at shoulder 46-52 inches
— Medium-sized, have delicate, dog-like appearance
— Ears large in proportion to head and pointed.