Wisconsin wolf hunt season to return November 2021
Close up image of a gray wolf in winter
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin will resume its wolf season next November after the animal is dropped from the federal endangered species list, the state announced Friday.
The Department of Natural Resources said wolf season will begin Nov. 6. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last month that it would delist gray wolves, citing thriving populations in the western Great Lakes region, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest.
Wisconsin law called for annual hunting and trapping seasons to resume if and when the wolf lost federal protection.
The DNR said Wisconsin has at least 1,034 wolves, mostly in the northern third and central forest region of the state. The agency promised to “work collaboratively and transparently” to create a new wolf management plan that sustains the population.
Wolves were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s under government-sponsored poisoning and trapping campaigns.
A remnant population in the western Great Lakes region has since expanded to some 4,400 animals in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.
Featured
More hunters afield, more deer taken this fall in Wisconsin
The DNR said hunters fared better in southern farmland zones compared to some northern forest zones.
Featured
7-year-old boy bags 21-point buck in Oconto County
Jericho Manske bagged a 21-point buck during gun deer hunting season in Oconto County, Wisconsin.