From Northern News Now:
EFFIE, MN. (Northern News Now) – Where’d the deer go? That’s the question being asked by frustrated hunters across northeast Minnesota after years of falling populations, culminating in a near record low harvest this season.
The lack of success seems to have both hunters and deer agreeing on an ultimate enemy. Wolves.
Calls to remove them from protected status have never been louder, in hopes of returning the northern deer population to its glory days.
On a ranch in northern Itasca County, Cimarron Pitzen gives a tour of his 500 acre property.
Click here for the full story.
Report provides clues for ‘when’ and ‘where’ wolves will be released in Colorado
From Out There Colorado:
As Colorado’s media continues to track the ongoing topic of wolf reintroduction, a recent report from Colorado Sun’s Tracy Ross provides valuable insight on the subject.
Ross reports that Colorado Parks and Wildlife will start the process of collecting wolves in Oregon on December 8, with the current plan being to release these wolves in mid-to-late December in the counties of Grand, Summit, and Eagle (Find Ross’ full report here)
Click here for the full story.
Wildlife managers have no immediate plans to capture wandering Mexican gray wolf | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
From Colorado Politics:
ALBUQUERQUE — It’s been a long journey for one lone Mexican gray wolf — from the forests of southeastern Arizona, across the dusty high desert of central New Mexico to the edge of what is known as the Yellowstone of the Southwest.
Having reached Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico, she has wandered far beyond the boundaries established along the Arizona-New Mexico border for managing the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America. The recovery area — spanning tens of thousands of square miles — is home to more than 240 of the endangered predators.
Click here for the full story.
Four Endangered Mexican Wolves have found Solace in Minnesota
From WJON:
The Wildlife Science Center, located in Stacy, Minnesota, is the home to the largest population of wolves in the country and an education and research facility.
Four endangered Mexican wolves have recently joined the facility, bringing the total count of Mexican wolves to 9. The Wildlife Science Center has been home to Mexican wolves since 2001. Three of the new wolves are male wolves, and they all live together. The female is new to them all, so the Wildlife Science Center is observing their interactions closely to make sure that they are all getting along.
Click here for the full story.
Wolves, deer, and deer hunting in northeastern Minnesota: the data
From Voyageurs Wolf Project:
There is much debate regarding the role wolves have on deer populations and deer hunting in particular. Many have stated that wolves are “decimating” the deer population in Minnesota and that we need to kill wolves to resolve this issue. We examined publicly-available information collected by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources from 2012 to 2022 regarding deer hunting (number of deer hunters, deer harvested, etc.) in northeastern Minnesota, including the area we study wolves, the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem.
We compared deer hunter success with 1) data from Minnesota’s 3 most recent wolf hunting/trapping seasons (2012-2014) to see whether killing wolves had any noticeable impact on deer hunter success, and 2) data on wolf and deer populations based on data we have collected in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem since 2015 to assess whether deer hunter success was lower when there were more wolves.
Click here for the full story.
How are wildlife officials preparing Coloradans for wolf reintroduction? With a brochure.
From The Colorado Sun:
It’s finally happening: Wolves are coming to Colorado — to join ones already here — and there’s a brochure to prove it.
Every year Colorado Parks and Wildlife issues brochures detailing how Colorado residents can avoid conflicts with wildlife. This year’s conflict literature includes wolves.
Click here for the full story.
A new Minnesota deer hunters group wants to shake up the politics of wolf control
From Star Tribune:
In a revolt against what it says is an overabundance of wolves in the North Woods, a group of deer hunters concerned about the scarcity of whitetails has formed a new hunters rights group eager to rock the boat on the politics of wolf management.
Still in its infancy, Hunters For Hunters will rally next week to build its membership with open-invitation meetings in International Falls, Carlton, Aurora and Coleraine. Subsequent meetings are scheduled in Bagley and Detroit Lakes. The group’s recent “wolf control” meeting in Squaw Lake — announced only eight days in advance — drew a crowd estimated at more than 200 people, including three state senators.
Click here for the full story.
Special Report: Where’d the deer go? Hunter frustration grows in Minnesota Northwoods
From Northern News Now:
EFFIE, MN. (Northern News Now) – Where’d the deer go? That’s the question being asked by frustrated hunters across northeast Minnesota after years of falling populations, culminating in a near record low harvest this season.
The lack of success seems to have both hunters and deer agreeing on an ultimate enemy. Wolves.
Calls to remove them from protected status have never been louder, in hopes of returning the northern deer population to its glory days.
On a ranch in northern Itasca County, Cimarron Pitzen gives a tour of his 500 acre property.
Click here for the full story.
Climate change a factor in trimming of wolf season
From Hungry Horse News:
U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy Nov. 21 issued a preliminary junction that significantly shortens Montana’s wolf trapping season by several weeks. Climate change played a role in his decision.
The wolf trapping season under state law was set to begin as early as Monday (Nov. 27), but two environmental groups, the Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Task Force and Wildearth Guardians sued the state of Montana in federal court, claiming the regulations could result in grizzly bears being caught in wolf traps.
Click here for the full story.
Are there too many people in Colorado for gray wolves to thrive?
From NPR Kansas Public Radio:
Colorado’s urban population flipped the state from red to blue, allowing a referendum on a polarizing issue to pass. Wildlife officials are now preparing for the reintroduction of gray wolves.
Click here for the full story.
Idaho wolf-killing proposals prompt petition for feds to ban ‘barbaric’ aerial hunts
From Phys.org:
A group of environmental organizations has submitted a petition to the federal government to ban wolf killing by shooting from helicopters, calling the practice “barbaric.”
The Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project and International Wildlife Coexistence Network said they were prompted by Idaho’s Wolf Depredation Control Board’s October decision to approve the scope of proposed lethal wolf control plans at two Wood River Valley ranches. The proposals, which included plans for aerial gunning, were submitted by Trevor Walch, the owner of a predator control corporation, without the knowledge of the ranches involved.
Click here for the full story.