Statistics Show Wolf Trapping Success Higher than Wolf Hunting Success
By angelamontana

Posted: January 20, 2014

IMG_6353-Wolves-&-Elk-11x14For everybody that has an interest in the controversial topic of wolf hunting and trapping, take a look at some statistics from Minnesota’s recently completed wolf hunting and trapping season.  According to an article on startribune.com, “less than 7 percent of Minnesota wolf hunters and trappers succeeded in bagging a wolf in the recently completed season–about the same success rate as last year’s inaugural season.”

Apparently, 3,434 licensed hunters and trappers killed 237 wolves this year, with 6,123 licensed hunters and trappers killing 413 wolves the previous year.

Trappers, again, had far more luck than hunters, with a 19.5 percent success rate, compared with a 4.2 percent success rate for hunters in both the early and late wolf seasons.  Last year, trappers had a 29.4 percent success rate, and hunters had a 4.6 percent success rate in the early hunt and a 5.1 percent success rate in the late hunt.

Minnesota’s 2013 wolf season closed last month after 45 days, and the 2012 season ran 57 days before hunters and trappers hit the quota.

Statistics like this reinforce the importance of wolf trapping and the vital role it plays in Montana’s wolf management program.  With Montana’s wolf harvest total, to date, at 165, note that 44 wolves have been successfully trapped since the season opened last month, while 121 wolves have been harvested, via hunting, since September 15th.

I am interested to see how wolf hunting and wolf trapping harvest totals compare at the end of the season.

(Information via startribune.com; Cover photo: photocamel.com)

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