Montana Wolf Harvest Update
By angelamontana

Posted: November 29, 2021

Montana hunters are doing what they can to put a dent in the state’s wolf population–and as of Sunday, November 28, the last day of the state’s general big game season, there have been 82 wolves tagged by hunters.  Nice work, hunters!  Please see the regulations below for important changes.

Good luck out there!

REGION 1

Wolf Harvest: 26 | Commission Review Threshold: 195

Status: THRESHOLD NOT MET

REGION 2

Wolf Harvest: 10 | Commission Review Threshold: 116

Status: THRESHOLD NOT MET

REGION 3

Wolf Harvest: 40 | Commission Review Threshold: 82

Status: THRESHOLD NOT MET

REGION 4

Wolf Harvest: 6 | Commission Review Threshold: 39

Status: THRESHOLD NOT MET

REGION 5

Wolf Harvest: 0 | Commission Review Threshold: 11

Status: THRESHOLD NOT MET

REGION 6

Wolf Harvest: 0 | Commission Review Threshold: 3

Status: THRESHOLD NOT MET

REGION 7

Wolf Harvest: 0 | Commission Review Threshold: 4

Status: THRESHOLD NOT MET

REGULATIONS:

Resident and nonresident hunters and trappers may harvest any wolf in any open WMU statewide during the archery only, general and trapping seasons. A person can take up to 10 wolves via hunting and up to 10 wolves via trapping (maximum harvest of 20 wolves per person). For hunting, a separate license is required for each wolf. For trapping, only a Trapping License is required.

Archery Only Season: September 4, 2021 – September 14, 2021

General Season: September 15, 2021 – March 15, 2022

Trapping Season:

Areas outside or not near* occupied grizzly bear habitat:
– First Monday after Thanksgiving (November  29, 2021) – March 15, 2022

Areas inside or near* occupied grizzly bear habitat:
   – TBD** – March 15, 2022

* Areas in or near occupied grizzly bear habitat include Wolf Management Units (WMUs) 100, 101, 110, 121, 130, 150, a portion of 200 (Ninemile watershed north of I-90), 210, 280, 290, 310, 313, 316, 320, the western portions of 390 (west of Hwy 310, South of I-90, and west of I-15/Hwy 69), and the western portion of WMU 400 (north and west of I-15/Hwy 87, west of Hwy 223 between Fort Benton and Hwy 2 at Chester, south of Hwy 2 between Chester and I-15 at Shelby, and west of I-15 between Shelby and the Canadian border).

** The default opening day for areas in or near occupied grizzly bear habitat will be December 31, 2021, with the potential to readjust to an earlier opening date (no earlier than November 29, 2021) if the department determines most grizzly bears are denned for the winter. Adjustments to the opening date of wolf trapping and snaring can be made by WMU, or an aggregation of WMUs, based on conditions on the ground.  Any update to starting dates will be announced on the wolf regulations webpage and this dashboard.

Public lands within Lynx Protection Zones are closed to snaring.

Information provided by FWP
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