Wisconsin wolf hunt ends Wednesday

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Just hours after announcing the February wolf season would for most of the state Wednesday morning, the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources stated the other three zones would close that afternoon.

On Tuesday morning, wildlife officials declared wolf season would end in zones 2, 5, and 6, which encompasses all of southern and central Wisconsin, at 10 a.m. the next day. In each of those regions, hunters and trappers had killed more than half the allotment for that zone on the first day.

At the time, fewer than one-quarter of the quota was taken, in the other three regions, 1, 3, and 4. DNR has not updated its harvest total to reflect how many kills were registered on Tuesday, however in the afternoon, wildlife officials announced the hunts there would end Wednesday at 3 p.m.

A map of the Wolf Harvesting Zones in February 2021.(Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources)

In all, DNR had allotted 119 wolves to be killed statewide, sub-dividing the allotment among the six zones. By 8 a.m. Tuesday, over 50 wolves were registered, approximately 44 percent of the total.

The entire harvest quota had been set at 200, however, the agency explained half of the allotment within ceded territories have been reserved in response to a declaration by the Ojibwe bands.

The season had been scheduled to end on Sunday.