Montana Considers Killing Nearly Half Of Its Wolf Population

Montana is considering setting a wolf kill quota of 500 for the 2025-2026 wolf seasons, allowing hunters and trappers to take as many as 15 wolves each. 

If hunters and trappers fill the quota, it would cut Montana’s wolf population roughly in half, leaving about 550 of the predators, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) reports. 

Some argue that’s extreme overkill and indicates that Montana is trying to eradicate wolves. Others claim it’s sound predator management, and 550 wolves would still be more than enough to keep them from being re-listed as an endangered species in Montana. 

During last year’s wolf seasons, Montana hunters and trappers killed 289 wolves, missing the quota of about 300. 

In light of that, it’s doubtful that the proposed new quota of 500 wolves will be met, Ryan Bronson, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) told Cowboy State Daily. 

FWP has a proven track record of managing Montana’s wolves, and the agency should have the leeway to adjust hunting quotas as needed, he said. 

Lizzy Pennock, carnivore coexistence attorney for WildEarth Guardians, said Montana’s wolf policy has been too heavy-handed for years, and killing 500 wolves would be outrageous. 

That would not only hurt the wolf population in terms of sheer numbers, it would also hamper healthy genetic exchange, she told Cowboy State Daily. 

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will take up the matter during its next meeting Aug. 21. 

‘Wolves Manage Themselves’

WildEarth Guardians opposes predator hunting, but still considered Montana’s wolf management policy to be “relatively more balanced” prior to 2021, Pennock said.

Since then, the state has taken an increasingly intolerant stance toward wolves and other predators, she said.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte took office in January 2021, and has been an outspoken advocate for more aggressive wolf hunting.

The proposed 500-wolf quota takes things to a “shocking” new level, Pennock said. 

She questions why wolf hunting and trapping is necessary in the first place, arguing that wolf populations are naturally self-regulating because packs are so territorial. 

“If you look at the wolves in Yellowstone (National Park), they manage themselves,” she said. “The No. 1 killer of wolves is other wolves.”

For example, one of Yellowstone’s most famous wolves, 907F, died on Christmas Day 2024 after being severely injured a few days earlier in a fight with wolves from a rival pack. 

What’s more, wolves in Montana are “source wolves” for an expanding population in the Pacific Northwest, she said. So the overkill of wolves in Montana will hurt the species’ ability to expand its territory.  

Allowing hunters or trappers to kill up to 15 wolves on a single license is geared toward eradication, not sound management, Pennock said. 

“It just doesn’t make sense. No other game species is managed this way,” she said. 

Habitat Management And Predator Control

As Bronson sees it, Montana is, in fact, managing wolves like other species by adjusting quotas as needed. 

Northwest Montana is densely populated with wolves and is also “in a part of the state where people are clearly frustrated by (lower) deer and elk populations,” he said. 

RMEF considers wolves to be a factor contributing to the decline in big game populations, he said, adding that forestry management is also a major factor. 

RMEF supports more timber cutting, as some people in Wyoming have.  

Using timber harvest to create more clearings and meadows in forests makes for better forage and habitat for deer and elk, he said. 

“We’re thinking of balanced management, and that means balancing our forest management and managing out predator populations,” he said.

Endangered Again?

Pennock said the apparent push to drive down Montana’s wolf population prompted her group and others to file a lawsuit calling for wolves to be re-listed under Endangered Species Act protection. 

Bronson said RMEF doesn’t want to see wolves re-listed, but he doesn’t think Montana’s proposed hunting quotas would lead to that. 

The state has a well-established population of wolves, he said.

Even if 500 are killed in the upcoming hunting season, the remaining 550 wolves would still be well above threshold level for possible re-listing, he said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.