FWP publishes draft regulations on wolf trapping

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has released proposed regulations for the 2024-2025 wolf trapping season. The draft is available for public comment by November 12.

New this year is a court-established geographic zone limiting wolf trapping. This comes after a judge ruled that wolf trapping in some areas was at riskfederally protected grizzly bears. The proposal also includes new rules that would go into effect throughout this geographic area, if a grizzly bear were accidentally caught in a trap.

Under the new regulations, the geographic zone established by the court will have a shorter trapping season, from January 1 to February 15. Areas outside of this grizzly bear habitat zone will allow for a longer trapping season.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission will vote on the changes at its Nov. 12 meeting.

Western Montana big game hunters start season with good harvest numbers

Hunters in west-central Montana had a good start to the general big game hunting season this weekend.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks says data collected at checkpoints near Anaconda, Bonner, Darby and Fish Creek shows harvest numbers before last year’s opening.

For example, the harvest of white-tailed deer and elk was almost double that of the 2023 opening weekend at Bonner Station. Across the region, the elk harvest is up 30 percent compared to the same time last year.

Hunter traffic was also stable.

More hunters passed through each of the stations this opening weekend than last.

Overall, the four wildlife checkpoints in west-central Montana collectively hosted more than 2,300 hunters. That’s almost 200 more than last year.

Hunters are required to stop at every checkpoint they pass, even if they have not captured any animals.