TROUT CREEK – Planned protests of an organized wolf and coyote hunt over the weekend in Sanders County never materialized, and it appears that a single wolf was harvested by a trapper during the event.
The first Great Montana Coyote and Wolf Hunt drew plenty of attention in the weeks leading up to it, and the Facebook advocacy page that sponsored it, Montana Wolf Hunting and Trapping, reported more than 100 hunters and trappers registered to participate.
The page on Monday referred Facebook users to a Montana Outdoor Radio Show website that said turnout was greater than expected, and called the results “fantastic.”
“Overall, the mission of the hunt, which was to help manage the area’s coyote and wolf population, was accomplished,” the website said.
Both sites displayed a photograph of the trapper, identified as “Dan H.,” holding a dead male gray wolf estimated at 2 years of age.
“When Dan approached the wolf in his trap, he said the drag was just lying on top of the ground, but the wolf had managed to wrap the chain around a tree and didn’t realize that if he just backtracked, he would be free,” according to the radio show’s website.
It also said a pair of trappers who had been tracking a pack of wolves in Sanders County for two years harvested two more wolves two days before the organized hunt began on Saturday.
“Although those two wolves didn’t count toward the hunt, it is still a victory for wolf management supporters in Montana,” the website said.
