Second wolf taken locally

A Hayden man has harvested Boundary County’s second wolf.

Brock Morrow, 34, was deer hunting on Nov. 20 in the Mt. Harvey area when a 100-pound male wolf came into sight. Morrow took the animal from 60 yards.

“I was calling deer and it came running in for the deer,” Morrow said. “I was pretty stunned.”

 He also wasn’t surprised. Morrow had seen tracks nearby belonging to at least four wolves and believes there were 10 on the area.

“They were howling and going crazy,” Morrow said.

Kelly Ray of Naples on Oct. 13 killed Boundary County’s first wolf during Idaho’s initial hunting season since the animals were removed from the Endangered Species List. Ray was elk hunting in the Trail Creek area outside Naples when he spotted the animal and shot it from 150 yards

 The wolf is among 12 taken in the Panhandle Region since the season opened on Oct. 1. A quota of 30 has been set for the region, which includes Boundary, Bonner and Kootenai counties and portions of Benewah, Latah, Clearwater and Shoshone counties.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game Commission last week extended the wolf hunting seasons in all zones — except those already closed due to quota limits — until March 31. The season for the Panhandle reason was initially set to close on Dec. 31.

Fish and Game set wolf harvest limits by 12 zones. The season closes in each zone when the limit for that zone is reached, or when the statewide limit of 220 wolves is reached.

As of Nov. 19, the statewide harvest was 110.

Wolf seasons already have closed in the Dworshak-Elk City wolf zone in north Idaho, the McCall-Weiser zone in west central Idaho, and the Upper Snake zone in eastern Idaho.

Three zones are nearing the harvest limit. The Palouse-Hells Canyon zone is two short of the limit of five; the Southern Mountains, where the limit is 10, is three short; and the Middle Fork zone, with a limit of 17, is four short.

Wolf hunters are reminded to check the harvest limit in the wolf hunting zones they intend to hunt. To find out whether a zone is open, call 877-872-3190. The Fish and Game wolf harvest Web page is updated less frequently

Hunters are required by state law to report within 24 hours of harvesting a wolf, and they must present the hide and skull to a Fish and Game conservation officer or regional office within five days.