MISSOULA – State wildlife managers say one wolf kill was reported as Montana’s general hunting season opened Sunday with an estimated 100,000 hunters spreading across public and private lands.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Craig Jourdonnais says a hunter searching for deer and elk in the Big Hole Valley shot the 75-pound black wolf.
The agency says at least half a dozen hunters were hunting exclusively for wolves Sunday.
This year’s gray wolf hunt is the first since the predators were removed from the endangered species list in the spring. But for much of the state, the novelty won’t last long.
The season for most of southern Montana is expected to stay open a day or two at most. The wolf quota for that area was nearly filled in an early season backcountry hunt allowed in a small area outside Yellowstone National Park.