Col. Falls hunter bags first wolf

The Daily Inter Lake

A Columbia Falls man has harvested the first wolf from the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

Daniel Pettit called in Friday to report that he had shot a wolf on Soakem Mountain in the upper reaches of Schafer Creek, a tributary to the Middle Fork Flathead River, according to Caroline Sime, wolf management coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

It was the first wolf to be harvested in Wolf Management Unit 1, which encompasses the entire northern tier of the state. There is a 41-wolf quota for that management unit and a 75-wolf quota for the entire state.

"It's my understanding that [Pettit] has not come out of the woods yet," Sime said on Monday, noting that the average stay for hunters deep in the wilderness area is about seven days.

Pettit shot the wolf in the Great Bear Wilderness at the northern end of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

The first organized wolf hunt to be held in Montana got under way Sept. 15, but only in the state's wilderness areas.

A hunter from Roberts harvested the first wolf in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. An out-of-state hunter got the second wolf from that same wilderness. Pettit's is the third wolf to be taken statewide.

Nearly 10,000 wolf permits have been sold in Montana, and most of them will be carried by hunters during the five-week general big game season that starts Oct. 25.

Based on post-season telephone surveys, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials estimate that only 1,200 people hunted in wilderness areas last year.

Because of the low density of hunters and the rugged terrain, few wolves are expected to be taken from wilderness areas.

Hunters are required to call in and report a wolf kill within 12 hours and to present the skull and pelt to state wildlife officials for inspection within 10 days.

That process involves a harvest form that will provide a wide range of information, such as the type of weapon, distance to the animal, whether other wolves were in the area, and whether the hunter was primarily hunting for a wolf or other big game at the time.