Here is one a friend got the other day. Too bad it had a collar on

December 1. Maybe snow maybe not. Trapper would be prepared if they knew it was coming

And you don't think the landscape Is already filled with large foot holds that are targeting coyotes.

He's probably thinking Mb750's,No.9's,etc.,much bigger steel than coyote

Lots of northern coyote trappers are using 650s and 750s for coyotes and are catching and holding wolves In those traps.

MB650 yes, don't know about the Duke650 ( 7+ width along the hinge?); 750's not till Dec1 for land sets; no #9 at all, max jaw spread is 8"

I held 3 of 4 wolves last year in two coil MB 550s. I think the 4th would have held if I would have had shock springs on the chain, I watched it pull out. Might be different in deep snow, but if I draw a tag I am not changing my traps that I have out during the coyote season.

lots of wolves held in 2 coil Bridger #3....friend had one in a Duke #3 that pulled out as he drove up

I'd be willing to bet no dog hunters will be running wolves that early. You cannot use dogs to pursue wolf until the Monday following gun deer season. Trappers and predator callers have the first month of season all to themselves.

Not this season as trapping was over. Sure there are traps out the other times but not this year and in the past we did not have hounds hunting wolves so we don't really know the impact of that. I don't think traps on the landscape is a big of an issue as when the hunt or season is set so it minimizes the conflicts with other users.

Bryce

Conflict? We addressed that last time when we moved the season back to start the first Saturday in November.

Getting dog running earlier will be a tough hill to climb. IMO, too many stakeholders pushing against it. That's why it was allowed in December. It will be interesting to see the data from this year as they will come under extra scrutiny.

Frankly I believe legislators want to keep a longer season to ensure we get the harvest. In the past we had zones that kept open until December. As we put more pressure on population more zones stay open longer. Like anything the first 10-20% of the population is easy to harvest. Gets harder the more that percentage goes up. We need 40% to reduce population slightly.

Spot on!

What we need to remember is the ultimate goal is to control wolf numbers anyway in Idaho it is so look at things long and hard before acting. Just my two cents in Idaho we have houndsmen on our board and we look at them as allies.