If they don't do a drawing at all you guys got bigger problems than the 10 bucks you lost.

Thing is there were some specifics of the season like 12 hr registration requirement instead of 24 hr that were supposed to be figured out at the Sept NRB meeting that got canceled and the Oct meeting isn't until the 26th/27th so who knows.

I hope they don't cancel the Oct meeting too

I heard the wolf stuff wasn't going to be on it if it was held. Department and Tony Evers administration continues to throw a tantrum. Even worse, it sounds like they wont allow the board to have outside representation so the same attorney general that brought suit to try and remove the chair is going to be defending the board in the other lawsuit. What could possible go wrong? Really will be important that organizations step up to fill in the gap.

They are doing everything in their power to make it co or equal management of resources for the tribes which is going to impact way more than wolves. Sportsmen and women better get their head out of the sand and get engaged or this could have huge lasting impacts. They have tried to frame this about wolves, but it runs way deeper.

And the temper tantrum continues as department decides they will go rogue....

https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/wisconsin-dnr-defies-board-reduces-fall-wolf-quota/

WISCONSIN DNR ANNOUNCES NOVEMBER 2021 WOLF HARVEST QUOTA
LICENSES TO GO ON SALE OCT. 25
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced that the statewide quota for the Fall 2021 wolf season has been set at 130 wolves.

The department is authorized by state statute and the department’s rules to make the final decision on the quota for the Fall 2021 wolf harvest. In determining the quota, the department considered the best available information and scientific modeling, as well as the input from the Wolf Harvest Committee, the Natural Resources Board, and the many groups and members of the public who provided comments to the department and the Board.

State-licensed hunters and trappers will be authorized to harvest 74 wolves within the six zones established in the department’s regulations. The department will honor the Ojibwe Tribes’ treaty right within the Ceded Territory of 56.

The department will use a license ratio of 5:1 to offer the opportunity to 370 successful applicants to purchase a state wolf hunting license. The department plans to notify successful applicants Oct. 25, at which point licenses will also go on sale.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed gray wolves from the federal endangered species list on Jan. 4, 2021, returning management authority to state agencies. As required by state statute, the DNR will continue to plan for a wolf harvest season to open on Nov. 6, 2021.

The DNR is currently updating Wisconsin’s wolf management plan with input from a Wolf Management Plan Committee. The department will continue working towards completing a 10-year wolf management plan to guide management decisions beginning in 2022.

74 wolves will not even keep the population stable; population is already way over the target level and it will continue to grow. I am afraid that people will start reducing the population on their own.

Unfortunately you are probably right Steve.

Funny how someone like Doc Prehn worked overtime to keep NRB authority when Scott Walker proposed making NRB advisory only, yet Tony Evers administration is allowed to eliminate it by fiat. Crazy times we are living in.

"Wisconsin had 1,195 wolves in 256 packs in late winter 2020


2,380 hunting and trapping licenses were issued for the season
Prospective hunters and trappers had to buy a $10 application. Those among the 2,380 chosen in a Feb. 21 drawing also must buy a $49 license.

Funds raised from application and license fees are used to pay for wolf damages, including livestock depredations.

More than 20,000 people had applied for a permit as of Feb. 19, according to the DNR."

Last hunt.

20K plus at $10 is over 200K and 370 licenses at 50 is another 18K so nearly 225K for 74 wolves that is a really fast and easy revenue source.
Is it the right number or amount? No there never will be a RIGHT number, but hopefully with two seasons in one year there will be more data and insight in establishing the 10 year management plan. The good news with that is there some long term thought here and that is better than one year season every decade. Depredation records can be a good way to help plot trends so it is best for all these to be recorded.
Bryce

In one day, the NRB and WCC was made irrelevant if this is allowed to stand. Everything with DNR will only be handled via legislature and the governor.

Most importantly, wolves lost. Tolerance in wolf country will continue to decline. And you likely wont see 20,000 folks apply for a tag in the near future which will significantly decrease the amount available for depredation claims. 50+ years to draw a tag might be a small deterrent. This will only make more folks embolden to take matters into their own hands.

Absolutely correct! I think I just heard a gun shot. Could be hearing things here in the big woods.

Chris

The NRB has been at odds with public input for some time. Two years in a row they've gone against the recommendations of the CDAC for antlerless permit numbers in northern counties. Its nothing more than a political puppet show nowadays. The next governor will get to appoint 5 members to the NRB, think on that.

If you applied for a wolf permit and want to change your application to preference point only, there's still time to do so. Feel free to make it known that it's because you're fed up with getting barely a week's notice between the drawing and the start of the season. So much for having the drawing done "soon."

My opinion is the reduction of the quota was an attempt to appease the tribes or save face before the lawsuit they brought claiming the dnr doesn't listen to science when managing wolves.

It wasn't me, honest.

I don't think our natural resources should be managed by mob rule. I think the minority opinion is just as important as the majority opinion. You have to account for it when making a decision. This means we will sometimes weigh variables differently and might come to a different conclusion. We should just be clear on how we are evaluating.

IMO, the board was justified in changing 4 of the 6 CDAC recommendations. I just wish they would have kept the strike zone consistent on all six. But instead of actually looking at objectively, we are told pick a side. Either they were right or wrong on all of them. Makes no sense to me.

At this point NRB appointments will mean nothing if they are advisory only. Decisions will be run through the governors office. So yes, the next governor election will have significant consequences.

X2

You understand the issue better than anyone I know. I like your input, thanks.

I am not worried about the gunshot as much as some of the other things we are likely to see. Things that are far less discriminatory like poison stuffed in meat and littered across the northern forest. Stuff like this will only increase.


https://www.wpr.org/investigation-c...animal-poisonings-after-more-dogs-killed

Correct, and poison is always a bad route.

IMHO, politics. Gov. Evers, and liberal WIDRN management, has just set the level of cooperation between the true forces of wildlife management (farmers, ranchers, hunters, trappers, houndsman, etc.) and our DNR law enforcement back some 50 years. Unfortunately, the conservation wardens are in the middle as the front line, public face of an agency charged with responsible management based on 'the science' of state resources. Just like the state's deer population, the WIDNR don't have a clue the number of wolves on the states landscape! History has repeatedly shown that at the current harvest quota levels wolves will continue to expand in range and population well beyond established goals.

It will be interesting, sitting back and watching this unfold. I don't have a dog in this fight, no livestock to loss anymore and no interest in the wolf other than personal safety and keeping the darn things out of my traps.