This past July, the WDNR made their selections to the Wolf Advisory Council.

Absent is a representative from the Wisconsin Trappers Association, an organization that side by side assists the WDRN in both wolf education and research.

Attached is the list of selected council members

Thoughts?

Link for Trapper Dahlgren for WI large canines

I just read a little bit about Randy Johnson‘s bio. Taking a try at wolf management. So together, they're supposed to implement a management strategy and come up with how many wolves Wisconsin can sustain?
It is strange that the association doesn’t have representation there, trappings the only effective way to control any numbers.

Based on the 2021 season (3 days, Wisconsin's last wolf season) approximately 86% of the 216 harvested wolves were taken with the aid of hounds. Of course, we are dealing with a wolf population across the state that has little fear of dogs or humans, yet. Prior to 2021, wolves had not been pursued since 2014.

The Department of Natural Resources reported that only 5% were taken by trappers and 9% by other methods ( gun hunters) which wasn't surprising with only a 3 day season in late February. Based on those statistics, I can see where trappers aren't considered to be efficient at taking wolves in the state. However it is difficult to know the percentage of each group pursuing wolves in 2021, since there was only one license for all methods.

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In most recent WIsconsin Outdoor News. Worth picking up if you don't subscribe to read the entire commentary.

It’s not a good sign if your DNR doesn’t realize effective methods of management. I’m guessing there’s nobody in the group that’s really done any wolf management for an extended period of time……or reached out to experts in the field? I’m sure this Randy Johnson will do his due diligence and reach out to some experts in the field.

On a side note, no offence but it’s kinda funny….
“Randy Johnson”…..Does that mean he’s walking around with a boner all the time?

You have to remember that the Wisconsin DNR had to be forced by a court order to open a wolf season back when they last had one. Which is why it opened in the middle of winter instead of at the regular time. It was absolutely perfect conditions for the dog hunters, plus they had a serious vendetta against the wolves and pretty much every one of them that could beg, borrow or steal the time took off work and hunted the three days it was open. I'm sure if the season would have been open longer the trappers would have gotten their act together and got a much higher percentage. I know of one group who took six wolves in those three days, three with hounds and three in traps, yet very few trappers took wolves. I suspect that is mainly due to the extremely short season and most trappers if they did set traps, set them in known wolf crossings instead of where the wolves were right now, and the season was over before the wolves ever got to their traps.

The Wisconsin DNR is not the sportsman's friend on the wolf issue, they do NOT want to manage them. And by the composition of this "Council" it is obvious nothing has changed there.

bearcat2, X2. Everyone talks about the 3 day season, but it was not a normal season as implemented previously. Fall not winter. Also the winter weather conditions for dogs were perfect. In Taylor County and North we had a dusting of snow each evening which made for ideal dog running conditions.

Very sad to hear that a government entity doesn’t want to do the job it was created for…..
Wolf trapping takes time. Like you said, if a guys going into an area blind, he’s going on luck if the seasons only a few days……lol. Kinda a joke really.

How would you like to have been working for Border Patrol the past 4 years?
Sorry, now back to Wolf management.

How many wolves WI can sustain is primarily biology driven question, best left to those educated in the field. In its purest form all you'd have to do is let nature take its course and at some point nature will even out a population and that will be what the state can sustain.


Reality is they are not going look at how many it can sustain, they are going to try and pull a number out of the air that all those involved can live with. I doubt anyone is going to be happy with the result.


My guess for what its worth is that the final number will be pretty close to what we have now for a number. I would not be surprised if it was even higher.
I say this because the amount of people on the council that favor same/higher numbers easily outweighs those that will want a drastically lower number.

As far as no trapping representation I suspect they feel it does, they are lumping hunting/trapping into one group, whether animals harvested are trapped or hunting is of little concern to the majority that will want same/higher numbers.
a difference without a distinction as it were.

I'd be most interested in who the 2 members are who are "at large" Anyone know anything about these 2?

If the political environment in Wisconsin is anything like it is in Minnesota where wolves are concerned, they are doing their job. Unfortunately that has nothing to do with sound management.

Not that it has any bearing on me, but I'm sure most of us would like to know.

Isn't the job they've been entrusted with the sound management of the states natural resources?

Only on paper where wolves are concerned. Here in Minnesota it is more about ideology than sound management.

They do manage it, it all depends upon who's definition of "sound" we use.