This last fall I was sitting in a deer stand, freezing cold just hoping to see a deer. Just a few years ago there was no afternoon without seeing a couple of deer. Now there is nothing but the quiet woods, then a slow trot crumpling the leaves. Under the tree stand runs a big timber wolf. Right in front of my eyes, the reason I am not seeing deer. As the wolf population is on the rise and the deer population on the fall, a wolf hunt is almost certainly needed. The wolf problem in Minnesota is way deeper than most know; the history, current population, issues, and what a hunt would do tie it together pretty well.

First, the history of wolves in Minnesota. Wolves have been around the northern U.S for as long as time. The species that lives in Minnesota is the Gray wolf. Wolves never caused any issues until the late 1800s and early 1900s when loggers started working in northern Mn. The lumberjacks had a simple solution, if they saw a wolf they shot it. In the 1920s the state of Minnesota started to put paid bounties on wolves. This went on all the way up until 1956 according to Minnesotans For Sustainability. The endangered species act of 1973 gave protection to wolves from hunters. Under this act if a wolf was shot the hunter would get one year in prison or a $20,000 fine. In 1978 a recovery attempt was launched by the Eastern Timber Wolf Recovery Team. This was a 20 year plan to bring the wolf population back to a stable number. This plan has worked a little too well, now the wolves are more populated than they have ever been. From 1990 to 2010 wolves have populated 10,000 more square miles than before. Today there is the most wolves in Minnesota on record.

Next,  the current wolf population, wolves do not repopulate very fast at all. Each spring a female will have somewhere between two and six pups, the survival rate is only 50% according to the International Wolf Center.  The most recent survey done by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources found there is 2,278 wolves living in 439 packs. The numbers have risen from last years 2,221 wolves in 374 packs. Which is well above the minimum state goal of 1,600. The more packs there is the closer they get, on average the distance between packs went from 73 miles to 62 miles according to MNDNR. As the packs get closer they want to spread out moving closer and closer to towns causing many problems.

Now some of the biggest issues wolves can cause. First the problems they cause with people. One of the biggest issues is with pets, especially dogs. Dan Kraker from  MPR news reported in 2014 there was 11 dogs killed and 16 injured.  Not only are dogs in danger but people are too. Wolves can grow to be upwards of 110 pounds. If a wolf is hungry a child could be in serious danger. Not just children but adults too. The more wolves there is the more food they need. Deer are the most popular prey. The Political Environment claims a single wolf can kill up to 15 deer every year. With a wolf living an average life of five years, in their lifetime they could kill 75 deer. These stats have hunters rattled.

Lastly, what a hunt would do. The law as of now is a wolf may not be killed unless in self defense. If a wolf is shot and a life is not in danger the fine is $20,000 and/or up to a year in prison. Before the wolf hunt was banned the way the DNR used to find hunters was a lottery. That would be a good way to bring back the hunt. So not everyone can go hunt them, only a select few. If the tag was “over the counter” meaning everyone can get one, the wolf might become extinct. Conservation experts with the DNR say around 50-100 tags depending on the year.

The wolf problem in Minnesota is growing, talking about the history, population, issues and the needed hunt will get more supporters in favor of a hunt. Wolves are getting bolder and bolder , instead of a pet the next thing could be a small child. Hopefully in the following years I can take care of the wolf while I am in the deer stand instead of the wolf taking all the deer.