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Possible new Montana wolf quota would allow hunters to take up to 15 animals each. (Photo by Abbie Warnock-Mathews)

Montana’s wolf kill quota may be set at 500 animals for the 2025-2026 season, which is approximately half of the state’s wolf population. The quota would allow hunters and trappers to take up to 15 animals each. According to a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) report, if the quota is met, it would leave approximately 550 of the predators in the state.

Some claim the quota is overkill and that the state is trying to eradicate wolves altogether. Others believe it’s part of a sound predator management strategy and that 550 wolves are more than enough to keep the animals from being re-listed as an endangered species.

Ryan Bronson, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), told Cowboy State Daily that it’s unlikely that hunters would meet the new quota of 500 wolves. During last year’s wolf seasons, hunters and trappers killed 289 wolves, fewer than the quota of approximately 300. Bronson says Northwest Montana is densely populated with wolves and is also “in a part of the state where people are clearly frustrated by (lower) deer and elk populations.”

The RMEF considers wolves to be a contributing factor to the decline in big game populations, Bronson said, and added that the FWP has a proven track record of managing Montana’s wolves, and the agency should have the freedom to adjust hunting quotas as needed.

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The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will take up the matter during its next meeting on August 21.