Idaho wolf tags go on sale Monday

Wolf tags go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday, and Idaho Fish and Game officials don't know how much immediate interest there will be or if those who purchase them will get a chance to hunt wolves.

On Monday the Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved a wolf hunting season that allows as many as 220 wolves to be taken. The season opens Sept. 1 in some backcountry units and Oct. 1 in the rest of the state.

But on Thursday a coalition of environmental and animal rights groups asked a federal judge to stop the hunts. So it's possible tags will be sold and the season will be shut down before it starts or shortly thereafter.

Fish and Game commissioner Tony McDermott of Sagle estimated as many as 70,000 Idaho hunters could purchase wolf hunting tags. Mike Keckler, a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said interest in wolf tags has been high but nobody knows how robust sales will be Monday.

"We've been getting lots of calls," he said. "People want to know when they are going on sale, what time and when they can pick them up."

There will be no limit on the sale of tags. But wolf hunting will occur in 12 zones throughout the state. Each zone has a harvest limit and once that limit is reached, hunting will be shut down in the zone. Some, such as the Lolo Zone in the Upper Clearwater Basin and the Sawtooth in south central Idaho, where wolves are having an impact on elk numbers, have higher limits. Hunters will be able to kill 27 wolves in the Lolo Zone and 55 in the Sawtooth Zone.

But in other zones, such as the Upper Snake on the western border of Yellowstone National Park, the limit was set at five to help ensure wolves can move back and forth between central Idaho and the park for breeding.

Because of the uncertainty over the legal status of the hunts, the department has come up with a refund policy.

If Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula issues an injunction stopping the hunts before Sept. 1, those who have already purchased tags will be eligible for a refund. If the season is blocked on or before Oct. 9, the day before Idaho's general big game season opens, hunters with wolf tags who can show "in good faith" they have not hunted will also be eligible for refunds.

"This whole (refund policy) is because of the potential for legal action," said Ed Mitchell, a spokesman for the department. "There would be no refunds were there no potential of it being blocked by an injunction."

If an injunction comes Oct. 10 or some time later, refunds will not be issued. Mitchell said the tags don't come with a promise of a full season of hunting. He said if hunters have a chance to hunt and the season closes because of an injunction or for some other reason, such as the harvest limits being met, the season will close and hunters will have no recourse.

Hunters seeking refunds will be required to submit a request form by Dec. 31.

Tags will cost $11.75 for residents and $186 for nonresidents. They can be purchased at Idaho Fish and Game offices, by telephone at 1-800-554-8685, online at https://id.outdoorcentral.us/ or at any license vendor in the state.

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Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273.