Commission approves wolf trapping season, with caveats

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission last week approved the wolf trapping regulations for this upcoming season.

This new regulation builds upon a federal court order that limits wolf trapping within a geographic area that includes all of FWP regions 1, 2 and 3, along with the western portions of regions 4 and 5 to Jan. 1 through Feb. 15, FWP said in a release.

Region 1 is Northwest Montana.

First, starting Dec. 1 trappers in this court-established geographic area who are trapping on ground, not in water, must obtain a free Supplemental Trapping Permit if they are targeting nongame species (racoons, badgers, red fox) or predatory animals (weasel, skunks, coyotes). People using live cage traps are exempt from this requirement. 

Also, the proposal requires trappers who are doing livestock protection activities must complete and sign an affidavit identifying the producer’s name, that the producer has provided permission for trapping activities to occur on their private or leased property, and the county where the trapping will occur.

The purpose of the Supplemental Trapping Permit is to gather data and insight on these trapping efforts, FWP said in a release.

According to the regulations, wolf trapping outside of the court-established geographic area will begin Dec. 2 and end March 15. 

The proposal also outlines the requirements for trappers following the incidental capture of a grizzly bear by a trapper. These requirements would go into effect 48 hours after FWP is notified of the capture and would only apply to recreational trappers within the court-established geographic area: 

All foothold traps used in ground sets (regardless of the target species) must have an inside jaw spread of less than or equal to 5 1/2 inches.

The use of snares is not allowed unless they meet ALL the following criteria:

The snare is equipped with a breakaway lock device installed on the loop end and designed to release when more than 350 pounds of force is applied;

The snare is fastened to an immovable object solidly secured to the ground (i.e., the use of drags is unlawful); and the top of the loop of the snare is not placed more than 26 inches above the ground; in snow, 26 inches is measured from the compacted snow in a trapper’s footprint established by the full body weight of the trapper.