It sounds like there won't be a quota on wolves in most of Idaho. Although nothing is final and there is still a chance the Judge could throw a wrench in it. If it goes through though Idaho will manage wolves like black bear and mountain lion. They would close the season if a certain number of animals get harvested but there won't be a set number in specific zones except for possibly along the ID MT border.
Idaho wolf quota.
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mightyhunter
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The quota thing is just better public relations for the various Fish and Game Departments. I believe Montana did the better thing in setting a quota. Set a quota, whether it can be reached or not, would be done just to satisfy the eco-elite groups. I am sure Idaho has an idea of where they would shut off any wolf hunting after harvest figures are determined. Based on my knowledge of the Idaho backcountry (having lived there for 27 years) I doubt that they will have a harvest by hunters in excess of 220 wolves. If Wyoming obtains delisting (important talks today, July 7th,2011) I would expect a quota in the trophy zones. Judge Molloy is holding a hearing on the "wolf rider" challenge on July 27of this year. I expect a ruling before the end of summer.
I like the no quota idea. The wolf populations have been moving out of wilderness areas. The previous system split the state into zones and gave each zone a quota. If they do this the way it looks like they are going to it should allow for more of the wolves to be taken out of areas that are not wilderness and where there is no need to maintain a population. With the quota system they did last time there were zones where the quota was met but there were still wolf problems and conflicts. Because the quota had been set up to maintain a certain number of wolves in a large geographical area the quota could have been filled by hunters in one part of the zone ending the season without removing some of the problem wolves that showed up on ranches in another part of the zone during the winter. I have no doubt that hunters will not be able to harvest a large number of wolves in the back country (having lived here for 33 years) but having the ability to hunt wolves without number restrictions in many parts of the state is a good thing. We all know by now that playing the numbers game just to appease the Eco-elite doesn't do any good. Look at how many different times the sustainable population number changed and it still after an act of congress they are fighting for more.
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