Seeking Wolf Photos OWO’s informal census continues
DICK ELLIS
Click here for full PDF Version from the March/April Issue.
Seeking Wolf PhotosOWO’s informal census continuesOn Wisconsin Outdoors’ informal wolf census continues. Please send your trail cam photos of wolves in Wisconsin to: wolves@onwisconsinoutdoors.com. List the county where the photos were taken, the date, and verify the number of wolves visible in each photo. Your name will not be published.
OWO publishers do not believe the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) population estimate that place wolf numbers in Wisconsin at 1007 animals during the winter of 2022/23. We do believe that an unmanaged wolf population in the state directly correlates with a severely declining deer hunting experience particularly in the north country. We believe that the decline in our Wisconsin tradition will magnify further as individual wolves and wolf packs continue to expand to create an increasingly out-of-balance predator/prey ratio.
By the numbers, since OWO asked for your trail cam photos of wolves we have received 17 photos from readers and published since January, 2024. The shots include a total of 50 wolves scattered over 12 counties; Bayfield, Barron, Iron, Price, Clark, Wood, Adams, Juneau, Florence, Forest, Oconto and Shawano. In our ongoing project, red on the adjacent Wisconsin map will represent counties from which we have received wolf photos.
To date, using the state mark of approximately 1000 wolves, with 17 snapshots taken over an approximately 16 percent of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, we have in theory captured approximately five percent of the DNR’s estimated population. The photo contributions represent only a literal snapshot of the vast territory within each of the 12 counties, with the large majority of northern and central Wisconsin counties from verified wolf strongholds not yet contributing a single photo to our informal survey.
Did our readers to date capture five percent of the state wolf population from 17 tree mounts, or are wolf numbers grossly underestimated?
Thank you for sending your trail cam photos of wolves, and for informing friends, local sports shop owners, shooting clubs or other possible sources that OWO is asking for photos that will help verify or challenge state population estimates. Healthy, science-based wildlife management is only possible with accurate numbers of predator and prey serving as the foundation for decisions.
Help us verify truth in numbers. Wherever it leads us.