North Fork wolf hunt closed

An elk hunter with a wolf license shot a wolf on the fourth day of archery season just west of the Whitefish Divide, prompting Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to close the North Fork Flathead’s wolf management Unit 110.

It is the only hunting district in the state that retains a quota for wolves.

Only two can be harvested per year in the district, which covers the North Fork west of Glacier National and extends over the Whitefish Divide into Lincoln County.

One more wolf can be harvested once the rifle season for wolves opens Oct. 15.

Region One Wildlife Manager Jim Williams said the hunter checked in the wolf as required on Wednesday.

“An individual archer took an 83-pound, 4-year-old male wolf just west of the Whitefish Divide,” Williams said. “The guy was cow-talking at elk. The wolf came right in.”