It’s only the second week that Wolf Patrol has been monitoring coyote hunting with hounds in Vermont and it’s also the second week that we’ve documented potentially illegal activity by the same group of Addison County hounders. Last week it was a hound hunter attempting to shoot a coyote from a public road, and this week it was trespassing on private lands where coyote hunters did not have permission to hunt.

Last week, the hound hunters themselves claimed to have permission to hunt on the lands that we filmed them on, despite local residents who have experienced trespassing from the same group having invited us to patrol their property in the first place. On Saturday March 5, 2022 we caught them redhanded on lands that they did not have permission to hunt on. That is because hound hunters have no control over their dogs which can roam wherever the coyote leads them. This time it was on another private landowners orchard where their dog chased the offending hound off of their property in pursuit of a coyote that this time got away. Nonetheless, this was a clear case of trespass, where hound hunters were not welcome where they were hunting.

Wolf Patrol also reported the questionable activity we witnessed last week to the region’s Vermont Fish & Wildlife conservation officer (warden) and they confirmed that it is indeed illegal to discharge a firearm from anything but a “Class 4” road. When our monitors found the hound hunters last week, just as their dogs were chasing a coyote through private lands, we filmed one of the hound hunters standing in the middle of Basin Harbor Road (not Class 4) with a scoped bolt action rifle, prepared to shoot any coyote his dog chased out of the nearby farmland. The warden also informed Wolf Patrol that it was illegal to carry a loaded firearm while hunting in any vehicle, which we suspect was also the case as this hound hunter kept his rifle tucked next to his right leg on the driver’s side of the truck he was hunting from.

In addition, this party of hound hunters tried to run Wolf Patrol’s monitors off the road by driving in the middle of the public highway making us take evasive action to avoid a head on collision, flipping us off, honking at us, and otherwise doing their best to intimidate us. A Vermont Fish & Wildlife warden was in the area, alerted to the possible illegal activity by hounders by Wolf Patrol. The warden spoke to the offending hounders, but it was the landowner who was told that hound hunters have the right to hunt on any lands not posted properly according to Vermont state law.

This is why Wolf Patrol is asking Vermont residents to contact their state representatives and the Senate Natural Resources Committee to let them know that we support the passage of Senate bill 281 that would ban the hunting of coyotes with hounds. Make no mistake, coyote hunting with hounds is more akin to dog fighting than it is to any kind of hunting for food or sustenance. It is also the source of multiple conflicts with private landowners, not only in Addison County, but across the entire Green Mountain State.

The coyote hunters we have documented twice now rarely leave their trucks except when it’s to retrieve their loose dogs or shoot a fleeing coyote from the road. This isn’t an attack on all hunting, it’s a campaign against the kind of hunting that gives all ethical hunters in Vermont a bad name because of the inherent cruelty involved with using dogs, trucks, snowmobiles and radios to run down another dog.

Please email Vermont’s Senate Natural Resources Committee today to let them know that you do not support legalized dog-fighting in Vermont!

Support Senate Bill 281!

Senator Chris Bray cbray@leg.state.vt.us (802) 453-3444

Senator Rich Westman rawestman@gmail.com (802) 644-2297

Senator Mark MacDonald mmacdonald@leg.state.vt.us (802) 272-1101

Senator Brian Campion bcampion@leg.state.vt.us (802) 375-4376

Senator Richard McCormack rmccormack@leg.state.vt.us (802) 793-6417

Senator Becca Balint bbalint@leg.state.vt.us (802) 257-4162

Exactly one year ago today, I was witness to one of the worst examples of wolf management since the gray wolf rebounded from the brink of extinction and back into their rightful home in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. It was the first day of a court-ordered recreational wolf season that was organized by Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) in less than a week. Earlier in 2021, WDNR testified at a Natural Resources Board meeting that no wolf hunt would move forward without a new management plan and public input from citizen’s and tribal interests.

What we saw instead, was a rushed process made possible because of court actions brought about by a pro-hunting lobbyist organization from out of state, operating on the request of politicians hell bent on killing as many wolves as possible the moment they were removed from federal protections.

It took less than a day for Wolf Patrol to document illegality in the poorly planned hunt, all of which was reported to WDNR wardens and all of which resulted in nothing more than verbal warnings. Even though we provided evidence of a convicted poacher who had lost his hunting privileges participating in the two-day slaughter of over 200 wolves, WDNR still turned a blind-eye to the blatant disrespect hound hunters had for hunting regulations during what can only be called the largest hound hunt for wolves in U.S. history.

As the quotas quickly filled in each “wolf management zone” many witnessed the successfully orchestrated campaign by wolf hunters to delay reported kills or simply not report them at all, so that the actual kill would go way beyond the legal quota, which was almost doubled due to the concerted effort by Wisconsin wolf hunters to kill as many wolves as possible during the two-day season.

Had it not been for the February 2022 court order that returned federal protection to wolves in Wisconsin, we would have been witness to another slaughter this coming November. Wolf Patrol was a signatory to that legal petition to the federal court, which was largely successful because of the horrible example of state wolf management Wisconsin demonstrated on February 28, 2021.

Despite Wisconsin’s wolves gaining a reprieve from another WDNR managed slaughter this November, wolves are a long way from enjoying the federal protections ordered in February 2022. Instead they continue to face skyrocketing rates of illegal hunting and a poisoning campaign that has been documented in the Northwoods for over three years now.

In addition, the number one cause of human/wolf conflicts in Wisconsin will continue to be WDNR’s almost nonexistent bear hunting regulations which allow an unlimited and unregulated 7-month bear baiting season coupled with a two month bear hound training season at the peak of Summer wolf activity. Both of these practices will again result in numerous instances of bear hounds being killed by wolves, and with it more public calls by Wisconsin hound hunters for an illegal campaign of wolf killing.

Wolf Patrol was the first advocacy group to monitor Wisconsin’s hound hunt for wolves in 2014. That was the last recreational hunt for wolves before another judge ordered the animals returned to federal protections. Beginning in 2015, Wolf Patrol began investigating the annual bear hound depredations by wolves that coincide with the start of summer bear hound training season, and we quickly discovered that wolves as well as bears were being drawn to the estimated thousands of unregistered bear bait sites that are often placed on public lands.

In Wisconsin, we also documented each year how despite WDNR’s establishment of “Wolf Caution Areas” following bear hound depredations, bear hunters continued bear baiting and hound training in the very same areas wolves had only days before killed free roaming bear hounds. In the years leading up to the February 2021 court-ordered recreational wolf slaughter in Wisconsin, we also witnessed the citation by bear hunters and politicians of these preventable hound depredations as the reason it was necessary to again have a wolf hunt in the state.

This Summer will be no different. Come July, as thousands of hounds are released again in the Northwoods to trail bears from thousands of intentional feeding sites allowed by WDNR and the US Forest Service on our public lands, more bear hounds will die. It it important to remember that WDNR does not require any license or permit to bait bears in Wisconsin. Not only that, even nonresidents are welcome to bring hounds from out of state to chase and bait bears through known wolf territory and if and when they get killed, the culpable hound hunters will be compensated up to $2,500 for each hound killed. Even if more of their hounds get killed in the very same wolf caution areas, they will be compensated.

It’s time to recognize that Wisconsin’s war over wolves will not end until the state’s lack of restrictions on bear baiting and hound training are addressed. It’s also time to recognize that the crisis created by the lack of regulations will not be addressed by the WDNR’s Bear Advisory Committee which is filled with bear and hound hunters. Nor will the lack of bear hunting regulations be reckoned with through Wisconsin’s Conservation Congress (WCC), which every year rejects citizen resolutions passed in multiple counties calling for more restrictions on bear baiting and hound training. Again, the WCC’s Bear Advisory Committee’s stated mission is to support bear hunting and increase bear hunting opportunities.

Addressing the root cause of Wisconsin’s ongoing conflict between wolves and bear hunters will have to be a political campaign, coupled with an ongoing citizen effort to force local authorities to address the continuing conflict hound hunters create not only for wolves, but private property owners, outdoor enthusiasts and even other bear hunters.

Wolf Patrol will continue its now 7-year campaign to expose the real culprits behind Wisconsin conflicts with wolves…hound hunters. Since 2015, Wolf Patrol’s citizen monitors have reported from the state’s many wolf caution areas where bear hounds are killed by wolves, and each year we have documented and reported gross noncompliance to even the minimal bear baiting regulations offered by WDNR. We have also continued to document the conditioning of wolves to being fed from Wisconsin’s bear baiting stations which at last estimate amounted to over 4 million gallons of bait being dumped on mostly public lands to attract bears so hound hunters can chase and kill them.

It is also important to note that the poisoning of wolves and other wildlife is something that bear hunters have been promoting and will continue to promote especially when they are prevented from having a recreational wolf killing season in Wisconsin.

For these reasons, Wolf Patrol will again be monitoring the preventable conflict between bear hunters and wolves during the 2022 bear hound training and killing season. We are also asking all of our supporters to remain active on the state level and lobby your elected officials to address the lack of regulation on bear baiting and hound training in Wisconsin. Also, if you are a resident in an area with active bear baiting and hound training and hunting, consider offering to post not only your own land, but your neighbors as well and be ready to gather evidence when the inevitable hound hunter trespassing occurs. Report every incident to your local sheriff and keep records of every encounter with hound hunters.

And most importantly, get out to the Northwoods and celebrate the return of the gray wolf to its rightful home in Wisconsin! Despite the best of efforts by their enemies, wolves are here to stay. But their future is in your hands and should not be left to state authorities and judges to decide. The future of successfully recovered wolf populations requires continued vigilance by the citizens of Wisconsin and other states where they have returned. Only you can prevent wolf extinction!

In January 2021, Senate bill 281 was introduced which would prohibit the use of hounds as a means to hunt coyotes. Hunting coyotes with hounds has grown in the Northeastern part of the United States in pace with the coyotes firm establishment as an apex predator where once wolves and mountain lions also roamed. Both of those species were eradicated from New England in the early 1900’s, but coyotes migrating eastward interbred with both wolves and domestic dogs to create what is now known as the Eastern coyote. Nowadays in Vermont, like most other states, coyotes can be hunted every day of the year with no bag limit. But it’s the use of hounds especially in winter time where most of the cruelty has been witnessed.

S.281 is currently under consideration by the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee. On February 24 & 25, 2022 the committee heard testimony related to the bill, which is expected to be voted on the week of March 8.

The lack of fair chase, inherent cruelty resulting from pursuing prey dozens of miles, and the conflict created for private landowners by hound trespass have all been cited as reasons for S.281. The Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee has heard testimony from all sides with many supporters of the bill identifying as hunters themselves, but who consider modern hound hunting practices to be highly unethical. Opponents of the restriction on coyote hunting, say this is just part of a nationwide campaign against all hunting, and that hunting coyotes with hounds is only as cruel as nature is towards other animals and ultimately, the Eastern coyote is a pest that kills deer which hunters want instead for themselves.

Wolf Patrol began an investigation into hound hunting of coyotes with hounds in Vermont and last month released a video with some of our findings. Many hound hunters in Vermont use social media sites to share photos and videos. That is where Wolf Patrol found graphic videos from three Vermont residents depicting coyotes being cornered and killed after long chases across deep snow, where hunters with trucks and snowmobiles bring in more dogs as the chase intensifies. One Vermont hound hunter posted pictures of his hounds attacking a bleeding exhausted coyote and another photo of himself standing over the dead animal in a pool of blood.

Wolf Patrol submitted written testimony to the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee, but we wanted to also take a look for ourselves at the growing problem hunting coyotes with hounds has created for Vermont landowners and the public opposed to the cruelty associated with the sport. On February 26th, 2022 I grabbed our cameras and headed to Addison County, where residents have reported multiple conflicts with coyote hunters who trespass and block roads. Since beginning our investigation of coyote hound hunting practices in Vermont, Wolf Patrol has discovered that the practice is quite common in the winter months when no other big game seasons are open.

I was just outside of Shoreham, Vermont, less than a mile from the Lake Champlain shoreline when I came over a hill and saw a hound truck parked in the same direction but on the left side of the narrow dirt road. As I slowed down, a hound wearing a GPS collar popped out of the woods to my right which was clearly posted closed to hunting and trespass. The hound ran past his owner’s truck and back onto posted lands, alongside a clear track left by a coyote fleeing the hound.

Over the next hour, multiple trucks some with hounds were jockeying alongside the roads trying to place themselves in line for a shot, once the pursued coyote crossed the road the hunter’s were watching from their trucks. The antennas from their handheld GPS receivers could be seen in their hands and the hound hunter I spoke too, had his uncased rifle snugly tucked next to his right leg inside the cab of his truck where he could access it quickly. This was the same hounder I filmed standing in the road with his scoped rifle who later retrieved his hound that had come out of the woods where I had seen it cross earlier that morning.

As I drove past the hound hunter with the rifle, he slowed down and raised his hand like he wanted to talk, so I pulled over and he reversed until he was in line with my driver’s side window. He asked if I was filming, and I acknowledged that I was and explained to him the reasons for documenting his hound hunting activities were in support of S.281. We ended our conversation with the hunter saying he could later show me some dead coyotes, but I didn’t encounter him again that day.

S. 281 would prohibit the use of hounds to hunt coyotes, with a proposed amendment authorizing state game wardens to issue one-time only depredation permits where hounds could be used to hunt coyotes that pose a threat to life or property on private lands. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is also proposing stricter conditions and a regulated season on hunting coyotes with hounds, but that does not address the inherent cruelty associated with a sport that allows hunters to use multiple vehicles, GPS-collared packs of hounds, snowmobiles and bait to pursue one animal sometimes for dozens of miles until they can run no longer.

Please write to Vermont’s Natural Resources and Energy Committee today to let them know that you support an outright ban on recreational hunting of coyotes with hounds, which looks more like dog-fighting than hunting. This bill will be voted on in committee the week of March 8th, but it still has a long way to go before it becomes law. Let’s remain vigilant and stand with the coyotes until they are safe from dog hunters in Vermont!

NATURAL RESOURCES & ENERGY COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Senator Chris Bray cbray@leg.state.vt.us (802) 453-3444

Senator Rich Westman rawestman@gmail.com (802) 644-2297

Senator Mark MacDonald mmacdonald@leg.state.vt.us (802) 272-1101

Senator Brian Campion bcampion@leg.state.vt.us (802) 375-4376

Senator Richard McCormack rmccormack@leg.state.vt.us (802) 793-6417

Senator Becca Balint bbalint@leg.state.vt.us (802) 257-4162

Every winter, hound hunters across America turn their dogs loose to chase, torment and fight other dogs. Make no mistake, just because their prey are coyotes, doesn’t change the fact that it is still a form of legalized dog-fighting. Whether in Vermont (as this video depicts) or Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, Ohio or any of the dozens of other states where this horrendous practice is happening right now, hunting coyotes with hounds is a cruel practice that no ethical sportsman or human being should support.

These aren’t animals being killed to feed families, they are being killed for the simple pleasure hound hunters derive from watching their dogs run down other dogs. At best, some of the coyotes will have their pelts taken and sold on the international fur market where they often end up as fur trim on the hoods of parkas and other winter clothing. At worst, they are simply left to rot.

Vermont’s Fish & Wildlife Department, as well as any state wildlife agency should be ashamed to allow this practice today. Hunting coyotes with hounds is a clear violation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, which states that wildlife is for the explicit non-commercial use of citizens. It is also a wanton waste of wildlife that every humane citizen should oppose.

Yet every winter, social media is flooded with videos such as these, shared by the hound hunters themselves, depicting unspeakable cruelty against public trust wildlife. Wolf Patrol monitors hound hunters across America and we see it as our responsibility to expose these crimes against natures so you can speak out against them.

Please contact not only Vermont’s Fish & Wildlife Board, but your own state wildlife agency, to politely ask that hunting coyotes with hounds be outlawed before more animals suffer a horrific death at the jaws of other canines. And contact your own state wildlife agency to see if this practice is allowed in your own home state (it probably is.)

You can email Vermont’s Fish & Wildlife Board at:

fwinformation@vermont.gov

Every winter across Michigan, Wisconsin and dozens of other states, contests are held with cash and prizes awarded to the teams that kill the most coyotes, foxes and other wildlife. These wildlife killing contests are perfectly legal, even though they encourage the wanton waste of wildlife, not to mention the targeting and cruel eradication of native predators not responsible for any predations on livestock or other domestic animals.

Coyote killing contests target all coyotes, not just those accused of conflicts with farmers and other human activities. With the incentive to kill as many predators as possible, wildlife killing contests such as the Great Lakes Region Predator Challenge disrupt the balance of a healthy ecosystem. Wildlife killing contests actual increase the likelihood of livestock predation by killing of coyotes and foxes that are currently posing no threat at all to humans. Such contests actually trigger animals like coyotes leading to larger litter sizes to fill the empty niches left behind after the senseless removal of native predators.

Make no mistake, whether in Wisconsin, Michigan or any of the other dozens of states that allow coyote killing contests, these competitions are simply bloodsports that reward killers for their wanton waste of wildlife with cash and prizes. No ethical citizen or hunter should support the killing of public trust wildlife for fun and money.

Wolf Patrol is calling on everyone, not only Michigan citizens to join in the call for the sponsors of the Great Lakes Region Predator Challenge to pull their support or face a boycott of their Kalamazoo businesses. We are also asking concerned citizens to write, call or email Michigan’s Natural Resources Commission and ask that wildlife killing contests be ended because they area disruption to the balance of our environment and a wanton waste of wildlife.

Ask Michigan’s Natural Resources Commission to end wildlife killing contests today!
NRC@michigan.gov

Phone: 517-599-1067

      January 20, 2022 Kalamazoo Animal Advocates Press Release-

Animal Advocates Call For Wildlife Killing Challenge To Be Cancelled

      Kalamazoo Animal Advocates (KAA) is calling for Great Lakes Region Predator Challenge host, D & R Sports Center, Inc., Kalamazoo, to cancel its 8th annual event now and forever. It is scheduled for Friday, January 28-Sunday, the 30th. Steensma Lawn and Power Equipment, a co-sponsor, is also being called on to pull its sponsorship. 

      In addition, KAA is calling for a Boycott of these businesses until they are no longer sponsors. “This trophy hunt of our wild native animals is intended to kill animals across the state of Michigan in exchange for cash and prizes. It will be a massacre just like in 2020 when 195 foxes and coyotes were killed,” states KAA. Prizes will be awarded based on the team who kills the most animals. This is one of many Wildlife Killing Contests in Michigan.

     In June, 2021, Kalamazoo County passed a Proclamation in opposition to wildlife killing contests and forwarded it to State policy makers asking for a ban. It says in part that carnivores such as coyotes, foxes and bobcats, are an integral part of Michigan’s ecosystem and play a critical role in maintaining biodiversity. These contests serve no legitimate wildlife management purpose and children are encouraged to participate.

     “This contest promotes the wanton destruction of life for money and teaches children the same, while it directly ignores the Proclamation that local citizens worked hard to pass with commissioners who spent considerable time in discussion,” states KAA. 

     There is a state-wide movement among animal advocates to ban these contests. The Anishinaabek Caucus, as part of their work to promote the interests and concerns of the Anishinaabek people, affirms that:

“among tribal people committed to the continued renaissance of our traditional cultural and spiritual teachings, there is a deep sense of kinship with these animals. The key role predators have in the balance of functional ecosystems deserves respect, and their devotion to pack and family reflects our own.  Whether we treat them with callousness or with love is a measure of our own humanity.”

CALL OUT / CALL-IN PROTEST

8th Great Lakes Region Predator Challenge starting in Kalamazoo, Fri. Jan. 28-Sun. 30 www.glrpredatorchallenge.com

WHEN to call: Fri., 1/21 – Friday, 1/28, 10AM-4PM

WHO to CALL: 1. D&R Sports Center, Kalamazoo, event host: 269-372-2277 -Ask for a manager or owner. -Politely say that you strongly oppose their ongoing involvement and sponsorship of this horrific wildlife killing contest. Ask them to cancel this Challenge now and forever. Say that you support the Boycott of their business. (Add in your own polite reasons/comments you oppose).

dandrsports.com

2. Steensma Lawn and Power Equipment, Kalamazoo, co-sponsor 269-375-6476 -Ask for a manager or owner. -Politely say that you strongly oppose their sponsorship of the Challenge. Ask them to pull their sponsorship now and forever; plus, say that you support the Boycott of their business. (Add in your own reasons and comments please).

steensmalawn.com

Background info: This trophy hunt massacre of our beautiful wild animals will happen far and wide in MI. Cash prizes are awarded based on who kills the most animals. In 2020, 195 coyotes and foxes were killed. It is the 8th Annual and back after 2021 in full force. It is one of several of these event types in MI, including one in Galesburg. -It directly ignores the June, 2021 non-binding Kalamazoo County Proclamation strongly opposing hunts like this that activists worked hard to get passed.

Some good news for a change! On October 22, Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost issued a temporary injunction halting the Wisconsin Wolf hunt, which was set to begin Nov. 6. The order comes as part of a lawsuit that a coalition of wildlife advocacy groups filed to stop the hunt and invalidate a state law authorizing annual seasons. The injunction means there will not be a wolf hunt until the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WIDNR) follows the necessary rule making procedures. The judge said the injunction will remain in place until WIDNR implements updated regulations on determining quotas and the number of licenses it issues, and updates its wolf-management plan with new wolf-population goals for the state.

While attorneys for the advocacy groups say this ruling could stop any wolf hunt from happening this year, Wolf Patrol knows there’s still four months in Wisconsin’s legislated wolf hunt (Nov. 6-Feb. 28) and that if the DNR satisfies the judge’s order, a wolf hunt before the end of February 2022 could still be possible. Another late season wolf hunt in Wisconsin such as the one this past February, could do much more damage to Wisconsin’s recovering wolf population than an early season hunt that prohibits the use of hounds.

Last February’s wolf hunt was a disaster orchestrated by the still seated rogue Natural Resources Board, which it is now known was influenced heavily by the Kansas-based lobbyist, Hunter Nation. Together they forced WIDNR to implement a wolf hunt on very short notice and Wolf Patrol believes these forces again will be pushing back hard for another such wolf hunt this winter. 

Wolf Patrol is especially on guard for another short notice wolf hunt, because any wolf hunt that begins after November 29th, would again include the use of hounds, thereby making it a certainty that any quota would again be grossly exceeded. State law prohibits hound hunting of wolves until the end of firearms deer season.

During Wisconsin’s late November firearms deer season, many wolves are traditionally killed illegally and this year it is expected many more will be targeted as anti-wolf forces take out their frustrations with the Dane County Court’s ruling. If you or anyone you know is aware of an illegal wolf killing in Wisconsin, Wolf Patrol will pay $1,000 for information leading to charges being filed. You can remain anonymous. This reward program is separate from our standing $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the two-year wolf poisoning campaign in northern Wisconsin.

Wolf Patrol is raising funds for the November wolf hunt with a vinyl sticker sale! Each sticker is $5 or all three for $10. All proceeds will go towards monitoring Wisconsin’s wolf hunt beginning November 6th. Click the PayPal link on this page and be sure to include your address. Postage included for U.S. residents.

It’s time to let our supporters know about Wolf Patrol’s plans for the November 2021 wolf hunt in Wisconsin. While there is still some hope that lawsuits being heard in federal court in late October might stop the hunt, it’s our job to expect that the hunt will move forward as planned beginning November 6th. This November’s hunt will be very different, with trappers, predator callers and other gun hunters getting the first shot, with hound hunters having to wait until December 1st, as required by state law.

It is also with some relief to report that Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (WIDNR) has announced that the wolf kill quota will be 74, not the 300 recommended by the Natural Resources Board. This number reflects the WIDNR’s own recommendation that the quota be 130, following the gross overkill in February and it’s still unknown affect on the state’s wolf population. Wolf Patrol would like to thank WIDNR’s Cole Preston for asserting the WIDNR’s authority to set the wolf quota based on science, rather than the illegitimate direction of the Natural Resources Board, led by Hunter Nation puppet and dentist, Fred Prehn.

There will still be 370 legally licensed hunters allowed to pursue a wolf beginning November 6th, which means Wolf Patrol will also be in state and national forest lands to once again report on any illegal trapping or hunting practices. In the February wolf hunt, our crew discovered illegal traps baited with livestock and a convicted poacher participating in multiple hound hunts for wolves. This Fall we will again be monitoring the wolf hunt in areas with a history of conflict with bear hunters. The regulations for the November wolf hunt have yet to be published, but it is expected that the use of snares as well as foot-hold traps and hunting at night will be allowed.

Without the thousands of hound hunters that caused the overkill in February, this fall hunt is expected to last longer than a few days. Because of the quota reduction, there will again be calls on wolf hunters to delay or simply not report their kills as is legally required within 24 hours. If the quota of 74 is not filled by November 20th, when Wisconsin’s firearms deer season begins, there will be a greater chance that the quota would be grossly exceeded by the additional deer hunters in the field during the overlap with wolf season. Any zones still open on December 1st, will be quickly filled by hound hunters who are another interest group with a desire to exceed the state’s quota.

Wolf Patrol has also been in communication with WIDNR’s Chief Warden for the Northern District of Wisconsin and informed him that again, our crew will be monitoring wolf hunting and trapping practices on public lands this November. While our conversation was about our mutual frustration that convicted poacher and hound hunter Tyler Belott can still legally run his dogs on wolves, he also took the time to tell me that in the seven years he’s seen Wolf Patrol in the field, he’s never had a problem with any of our crew and always appreciated our valuable tips on illegal activity.

Our November patrol’s of the wolf hunt will also be focused on areas where we suspect illegal wolf hunting will be taking place and areas with a history of poisoning. Wisconsin state law allows hound hunters to train their dogs on wolves all year, thereby making illegal wolf hunting more likely because a suspected hunting party could simply claim to be training their dogs and not intending to kill the pursued wolf. Wolf Patrol will be closely monitoring any hound hunting activity during the November wolf hunt.

In addition to patrols, Wolf Patrol is offering a $1,000 reward for any information on illegal wolf hunting or evidence of delayed reporting of kills which we know will happen. If you’re evidence results in a WIDNR warden issuing a citation to any wolf hunter during the November hunt, Wolf Patrol will pay you $1,000 and you can remain anonymous.

Join the resistance to wolf slaughter and click on the links to the right to contribute via PayPal or GoFundMe

Donate to Wolf Patrol’s Fall Campaign!

Stop The Second Extinction of Wisconsin Wolves!

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WIDNR) has confirmed in a September 24, 2021 letter to Wolf Patrol that convicted Langlade County hound hunter, Tyler Belott can still legally continue to run his dogs on bear during both the training and kill season as well as on wolves any day of the year, including during the next November/December wolf hunt.

The WIDNR letter was written in response to Wolf Patrol’s call for action to terminate the illegal hunting activities of Belott, who pled no contest to the charge of killing a bear out of season and without a tag during the 2019 Wisconsin bear hound training season. Belott was sentenced to the loss of hunting privileges for three years. WIDNR admits that a stipulation agreement was made between Langlade County prosecutors and Belott’s attorney that essentially allows Belott to continue to run dogs during any regulated bear training or kill season, as long as the intent is to train, not kill.

WIDNR 09/24/21 letter explaining why Belott can still run dogs during his hunting revocation order:

Belott’s punishment is moot, as it allows him or any other convicted poacher to continue the very same activity they were engaged in during the commission of their crime. In Belott’s case, a large hunting party set out on the night of July 4th, 2019 to chase and harass bears all night, which is legal during Wisconsin’s bear hound training season.

Near dawn on July 5th, Belott and his brother-in-law, Chris Pavek bayed a young bear that wouldn’t climb a tree to escape and instead allegedly attacked the hunters pursuing hounds. Belott testified that he took a shotgun from Pavek’s truck and shot the bear, only wounding the animal. He said a second shot killed the bear, but both men hid the evidence and the bear was never recovered or reported to WIDNR.

Not only at the time of his crime of conviction has Belott displayed a willingness to break the law when it comes to hound hunting. In the two years since his revocation period began, Belott has been reported to WIDNR whose investigations determined that he has indeed participated in multiple hound hunts for bear, bobcat, coyote and wolf in violation of his revocation order.

Despite WIDNR’s legal efforts to explain why a convicted poacher can still run dogs on wildlife in Wisconsin, Wolf Patrol is still calling on the agency to cite Belott for his clear participation in Wisconsin’s February 2021 wolf hunt which went grossly over quota, thanks to hound hunters like Belott.

On September 24, 2021 the WIDNR Chief Warden for the Northern District of Wisconsin spoke with Wolf Patrol after he reported, that his department was receiving a lot of calls and emails from Wisconsin residents unhappy with the leniency given to Belott. Warden Bryan Hammerstein said that although he also was not satisfied with the outcome of the Belott case, he hoped the scrutiny the poacher was receiving would convince him not to run his dogs during Wisconsin’s next wolf hunt in November/December 2021. The warden also acknowledged that under current hound training laws in Wisconsin, even convicted poachers like Belott could still run their dogs on wolves any day of the year.

What was also agreed on during the phone conversation between Wolf Patrol and WIDNR, was that Belott’s involvement in the February wolf hunt was a clear violation of even WIDNR’s understanding of his revocation. Therefore we are calling on WIDNR to cite Belott for the offense and restart his three year revocation period.

If you agree that hound hunters like Belott deserve to be punished for not only breaking the law once, but many more times as was determined by the WIDNR, then join Wolf Patrol in calling and emailing WIDNR Chief Warden Casey Krueger and politely ask that Belott be held accountable for his illegal hound hunting activity.

Email WIDNR Chief Warden Casey Krueger @

Casey.Krueger@wisconsin.gov

or call:

608-279-0830