Wolf hunt gets off to a slow start in Idaho

The prospect of wolf hunting in the Northern Rockies has been the subject of fraught court fights and emotional public hearings, but the second legal wolf hunt in the region in this century has gotten off to a lackadaisical start in Idaho. A backcountry hunt started Tuesday in 13 zones across the state, where there are an estimated 1,000 wolves. Quotas have been established in many parts of the state, but there's no overall limit on the number of wolves that can be killed this season. Officials do want to maintain a population of at least 150 wolves in that area with 15 breeding pairs. But only 7,774 Idaho residents had purchased hunting tags for wolves by Tuesday, along with 571 out-of-state hunters -- less than a third the number sold during the 2009 hunt, which was the first since wolves were removed from the protections of the federal Endangered Species Act...more