Montana Fish & Wildlife Commission Approves Hunting & Trapping Of Up To 300 Wolves
The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved regulations allowing up to 300 wolves to be killed through hunting and trapping during the state’s 2026–27 season, despite an updated state population model showing a decline in Montana’s wolf population beginning in 2021.
The decision is especially concerning because the Commission approved a quota 50 wolves higher than the 250-wolf limit recommended by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP).
The decision was made during the Commission’s August 19 meeting in Helena, where commissioners considered Montana’s fall 2026–winter 2027 wolf hunting and trapping seasons, quotas, and regulations.
In July, FWP released its 2025 Wolf Report with two estimates of Montana’s wolf population. Using its original population estimation model, the agency estimated approximately 1,094 wolves statewide. A preliminary estimate using its updated model placed the population substantially lower, at approximately 725 wolves.
FWP also stated that the updated model has not yet undergone the same peer-review process as the original model. However, when the agency applied the updated model to previous years, it showed a steady decline in Montana’s wolf population beginning in 2021.
Even with those findings, FWP recommended allowing up to 250 wolves to be killed during the upcoming season.
The Montana Wolf Management Plan identifies 450 wolves as the minimum number necessary to ensure there are at least 15 breeding pairs in the state. FWP emphasizes that this figure represents a minimum and is not the agency’s management objective.
Rather than adopting FWP’s lower recommendation, the Commission increased the quota to 300 wolves. According to Project Coyote, the final amendment also transitioned the regulations from a statewide quota to a regional system.
The decision follows another deadly season for Montana’s wolves. FWP reported that 247 wolves were killed during the 2025–26 season, including 145 by hunters and 102 by trappers.
Wildlife advocates strongly condemned the Commission’s decision and are calling for greater protections for Montana’s remaining wolves.
“Montana’s wolf hunting and trapping is abjectly cruel, ecologically destructive, and pushing wolf families and the entire population to the brink,” said Nadia Steinzor, carnivore conservation director at Project Coyote.
Public opposition to killing more wolves was also significant. According to Project Coyote, 2,019 of 2,203 commenters, approximately 92%, spoke in favor of killing fewer wolves, including those calling for a hunting and trapping moratorium or a significant reduction from FWP’s proposed 250-wolf quota.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks itself acknowledges that gray wolves are native to Montana. Yet Montana continues to authorize the hunting and trapping of hundreds of wolves each year. If the state recognizes the importance of wolves, why does it continue to allow so many of them to be killed?
“The gray wolf is a native species that plays an important role in Montana’s wildlife heritage,” FWP states.
FWP also describes wolves as highly social animals that live in packs, which typically include a breeding pair, their offspring, and other non-breeding adults.
Against that backdrop, the Commission’s decision to authorize the killing of up to 300 wolves, 50 more than FWP itself recommended, raises serious concerns about how Montana is managing and protecting this native species.
With FWP’s updated model showing a decline in Montana’s wolf population and widespread public opposition to killing more wolves, Montana should be moving toward stronger protections, not higher killing quotas.
