The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission finalized wolf hunting and trapping regulations during a lengthy meeting Thursday where commissioners heard passionate comments from people around the country.

The Commission debated several amendments to the 2025/2026 Furbearer and Wolf Hunting and Trapping Regulations proposal that FWP released in early July. Though the regulations cover all furbearer trapping and wolf hunting and trapping, the central focus of the discussion was crafting a new set of wolf regulations.

For the 2025/2026 wolf hunting and trapping season the Commission approved a 452 statewide wolf quota, which includes a sub-quota of 60 wolves in Region 3, and separate quotas of three wolves each in Wolf Management Units 313 and 316.

The Commission established that a person may harvest 15 wolves via trapping and 15 wolves via hunting, provided that five wolves from each method of take are harvested in FWP Region 1 or Region 2. Hunters must purchase a wolf license for each wolf they harvest via hunting, but they may purchase up to 15 licenses before going afield.

The Commission approved a regulation allowing a trapper to gain prior authorization from FWP to temporarily leave the live wolf in the trap for the purpose of radio collaring by FWP. In this circumstance the wolf would not be harvested, but the trapper would immediately notify FWP, per the prior authorization arrangement, and a FWP official would radio collar the wolf and release it from the trap.

The Commission approved regulation changes to require that all harvested wolves must be presented to FWP for inspection within 10 days of harvest for pelt tagging, tissue sampling, and tooth extraction. A trapper must present the hide and skull for tagging and sampling within 10 days of harvest. It is now illegal to leave a wolf hide and skull in the field after harvest, even if the hunter or trapper doesn’t want to keep the animal.

The Commission removed trapping setbacks on roads closed to motor vehicle and OHV traffic (except snowmobiles and unless in a designated no trapping area) in Mineral County and on the Spotted Bear Ranger District in northwest Montana.

FWP staff will finalize the regulations and release them online in the coming days. Printed regulations will be available later this summer.

Archery wolf season opens Sept. 6. Trapping season will open Dec. 1, except within the geographic area identified by federal court order. Just like last season, trapping within the geographic area will be limited to Jan. 1 to Feb. 15. The geographic area is all of FWP regions 1, 2 and 3, and portions of regions 4 and 5. This area, with limited trapping dates, is the same as last year, according to the FWP proposal.

Outside this geographic area, wolf trapping closes March 15, 2026, or when a quota is met.