Wolf Killed in Hart County

[jgj]

I dont see how he could be fined,there hasnt been wolf in kentucky since the 1800's so im sure he thought it to be a coyote. I dont think he will be fined for shooting a protected animal that there has been no sighting of in kentucky for over a century---but thats just my opinion--maybe kfwd will look at it differently

If you can get warned about looking at a deer in your own driveway in the city limits of a rural town with a maglight and no firearm that is not locked in a safe,then I would not be surprised at anything. It was considered wildlife harrassment.

[JustinM]

If he cant notice a difference between a wolf and a coyote I'm not sure he should be shooting anything. Unless it was a juvenile wolf, there is a enormous size and color difference. Lol

[maximus21]

I heard at work today that they suspect in may have been kept in captivity, due to large build up of tattar on it's teeth. I guess if it was feed and didn't hunt that might happen. Kind of like what happens to your dog.

[SLP]

I heard at work today that they suspect in may have been kept in captivity, due to large build up of tattar on it's teeth. I guess if it was feed and didn't hunt that might happen. Kind of like what happens to your dog.

That would certainly make sense, and answer how he got here.

[jcb]

I was told that DNA testing traces the wolf to Yellowstone. Migrated or brought here, no one knows...

[know1]

I agree with others that if you're not 100% absolutely sure of what you're shooting, don't shoot it.

[toomanycasts]

Kdfw said it was probably a captive wolf on Kentucky Afield call on show

[roadrunner]

I dont see how he could be fined,there hasnt been wolf in kentucky since the 1800's so im sure he thought it to be a coyote. I dont think he will be fined for shooting a protected animal that there has been no sighting of in kentucky for over a century---but thats just my opinion--maybe kfwd will look at it differently

The article said the biologist were skeptical and had to have DNA to prove it was a wolf so I would think they would be hard pressed to bring charges against the shooter.

[peter]

KDFWR Officials Confirm Gray Wolf Killed in Hart County

Yipes.

A little more info form KDFWR



Federal officials confirm gray wolf taken in Kentucky

Federal officials recently confirmed that an animal taken by a hunter near Munfordville in Hart County on March 16 is a gray wolf.

A DNA analysis performed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center in Colorado determined the 73-pound animal was a federally endangered gray wolf with a genetic makeup resembling wolves native to the Great Lakes Region. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Oregon confirmed the finding.

How the wolf found its way to a Munfordville hay ridge at daybreak in March remains a mystery. Wolves have been gone from the state since the mid-1800s.

Great Lakes Region wolf biologists said the animal's dental characteristics - a large amount of plaque on its teeth - suggest it may have spent some time in captivity. A largely carnivorous diet requiring the crushing of bone as they eat produces much less plaque on the teeth of wild wolves.

Hart County resident James Troyer took the animal with a shot from 100 yards away while predator hunting on his family's farm. Troyer, 31, said he had taken a coyote off the property just two weeks earlier.

But when he approached the downed animal he noticed it was much larger. "I was like - wow - that thing was big!" he recalled. "It looked like a wolf, but who is going to believe I shot a wolf?"

Because a free-ranging wolf has not been seen in the state for more than a century, biologists were skeptical at first. However, wildlife officials were aware that a few radio-collared northern wolves have wandered as far south as Missouri in the past decade.

Wolves resemble coyotes, except they are much larger. From a distance, the size difference is difficult to determine.

Troyer convinced Kevin Raymond, a wildlife biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, to look at the animal. Once Raymond saw the animal was twice the size of a coyote, he contacted furbearer biologist Laura Patton, who submitted samples to federal officials for DNA testing.

Because state and federal laws prohibit the possession, importation into Kentucky or hunting of gray wolves, federal officials took possession of the pelt. Since this is the first free-ranging gray wolf documented in Kentucky's modern history, federal or state charges are not expected because there were no prior biological expectations for any hunter to encounter a wolf.

[wishniwasfishn]

A little more info form KDFWR



Federal officials confirm gray wolf taken in Kentucky

Federal officials recently confirmed that an animal taken by a hunter near Munfordville in Hart County on March 16 is a gray wolf.

A DNA analysis performed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center in Colorado determined the 73-pound animal was a federally endangered gray wolf with a genetic makeup resembling wolves native to the Great Lakes Region. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Oregon confirmed the finding.

How the wolf found its way to a Munfordville hay ridge at daybreak in March remains a mystery. Wolves have been gone from the state since the mid-1800s.

Great Lakes Region wolf biologists said the animal's dental characteristics - a large amount of plaque on its teeth - suggest it may have spent some time in captivity. A largely carnivorous diet requiring the crushing of bone as they eat produces much less plaque on the teeth of wild wolves.

Hart County resident James Troyer took the animal with a shot from 100 yards away while predator hunting on his family's farm. Troyer, 31, said he had taken a coyote off the property just two weeks earlier.

But when he approached the downed animal he noticed it was much larger. "I was like - wow - that thing was big!" he recalled. "It looked like a wolf, but who is going to believe I shot a wolf?"

Because a free-ranging wolf has not been seen in the state for more than a century, biologists were skeptical at first. However, wildlife officials were aware that a few radio-collared northern wolves have wandered as far south as Missouri in the past decade.

Wolves resemble coyotes, except they are much larger. From a distance, the size difference is difficult to determine.

Troyer convinced Kevin Raymond, a wildlife biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, to look at the animal. Once Raymond saw the animal was twice the size of a coyote, he contacted furbearer biologist Laura Patton, who submitted samples to federal officials for DNA testing.

Because state and federal laws prohibit the possession, importation into Kentucky or hunting of gray wolves, federal officials took possession of the pelt. Since this is the first free-ranging gray wolf documented in Kentucky's modern history, federal or state charges are not expected because there were no prior biological expectations for any hunter to encounter a wolf.

so next time I am dove hunting, and think I see huge dove, shoot it, and rdealize its a bald eagle, are they going to let me go becase bald eagles arent common where I am from? If you dont know what your shooting dont shoot!