Wisconsin's Wolf Hunt Continues Through Breeding Season

The 2013-14 Wisconsin wolf hunting season with about 12% of the allowable kill not 'harvested' can run through February 28th, leaving open the possibility that packs will be further damaged because the breeding season continues into February, too, reports the DNR:

Wolves are social animals, living in a family group or pack. A pack usually has six to 10 animals - a dominant ("alpha") male and female (the breeding pair), pups from the previous year (yearlings) and the current year's pups. Additional subordinate adults may join the pack upon occasion. The dominant pair is in charge of the pack, raising the young, selecting denning and rendezvous sites, capturing food and maintaining the territory… 

Wolves are sexually mature when two years old, but seldom breed until they are older. In each pack, the dominant male and female are usually the only ones to breed. They prevent subordinate adults from mating by physically harassing them. Thus, a pack generally produces only one litter each year, averaging five to six pups. 

In Wisconsin, wolves breed in late winter (late January and February). 

So add the calendar to guns, dogs, bows, bait and traps to the weapons Wisconsin employs against wolves.