Naples man shoots first local wolf

BONNERS FERRY — While taking a break from elk hunting Tuesday morning, Jennifer Jones spotted a wolf 30 yards from where she and her husband were standing.

Within seconds, her husband, Kelly Ray, shot the animal from 150 yards on a dead run, harvesting Boundary County’s first wolf during Idaho’s initial hunting season since the animals were removed from the Endangered Species List.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Ray said about taking the champagne-colored wolf from the top of Trail Creek outside Naples. The wolf is among four taken in the Panhandle Region since the season opened on Oct. 1. A quota of 30 has been set for the region, which includes Boundary, Bonner and Kootenai counties and portions of Benewah, Latah, Clearwater and Shoshone counties.

Jones and Ray were taking a smoke break from their hunting at about 9:30 a.m. when Jones saw the wolf.

“I just froze,” she said. “I grabbed him (her husband) by the shoulder. He clicked off the safety and he (the wolf) took off running, starting up the hill. He was in a full sprint.”

Ray bagged the wolf with one shot.

News that the wolf was taken in the Trail Creek area didn’t completely surprise Greg Johnson, conservation officer with Idaho Department of Fish and Game in Boundary County.

“That’s probably the first place they became established (in the county),” Johnson said. “The pack is part of the Culver Mountain Pack, which has probably split. It’s the oldest (pack) and probably dates back to the early 1990s. It’s grown since.”

Johnson called being able to hunt wolves a success story.

“This is how it’s supposed to work,” he said. “You’rr supposed to bring something eradicated back to a level so you can safely harvest the animal. Whether for or against hunting wolves, this is how it can work.”