At first glance I mistook the raily back of the loping wolf as a deer.  It's four lanky effortlessly gained ground along the Gunflint Trail.  His thick, full coat of fur bristled in the cold autumn air.  Gray, black with a slight tinge of copper orange as the my truck crept closer.  His ears funneled themselves in my direction and with one fast jump he was over the ditch and in the woods.  I watched his yellow ears fixate on the passing blur of a vehicle.  I couldn't help but wonder if he realized that for the first time in his life there was an open season on his life.

The rifle deer and wolf season are open. Initial reports are of a "productive" harvest of wolves. There are two seasons on the wolf in Minnesota this year. The first coinciding with the deer rifle season. The second is a rifle/trap season. A maximum of 400 wolves will be harvested in the State this year. In Minnesota a wolf hunt is inevitable. Timing, however, is everything to successful management of any resource. The hunt has left mixed feelings in the area. I for one could never kill a wolf unless it was harming my dog. However, I do understand the need for management but am conflicted whether we are truly at a population that it is warranted. Folks are quick to point out the "dwindling" deer herd. Really? My unscientific investigation concludes that I hit pert near one per year on the road, see at least one daily and wage a constant battle with them over my apples and vegetables. Furthermore, with all due respect; I don't know a single deer hunter who comes out of the season empty handed. I can't say that about anglers, moose or bear hunters. All that I can do is trust that our resources are in the hands of experts and hope for the best.

To me it all is very "manifest destiny" that the second a predators' population rebounds to get off our self determined list that we feel the need to "get them" and "keep them in check". Humans clearly are the "top dog" on the food chain. However, we have so handily asserted ourselves in the ecosystem that maybe we should let time create a buffer for any assumptions that we are falsely making with our management decisions? Myself, I couldn't pull the trigger on a wolf and I am not that big of a fan of venison so I just wish my friends and neighbors the best of luck and help them haul out their kill.