North America Wolf hunting

a wolfer wolfhounds near amedon, north dakota, 1904



clyde f. briggs stands on 3 toes of harding county

after european colonization of americas, first american wolf bounty passed massachusetts bay colony on november 9, 1630. further wolf bounties opened in jamestown, virginia on september 4, 1632 , in other colonies. payments white settlers included cash, tobacco, wine , corn, while native americans given blankets , trinkets. new jersey law started in 1697 stated christian brought wolf carcass magistrate have been paid 20 shillings, while native american or black have been paid half much. later became customary native americans provide 2 wolf pelts year without payment. in 1688, virginia law abolished requirement of tribute in wolves paid in accordance number of hunters in each tribe, demanding 725 hunters kill 145 wolves year. in 19th century, settlers began increasingly moving west in pursuit of more land ranching, wolves becoming increasingly more hunted threats livestock. in 1818, war of extermination against wolves , bears declared in ohio. iowa began own wolf bounty in 1858, wisconsin , colorado following suit in 1865 , 1869. wolf pelts began increase in demand beavers began become scarce over-trapping. in 1830s, wolf pelt worth $1, doubling in 1850s. records of upper missouri outfit of american fur trading company indicate 20 wolf pelts shipped down-river in 1850, 3,000 being shipped 3 years later. civilians turned bounty hunters known wolfers began killing ungulates in large numbers bait, poisoning meat in hopes of attracting unsuspecting wolves. estimated 1870s, method killing 100,000 wolves annually. between 1916 , 1926 national park service predator control program resulted in extermination of sustainable packs of wolves in yellowstone national park 1926. american wolf hunts peaked in 1920s-1930s, when 21,000 killed annually. after world war ii, wolves seen less varmints , more big game trophy animals.

the first canadian wolf bounty offered in 1793 in ontario , quebec. wolves became rare in eastern canada 1870s, becoming extinct in new brunswick 1880, in nova scotia 1900 , had disappeared newfoundland 1913. full-scale eradication programs did not peak in western , northern canada until 1950s, when resource development brought more people sparsely populated wilderness. government-backed wolf extermination program initiated in 1948 after serious declines in caribou herds in northern territories , rabies concern due wolves migrating south near populated areas. 39,960 cyanide guns, 106,100 cyanide cartridges , 628,000 strychnine pellets distributed. 17,500 wolves poisoned in canada between 1955 , 1961. in mid-1950s, wolf bounties dropped in western provinces in favor of hiring provincial hunters. quebec s wolf bounties ended in 1971 , ontario in 1972. overall, 20,000 wolves bountied between 1935 , 1955 in british columbia, 12,000 between 1942 , 1955 in alberta , 33,000 between 1947 , 1971 in ontario. unlike wolf populations in lower 48 states, declined steadily settlers moved west, canadian wolf population fluctuated between growth , decline, largely because human population in canada never reached same level in lower 48, leaving large areas of land free wolves.

unlike european wolf hunts reserved nobility, north american wolf hunts partaken ordinary citizens, of them possessing firearms, extermination of wolves in lower 48 states carried out in far less time in europe.