Wisconsin wolf hunters well ahead of 2012 pace

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin hunters have killed 95 wolves this season, putting them sharply ahead of last year's pace.

The state Department of Natural Resources set a quota of 251 wolves this season. The agency says 95 were killed as of Tuesday, the seventh day of the hunt. That's about twice the pace at which wolves were killed last year, the state's inaugural wolf-hunt season.

Hunters killed 117 wolves last year, one over the quota. The DNR estimated that last winter's wolf population was as high as 834 animals, and the agency is trying to reduce the population to 350.

The wolf hunt is divided into six zones, each with its own limit. Zone 2, which spans northeast Wisconsin, is closest to its limit, as 24 of 28 wolves have been harvested there.

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