Oshkosh - The state's Department of Natural Resources says that an animal shot and killed by a hunter in Winnebago County was a gray wolf, not a coyote.
The animal was killed in the town of Nekimi and was first believed to be a coyote.
But DNR officials spent several weeks testing it to determine the species and now say it's a gray wolf.
DNR officials say they'll levy the minimum fine of $306.30 against a Brandon hunter who killed it and will not revoke his license.
Authorities say that's because the hunter was forthcoming in the incident and investigation.
Winnebago County is not traditional or normal wolf range, but it's not uncommon for young wolves to roam hundreds of miles.
I know all about being sure of your target, blah blah blah... but seriously...
So it took the dummies at the DNR weeks up close indoors to even confirm that it was a wolf yet they'll still fine a hunter who had about 3 seconds to make a decision.
It must have been a small wolf and look awfully lot like a Coyote if the boneheads at the DNR took weeks to differentiate it. Honestly at a distance, size is one of the few ways to even tell them apart, especially when they're at full coat like now.
That group is full of a lot of numbskulls. They've totally fuct everything up in the past few years due to poor decision making. Most notably deer population #'s, turkey #'s, letting wolf population get out of hand (and now fining people for shooting "wolves" where they've never even been seen before
, fish stocking, other rec. vehicle laws... I could go on and on.