09/04/2026
Hunters are preparing for Wyoming wolf opener with Mollie’s Pack in their sights while activists grasp at straws to stop the hunt
Wyoming’s wolf season opens September 15, and Big Piney hunter Mitch Gilliam has made his intentions clear. “I plan to be there on Sept. 15,” he told Cowboy State Daily. When asked about 12-year-old Wolf 1090F, the famous matriarch of Mollie’s Pack, Gilliam said, “If I see her, I’ll harvest her.” The pack has moved outside Yellowstone onto the Shoshone National Forest, where wolves can legally be hunted. Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner Carlisle “Fonzy” Haskell says harvesting 1090F would be legal under current regulations.
That has pro-wolf groups scrambling for ways to stop the hunt. Kristine Akland of the Center for Biological Diversity called their effort “a public pressure campaign,” saying, “We are trying to create enough public pressure on the commission to take action.” The group has pushed to close the hunting area and even suggested giving the available tags to tribes that wouldn’t use them. Meanwhile, social media has produced more unconventional ideas, including activists entering the hunting area and using loud music to interfere with hunters. Deliberately interfering with a lawful hunt could constitute hunter harassment under Wyoming law.
Gilliam says the controversy has become overly emotional because people have given the wolves names. “It’s not a cartoon character; it’s a wild wolf,” he said. Wyoming officials maintain the season was established using recommendations from Game and Fish biologists.
As opening day approaches, Mollie’s Pack has become the center of a much bigger fight over whether a wild animal should receive special protection simply because people have grown attached to it and have given these wolves some sort of celebrity status.
Aaron B. Futrell, Author|Owner, Delong Lures