BOISE, Idaho - A shotgun-wielding motorized parachutist fired on a pack of wolves earlier this year from the eastern Idaho sky, something forbidden even under a state permit that allows aerial gunning of foxes and coyotes.
Carl Ball, a sheep rancher, was flying his aircraft June 5 near St. Anthony above a 160-acre sheep pen when he saw at least four wolves, according to an Idaho Department of Fish and Game law enforcement report.
Ball reported he believed one animal outfitted with a radio collar had been killed, though state and federal wildlife officials who arrived hours later never found a carcass.
Even though the federal government earlier this year lifted Endangered Species Act protections from more than 1,000 wolves in Idaho and Montana and both states have a legal hunting seasons, that's only for people shooting from the ground or trees.
Blasting wolves from the sky remains off limits - because they're considered big game animals by state wildlife managers, not predators like foxes or coyotes.
Idaho Fish and Game has dropped an investigation, however, citing lack of a wolf carcass.
