MADISON, Wis. — Hunters have killed or trapped more than half of the harvest quota for wolves in the first day in Wisconsin's week-long wolf hunt according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

After a court ruled the DNR must organize a hunt in February of this year, the hunt started Monday and will finish on Saturday. However, the DNR announced Tuesday that half of the six different wolf zones in the state would close to hunting and trapping at 10 a.m. Wednesday because harvest limits were close to being met.

Hunters trapped or killed 60 wolves as of Tuesday morning in the first time the animals have been legally hunted in the state since 2014.

After initially deciding not to hold a wolf hunt, a judge ordered the DNR to hold one. The agency set a bag limit of 200 wolves with 81 being reserved for tribal declarations.

The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission released a statement on the opening day of the hunt saying tribes were left out of the process for the hunt. 

“We are extremely disappointed with the recent decisions and we petition the State and Natural Resources Board to follow both sound and current science and follow the co-management framework laid out in the LCO v. Wisconsin [or Voigt] case,” said John Johnson, Voigt Intertribal Task Force Chairman in a press release. “We are growing tired of the lack of tribal consultation on issues that directly impact our sovereign nations.”

GLIFW also criticized the process for not letting the scientific work of updating management plans play out. The agency also re-iterated that wolves are considered family to tribes such as the Ojibwe people.