KELLOGG - There was standing-room only early Saturday morning at the Steelworkers Hall for the Sportsmans Breakfast.

There, 170 people - mainly hunters and their families - discussed the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's hunting seasons proposal. IDFG was also seeking public input on a plan to eliminate the cow hunting elk season this year.

Jim Hayden, IDFG's regional wildlife manager, said there are a few reasons they're proposing no antlerless season.

First, numbers are dwindling due to poor calf recruitment and assumed higher cow mortality.

There's been "a little bit of nervousness" about the St. Joe area for a while.

"Do we want to be safe on the elk side of things," Hayden said, "or do we want to wait a little longer? ... Things aren't in the toilet yet, but do we want to wait?"

Growing portions of Units 4 and 4A are showing signs of declines that are projected to continue into next year. Calf ratios upriver in Unit 4 are about half what is needed to sustain a population under any cow harvest scenario.

The bright spot of the elk dilemma is that tag sales are increasing, and there's been an upward trend in the last 20 years.

Many members of the audience felt wolves are to blame for the low numbers, and a majority of the comment period involved questioning Hayden about the predators.

There are between 130 and 260 wolves in the Idaho Panhandle during the pre-season, he said, though exact numbers are hard to determine. Hunter-caused mortality takes out about 29 percent, but because of natural deaths, unreported kills and wolf-on-wolf attacks, the actual mortality rate is more like 50 percent.

Legally, the state needs to have 150. As of Monday, 32 had been harvested by firearm and 35 by trapping.

Hayden said the average wolf kills between 16 and 20 other wildlife animals per year.

Part of the proposal is to increase the bag limit to five wolves per season. He said they want to remove restrictions from the most effective hunters.

"There's no reason to keep them from taking more," he said.

Wolf hunting season in the Panhandle will be from July 1 to March 31 on private land, and Aug. 30 to March 31 on public land. Trapping is from Nov. 15 to March 31, but Units 2 and 3 are closed.

Tony McDermott, chairman of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Commission, said he has spent the last five years researching wolves daily - he's heard it all and read everything he could find about the hot topic.

"We've got a belly full of wolves," he said. "We've got a problem."

When the wolves were reintroduced, they didn't understand how big of an impact there would be. If they did, the wolf situation would have been handled differently.

McDermott said they didn't raise the elk herd to feed them to the wolves.

The idea of putting a bounty on them is not going to happen, he said, because it will cause too much controversy - Idaho's wolf management system is already twice as aggressive as Montana's, and environmentalists are watching.

"I can tell you that our Fish and Game department understands the problem," he said. "There's not a single sportsman in Idaho that doesn't have it figured out."

Another meeting for public input will be at 7 p.m. Friday at The Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Proposed hunting seasons

Antlered elk seasons

Tag A: Sept. 6-30, archery hunting; Oct. 25-29, any weapon; Dec. 2-9, muzzleloader only; Dec. 10-16, archery only.

Tag B: Sept. 6-12, archery hunting; Oct. 10-24, any weapon.

Antlerless elk controlled hunts

Area 5-1: There will be 50 permits available during December.

Mountain lion seasons

Unit 1: Sept. 15 to Feb. 16; dogs prohibited Sept. 15 to Dec. 13.

Units 2, 3, 4, 4A and 5: Sept. 15 to Feb. 16; dogs prohibited Oct. 10 to Dec. 13.

Units 6, 7 and 9: Aug. 30 to March 31; dogs prohibited Oct. 10 to Dec. 1.

Black bear seasons

Units 4 and 4A: Aug. 30 to Oct. 31 and April 15 to May 31; dogs prohibited Aug. 30 to Sept. 14, Oct. 10-31 and April 15-30. Dog training during June and July.

Units 6, 7 and 9: Aug. 30 to Oct. 31 and April 15 to June 30; dogs prohibited Oct. 10-31 and April 15-30; dog training in June and July.

Deer seasons

Units 4, 7 and 9: Nov. 10 to Dec. 1, antlered and antlerless regular and white-tailed deer by muzzleloader.