This afternoon the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, meeting in Coeur d'Alene, will be asked if it wants to extend the wolf hunting season past New Year's Eve.

The commission should say no.

It's a matter of public perception - in the rest of the country.

Idaho was fortunate to get a wolf hunting season at all. A Montana federal judge, who last summer approved hunts in Montana and Idaho, could end them with the stroke of a pen.

And there might not be another season if a coalition of environment groups has its way in court.

Wolf hunting success has varied across Idaho. In the Lolo Zone, where the commission set a harvest limit of 27 wolves, only six have been taken. Hunters have killed 25 wolves in the Sawtooth Zone, which has a limit of 55. Just four wolves have been shot in the Selway Zone, which has a limit of 17, and three have been killed in the Salmon Zone, where the limit is 16.

Hunting was shut down in the Upper Snake Zone on Nov. 2, when hunters reached the limit of five wolves, and in the McCall-Weiser Zone a week later, when the limit of 15 was reached.

Most of the units where wolves have not been limited out are located at high elevation and are hard to hunt. With heavier snowfall, the animals will be driven into lower valleys where they will be easier to take from roads.

The last thing the state needs is video on the national news of a wolf slogging through deep snow and a snowmobiling hunter driving up and shooting it.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has done a fine job - both technically and in terms of public relations - of managing the hunt. The commission set a statewide wolf harvest limit of 220 animals. Through Friday, hunters in Idaho had killed 100 wolves.

Commissioners should close out the hunt as scheduled on Dec. 31 and permit the department to assess what its managers say and look forward to setting the hunt for next season with whatever adjustments are needed.

Fish and Game should treat wolves the same as any other big game. Pursuing animals when they are stressed by winter is not the Idaho way.