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Many folks are talking about wolves and wolf numbers this week after Wisconsin’s “wolf advisory committee” on Monday recommended a 156-wolf kill for the 2014 season, about 100 fewer than 2013’s actual kill.

With the quota chosen, we’re again arguing if we’re persecuting an innocent victim or going easy on a common villain as the Department of Natural Resources plans the state’s third wolf hunting/trapping season. Either way, expect lots of numbers, predictions and projections as DNR administrators weigh the committee’s quota and prepare a final recommendation to the seven-citizen Natural Resources Board at its June meeting.

Just don’t expect too much from all the numbers. About the only people speaking with stubborn certainty about wolves are those whose magic number is zero: Either they demand the kill be zero, or they demand the wolf population be zero.

Neither extreme will prevail or go away, so the rest of us must remain patient and monitor the process. Eventually, we’ll better understand how hunting and trapping affect the wolf population’s size and structure, as well as the behavior of individual wolves and wolf packs. Meanwhile, the wolves will go on being wolves, oblivious to our values, politics and debates.