BOISE, Idaho - Hunters searching Idaho's backcountry for wolves would be barred from using bait, snares, traps or electronic calls to help track the predators, but not required to discern between male and female targets.

A set of hunting recommendations proposed Thursday by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game would also bring an immediate end to the season once a mortality quota was reached through a combination of hunting, state sanction control measures, accidents or natural causes.

The total mortality quota suggested for a 2008 season is 328, a total state game officials say would yield a total wolf population estimated between 550 and 600 animals. That range is within the estimate called for in the state's broader wolf management plan approved in March.

"Our wolf plan is in place and our hunting rules follow the plan as closely as possible," Steve Nadeau, the agency's large carnivore manager, told The Associated Press. "We believe the plan for hunting assures the long term viability of wolf populations across the state."

The release of the hunting recommendations sets off a public comment period that expires May 16. After reviewing comments and making any changes, a final set of rules and season dates will be submitted to the Fish and Game Commission to review May 21.

It proposal's release also comes in the same week that environmental groups sued the federal government in an effort to overturn its decision in March to remove an estimated 1,500 wolves in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana from endangered species status.

For now, those three states are responsible for managing wolves under plans approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are also writing regulations for hunting the predators.

Despite the litigation, Idaho is moving forward with its plans to manage its wolf population, estimated in March at about 800. And part of its population control strategy is an open, public hunting season that could begin as early as September, under the recommendations.

Other rules proposed by the agency include:

* Bag limit: no hunter can take more wolves than allowed by per single hunting tag.

* Hunters must report a kill within 72 hours,

* Use of dogs to attract or pursue wolves is prohibited.

* Hunters are encouraged to avoid shooting wolves with radio collars.

The agency has also proposed four separate seasons, each with varying lengths. The longest season would begin Aug. 30 and stretch through March, while the shortest would start Oct. 10 and end Dec. 31. The agency does not favor one season over another, Nadeau said.

The recommendations also set up kill quotas within 12 wolf management zones, which were established in the overall management plan. The highest quotas are in the north central portion of the state, including a quota of 50 for the Lolo zone near the Montana border.

Nadeau says the rules call for closing hunting in a zone once a quota is reached, and closing the season statewide once the 328 total for mortality is reached in 2008.

The statewide quota was determined using a formula that factored in all reported wolf kills, including natural causes, road kills, hunting estimates and control measures. The equation also considers a 15 percent average growth rate in the population and the state's overall goal of managing a population between the range of 500 and 700 wolves.

Gary Macfarlane, spokesman for Friends of the Clearwater, one of the 12 groups involved in the federal lawsuit, said there are plenty of questions to be resolved before allowing wolf hunts. For example, he said the proposed quotas are too high in the northern part of the state, where wolf predation on weak and diseased deer, elk and other wildlife is critical to improving the health of the region's big game herds.

"We really don't think the quotas need to be so high in some of those zones," he said. "We're only going to delay the correction that needs to take place in the restoration of the elk population health."