There were wolves-a-plenty in northern Minnesota when I lived there in the early 70's. Now I hear the wolf population has increased as much as 10X since I lived there. Heard they were sometimes after livestock. Doesn't surprise me; Minnesota has its tree huggers too. If you want a big wild pet, get a black bear, not a wolf.
I ran into a wolf on a deer trail near Roundup, MT, spring of 2010. The wolf was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. They aren't supposed to be around, but they are definitely here. Two wolves were spotted on my brother-in-law's ranch southwest of Ryegate, MT, recently. Local real estate agent spotted three wolves between Roundup and the Snowy Mountains a couple of years back.
Local hunter said there were 1/4 the number of whitetail deer compared to years past. Reckon the wolves are part of the reason. Most whitetails I've seen recently were in a city park in Billings. There are lots of whitetails along Flatwillow Creek in the Little Snowy Mountains (both south and north forks), and if I was a wolf, I would be somewhere around there.
Don't think the wolves have much chance with the mule deer that live out on the prairies. If I was a local wolf in the winter, I'd be after the whitetails in the Snowies, or the mule deer in the Bulls.