The opening of the general big game hunting season drew over 3,100 hunters across Northwest Montana last weekend, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ check stations.
At the six regional check stations, a total of 3,154 hunters checked 150 white-tailed deer, including 123 bucks, along with 33 mule deer and 11 elk. Hunters had a 6.2 percent success rate, compared to a 4.1 percent rate of hunters with game last year. There were over 200 more hunters out in opening weekend compared to last year, according to FWP. There were twice as many bucks taken, 123 compared to 66, across the entire region.
According to FWP Wildlife Manager Jim Williams, the opener was solid, reflecting the good fawn recruitment over the past three years.
“We’ve had very good survival of young deer for several years running and this is showing up in the buck harvest this weekend, with lots of yearling and 2-year old bucks,” Williams said.
The Swan and North Fork areas lagged behind the other four check stations, with very few animals checked at the two stations. A total of 446 hunters hit the Swan last weekend and only nine reported white-tailed deer, including six bucks. No elk were taken in the Swan. The North Fork attracted 208 hunters, and those hunters reported one white-tailed deer and one elk.
The Olney check station saw the best results. Hunters checked 33 white-tailed bucks, eight white-tailed does, one bull elk and five mule deer bucks, for a 10.3 percent rate of hunters with game. The Highway 2 Check Station also saw strong results, with 75 white-tailed deer taken.
“This is one of the better opening weekends we’ve ever had,” said Tim Thier, FWP Wildlife Biologist at Olney.
“There was a nice distribution of age among the whitetail bucks, with yearlings up to 3-year olds. I couldn’t be happier with how the hunters did this weekend.”
Thier added that reports across the region also indicated a strong harvest of deer by young hunters the previous week during the Oct. 16 and 17 youth hunt.
Hunters are reminded that regulations for white-tailed and mule deer in Region One are buck-only through the end of the hunting season. Youth 12-15 (and some qualifying 11-year- olds, see the regulations) can take antlerless whitetail deer. Elk hunting is brow-tined bull only. Spike elk are not legal game. These regulations apply in most Region One hunting districts.
Hunting season for deer and elk concludes Nov. 30.