Whitetail deer harvest finished ahead of last year’s totals as the season wrapped up on Nov. 29 in northwest Montana, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
At the six northwest Montana check stations, a total of 18,411 hunters checked 1,294 white-tailed deer (1,067 of them bucks), 125 mule deer, and 86 elk for an 8.2 percent rate of hunters with game.
Elk harvest was also higher this year with 86 elk coming through check stations compared to 50 last year.
The overall rate is slightly higher than the 7.9 percent of hunters with game last year. The number of hunters passing through check stations in northwest Montana was the highest since 2011.
At the Thompson Falls check station, almost one in every four hunters was successful with most harvesting whitetail bucks ranging from spikes to a big seven-point. The whitetail buck harvest was up 42 percent when compared to the five-year average and 33 percent higher than last year.
Region One Wildlife Manager Neil Anderson notes that FWP has been tracking four years of good fawn survival in northwest Montana and the check station sample this year confirms that hunters were able to see and take good numbers of deer, despite some challenging hunting conditions.
Through the end of the general deer and elk season, hunters in Northwest Montana have taken 26 wolves. Statewide, 90 wolves have been taken. These totals are up slightly from last year at the end of the general deer and elk season.
The wolf hunting season continues until March 15.
Hunters can still purchase a wolf hunting license, but there is a 24-hour waiting period before it is valid. Wolf trapping begins on Dec. 15. Wolf trappers must purchase a furbearer trapping license and have completed the wolf trapping certification course to trap wolves. The bag limit is five wolves per hunter/trapper in any combination of hunting or trapping.
