By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News
This young bull elk is safe deep inside Glacier National Park. Others that venture outside Park boundaries are fair game come Sunday, when the general firearm season begins. A full hunting section is also in this newspaper, with outlooks for the entire state. Chris Peterson photo
Hunters going afield this Sunday (Oct. 26) should have good opportunities, said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region One Wildlife manager Jim Williams.
"It's going to be a fun fall," he said Monday. "There's a nice age structure."
By age structure, Williams was referring to the age of deer and elk, noting there are more older animals in the field, so hunters looking for a trophy can expect to see more four-point and larger bucks, for example.
Last winter's snows did have an impact on white-tailed fawn production in the region. The biggest problems were in the western reaches like Thompson Falls and the Idaho border. In some districts in those areas, the fawn to adult ratio was only 22 to 100, compared to the rest of the region, where it was about 37 to 100, which was still down from the average of about 50 fawns per 100 adults.
Mule deer, on the other hand, have continued an upswing. In the northern Whitefish Range, the fawn to adult ratios have been as high as 38 to 100. Biologists are also seeing older mule deer bucks.
Comparing fawns to adults is one way of measuring the herd's health. The more fawns in the spring, the higher the numbers of game in the fall.
On the elk side of things, populations had also been rising steadily in Northwest Montana " until this spring. Biologists classified over 3,400 elk in spring counts, which represents a cow-calf ratio of 19 calves per 100 cows. The long-term average is 27 calves per 100 cows.
Because of lower numbers this year, FWP has lowered the number of antlerless elk permits in hunting district 121 (the Lower Clark Fork region) from 800 last year to 500 this year.
Hunters also have an economic plus this fall: The price of gas, which was more than $4 a gallon this summer, has dropped to about $2.90 a gallon. The economic downturn which lowered the price of gas has also put some folks out of a job, so hunters may not be just looking to bag a trophy, but to fill a freezer as well.
Williams urged hunters to be sure to wear blaze orange and to carry electrical tape to attach a license to an animal. Not having the tag attached to the animal is one of the main violations wardens find, he noted.
In addition, hunters are urged to be careful of grizzly bears and to carry bear spray. The spray is a proven deterrent to bears and more effective than a gun, biologists note.
The weather should be favorable to hunters. Snow is expected in higher elevations and there is a chance of rain in the valley. Game move around more in bad weather and snow makes it easier to track them.
You can bend Williams' ear on the hunting season at an event tonight (Thursday) at Sportman & Ski Haus in Kalispell from 6 to 8 p.m., where Williams will answer questions about the game outlook and will have copies of FWP's newsletter, "Inside Tracks."
In addition, Dr. Harold Picton and Terry Lonner will be signing copies of their new book, "Montana's Wildlife Legacy," which will be available for sale. The book examines Montana citizens and their involvement in Montana's wildlife restoration efforts."
It is the only published summary of all of Montana's big game, bird and furbearer trapping and transplanting history.