Whitetail numbers up, elk and mule deer stable

Hunters this year should see more spike-horn and two-point bucks as the whitetail population is slowly rebounding from a couple of tough years, according to Jim Williams, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife program manager for Region 1.

After several years of poor winter survival by white-tailed deer in Northwest Montana, numbers increased this spring. During spring surveys, biologists counted about 44 fawns for every 100 adults — more than double the ratio of the previous two springs. Better fawn survival means more young bucks in the spike horn and two-point class roaming the woods.

The general deer and elk hunting season starts Saturday, Oct. 20, and ends Nov. 25. In most hunting districts, only antlered bucks are legal game. For elk, it’s brow-tined bulls or larger. Youths 12-to-15 can take antlerless whitetails in many districts, but hunters are advised to check regulations and locations before they go.

Elk and mule deer populations are considered stable this year. Surveys last spring counted 712 mule deer with a ratio of 28 fawns to 100 adults. Elk surveys counted 3,478 elk with a cow to calf ratio of 28 calves to 100 adults.

But numbers across the region vary widely, Williams noted. For example, elk counts in the Spotted Bear region were some of the lowest ever, but further down the drainage to the headwaters of the South Fork, numbers were some of the highest ever.

The long-term trend for mule deer is lower populations, Williams noted. Biologists aren’t sure exactly what’s causing the decline, but habitat changes and predator influences are likely having an impact.

FWP is also concerned about moose populations, Williams said. The state will begin a moose study in the Cabinet Range, along the Rocky Mountain Front and in the Big Hole Valley to study predation and other impacts on moose in those areas.

Moose aren’t as transient as other ungulates, and individual populations are susceptible to predation, Williams said.

On the predator front, hunters currently can take a wolf with a permit and trappers can take one wolf by hunting, two by trapping or three by trapping. There are no quotas with the exception of hunting district 110 — the North Fork outside Glacier National Park, which has a wolf quota of two. An archer already took one wolf while elk hunting earlier this fall, so the gun quota will be one wolf.

The wolf season could change significantly by early 2013. The state legislature is expected to further loosen wolf regulations as one of its first priorities of the session.