Deer harvest slightly higher than last year

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks reports that the white-tailed deer harvest at the six Northwest Montana check stations finished ahead of last year’s totals as the season wrapped up on Sunday, Dec. 1.

The six check stations recorded a total of 18,262 hunters with 1,112 white-tailed deer, 985 of which were bucks, 134 mule deer and 56 elk for a 7.1 percent rate of hunters with game.

This is slightly higher than the 6.5 percent of hunters with game last year. Hunters checked about the same number of mule deer but fewer elk as compared to last year. The number of hunters was very similar to last year’s total.

“The increase in bucks harvested is a good indication that the whitetail population continues to recover from a recent low in 2009,” FWP wildlife biologist John Vore said. “As expected, based on our spring surveys, many of the bucks harvested were yearlings and 2-year olds.”

Vore noted that whitetail bucks are a reliable indicator of the population, and their harvest was significantly higher than in the last three years. There was also a good representation of five-year old and older trophy bucks in the harvest, he added.

The North Fork station recorded 1,050 hunters with 31 whitetails, up for 24 last year; 26 whitetail bucks, up from 23 last year; 20 mule deer, significantly up from eight last year; and no elk, down from three last year. Hunter success was 4.9 percent, up from 3.2 percent last year.

The highest success rate was posted at the Olney station at 10.5 percent, up from 7.9 percent last year, followed by Thompson Falls at 8.6 percent and the U.S. 2 station west of Kalispell at 7 percent.

The U.S. 2 station posted the highest number of hunters, at 6,832, followed by the Swan station at 3,445 and the Olney station at 2,685. The U.S. 2 station posted the highest game count in all categories except elk. The Thompson Fall station posted the highest number of elk, 24.

The counts at the six check stations represent a sampling of the harvest and do not represent the complete number of animals taken. Details of total harvest for each hunting district will be known after telephone hunter surveys are completed this spring.

Wolf hunters in Northwest Montana took 32 wolves through the end of the general deer and elk season. Statewide, 93 wolves were taken, which is slightly ahead of last year.

The wolf hunting season will continue 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 will begin 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.