Harvest figures lowest in five years

As any auto body shop can attest, there are plenty of deer out there.

Last week’s results from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks show that harvest of white-tailed deer is ahead of last year and is the highest total for the first two weeks of hunting season since 2010.

But elk numbers are a different story.

Elk harvest in northwest Montana is the lowest in five years, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Hunters in the first two weeks of this year’s big game rifle hunting season have harvested one elk in the Swan Valley, one elk in the North Fork of the Flathead Valley, and one elk in the Olney area. A total of 28 elk have been brought through check stations in northwest Montana in the first two weeks of the season, which ends Nov. 30. That harvest total is the lowest since 2010, when 66 elk were harvested in the first two weeks of the season.

Mule deer harvested is one of the highest in five years, with 74 muleys brought through game-check stations in the first two weeks of the season.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks operates six game check stations in northwest Montana during rifle hunting season. Hunters are required to stop at a check station, but check station results do not accurately reflect total harvest, FWP said.

Near Missoula, check station results show a 40 percent drop in elk harvest for the first two weeks of the season.  On the Rocky Mountain front, the Augusta check station showed results that were below the 10-year average.

At the six northwest Montana check stations through Nov. 9, 8,095 hunters checked 428 whitetail deer, 74 mule deer, and 28 elk for a 6.5 percent rate of hunters with game. 

Harvest was up, compared to last year, when 5.2 percent of hunters checked game. The number of whitetail bucks checked is up 26 percent, mule deer numbers are about the same, and elk numbers are down 22 percent as compared to last year’s check station results at the same point in the season. Hunter numbers are down seven percent.

Wildlife manager Jim Williams said strong numbers of younger bucks continue to show up at the check stations.  “We anticipate seeing the older bucks come through check stations over the next few weekends,” he said. 

Hunters are reminded that it is buck-only for whitetails in northwest Montana. Antlerless whitetails remain legal game for youth 12-15 years of age (and some qualifying 11-year olds). Mule deer are buck-only for the entire season. Elk harvest in Region One is for brow-tine bull only.  

Hunters have killed 13 wolves in Region One so far this year — a significant portion of the statewide wolf harvest. Statewide, hunters have killed 54 wolves as of Nov. 10

REGION ONE CHECK STATION SUMMARY

 WEEK TWO – Through November 9, 2014

STATIONNUMBER

HUNTERSWHITE-TAILED

DEER

WT

BucksMULE

DEERELK%

HUNTERS

WITH GAME

201420132014201320142013201420132014201320142013

Hwy 2

3106328319613315811338347137.85.5

Swan

115515864348373914113.93.3

North

Fork607568141310812102.62.6

Thompson

Falls9419293841323511510146.36.5

Olney

1215121111183997386159.97.8

Canoe Gulch

10711108262326221520834.64.2

Totals

8095

8695428

341362

29074

7128

366.55.2

R-1 CHECK STATION TRENDS

Through WEEK TWO 

YearHunter #sTotal WTDWT BucksMule DeerElk

20108,5602852186066

20118,6962732082950

20128,1303412904247

20138,6953412907136

20148,0954283627428