Hunting opener on par with last year

Hungry Horse News

The opening weekend of general big game firearm season was on par with last year’s numbers, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reports.

Region 1, which is all of Northwest Montana, saw 1,754 hunters go through check stations. They had 203 whitetail deer, 101 whitetail bucks, 16 mule deer and 12 elk.

That’s 31 hunters less than a year ago.

The overall number of hunters with harvested white-tailed deer and mule deer was slightly up while the number of elk was down compared to last year. The check station along U.S. Highway 93 near Olney saw the highest percentage of hunters with harvested game at a robust 21%.

Montana’s general deer and elk hunting season runs through Nov. 27. Other hunting seasons underway include black bear (Sept. 15-Nov. 27), bighorn sheep (Sept. 15-Nov. 27), moose (Sept. 15-Nov. 27), mountain lion (fall season without dogs, Oct. 22-Nov. 27), mountain goat (Sept. 15-Nov. 27), turkey (Sept. 1-Jan. 1), and wolf (Sept. 15-March 15, 2023).

FWP notes that check stations are open on weekends during general deer and elk hunting season from 10 a.m. to approximately 1.5 hours past sunset. The regional stations are located at U.S. Highway 2 West of Kalispell, Montana Highway 83 north of Swan Lake, Highway 200 west of Thompson Falls, and Highway 93 near Olney.

Hunters must stop at any check station they encounter whether they harvested an animal or not. The counts at the stations represent a sampling of the harvest and do not represent the complete number of animals taken, FWP notes.

For example, the North Fork used to have a check station, but does not today.

FWP does phone surveys and other surveys to determine a full estimate on the number of game animals taken. Some animals require that the harvest be reported shortly after the animal is taken, for example.