The start of the general deer and elk hunting season produced the highest number of harvested white-tailed deer at game check stations in northwest Montana Region 1 since 2017. In west-central Montana Region 2, big game hunting season got off to a good start with steady hunter traffic through the four hunter check stations and a harvest on track with last year’s opener.
Region 1 update
Overall, hunters in northwest Montana (Region 1) reported harvesting 209 white-tailed deer, including 102 bucks, as well as 12 mule deer and 21 elk at four check stations.
At the Swan check station Oct. 23 and Oct. 24 there were 300 hunters, up 45 from 2019. They harvested 27 white-tailed deer of which 22 were bucks, two mule deer, five elk and 11.3% of hunters were successful.
“We predicted a slight increase in white-tailed deer population due to high fawn recruitment after two years of mild winter,” said Neil Anderson, FWP Regional Wildlife Manager.
The overall number of hunters reported at check stations was down, possibly due to hunters being confused about whether stopping was required.
Last year, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks replaced the mandatory regional check stations with voluntary chronic wasting disease sample stations. This year, FWP is back operating mandatory game check stations at specific locations on weekends from 10 a.m. to approximately 1.5 hours past sunset. Region 1’s game check 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. A table below summarizes the results from the first weekend of the season at four check stations. Past summaries included results from five check stations, but the Canoe Gulch station in Libby has been replaced with a voluntary chronic wasting disease sampling station on Highway 2 south of Libby.
Region 2 update
Hunter traffic through the check stations was 35% higher than the first weekend in 2020. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) biologists tallied 2,340 hunters through the Anaconda, Bonner, Darby and Fish Creek check stations combined. Hunters checked 54 elk, 23 mule deer, 59 white-tailed deer and two black bears.
The elk harvest of 31 at the Darby Check Station was 39 percent lower than the 2020 opening weekend, due in part to rainy weather and a lack of snow in the upper elevations.
“In my experience, most elk hunters don’t do well in this weather,” said FWP Bitterroot biologist Rebecca Mowry. “Elk have no reason to move and hunters have a tough time finding them and don’t spend as much time hiking in pursuit of elk in wet weather like this.”
While elk harvest was low overall, check station attendants saw an increase in deer harvest, with totals of 23 mule deer and 59 white-tailed deer across Western Montana.
All-in-all, hunter check stations sample a small portion of the effort and harvests across the region, but they do record important trends and biological information.
“Check stations are the key way for us to see how harvest is shaping up compared to historical averages, and they are really important for gathering information on wildlife age, health and other observations from the field,” said Mike Thompson, FWP Region Missoula-based Wildlife Manager.
Hunters must stop at all check stations that they pass, even if they have not harvested any animals. The general big game season runs through Sunday, Nov. 28.
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