Deer Harvest Slow in West-Central Montana

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Deer harvest was slow for the first week of big game season in west-central Montana.   After week one, mule deer harvest reported at the region’s check stations near Darby, Anaconda and Bonner is 63 percent behind last year at this time, and white-tailed deer harvest is down 69 percent.

Deer harvest also lags behind the five-year average—50 percent below for mule deer and 63 percent behind for white-tailed deer.

“The weather has been mild enough that deer may not be moving and redistributing into some of the areas we typically see them this time of year,” Mike Thompson, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) Region 2 Wildlife Manager, said. “If we have a wet week with snow in the higher elevations, we may see things start to pick up.”

Despite the mild conditions, elk harvest fared better than deer during week one, with reported elk totals slightly above the first week harvest from last season and right in line with the five-year average.

During the season’s first week 7,620 hunters passed through the three west-central Montana check stations with 275 elk, 73 mule deer, 252 white-tailed deer, seven black bears, two moose and three bighorn sheep, for 8 percent of hunters with game.

FWP Wildlife Biologist for the Bitterroot Valley, Craig Jourdonnais, reported that 60 to 70 percent of elk checked so far at the Darby station were harvested in FWP Region Three’s Big Hole Valley.

“The Big Hole is the hot spot for the elk harvest we’re seeing at the Darby station right now.   We need a break in this warm, dry weather in order to see harvest pick up much in the Bitterroot,” said Jourdonnais.

At the Anaconda check station, FWP Wildlife Biologist Ray Vinkey reported much of the same. Vinkey checked nearly 200 fewer hunters during this year’s week one than he did last year.

“It was a slow weekend for hunters and for harvest,” Vinkey said. “It was really the doldrums with the warm weather we had on Saturday and relatively warm, wet conditions on Sunday.”  

The high elevation SNOTEL weather information sites reported decreasing snow levels as the week progressed.

In total, hunter numbers at the three check stations are right in line with last year and the long-term average.

FWP wildlife biologists and volunteers at the check station near Bonner checked 3,829 hunters—352 with game—during week one.   Vickie Edwards, FWP Wildlife Biologist, reported that many of these successful hunters had not validated their tags correctly.  

To properly validate any big game tag, regulations say the hunter must cut three “V” shaped notches in the tag to indicate the date of harvest. One notch must fully remove the name of the month. Two notches must fully remove the two digits of the date – 0 and 9 for the ninth for example; 2 and 6 for the 26th .

Hunters may not mark the tag with a pen, cut a slit or poke a hole to validate the tag, Edwards said. The tag must be securely attached to the carcass.

An example of how to properly validate a license can be found in the Montana hunting regulations. Books listing hunting regulations are free and available at all license dealers or FWP offices. Regulations are published online at fwp.mt.gov/hunting/regulations.html.

 

R2 First Week Check Station Results Chart
R2 First Week Check Station Results 08.pdf

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