Deer Harvest Continues to Climb in West-Central Montana

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Deer harvest started out slow this year in west-central Montana, but after three weeks of big game rifle season, white-tailed deer harvest is ahead of last year at this time and right in line with the five-year average.

A total of 230 white-tailed deer passed through the three hunter check stations in west-central Montana last week, bringing season harvest totals for whitetails to 628, which is eight percent above last year at this time.

Mule deer harvest has also picked up pace, but at a slower rate.   Mule deer harvest is 20 percent shy of last year’s first three weeks and 30 percent behind the five-year average.

Elk harvest continues to remain steady with numbers four percent above last year at this point of the season and eight percent below the five-year average.   

Hunters with a general elk license had the opportunity to hunt for antlerless elk last week from Nov. 10 to Nov. 16 in some west-central Montana hunting districts, but extra opportunity did not necessarily translate into a big bump in harvest.

“Harvest and hunter numbers were relatively light given the liberal opportunity,” said Ray Vinkey, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) Wildlife Biologist responsible for the Anaconda check station.   “Warm weather and little snow allows elk to use lands from the valley bottoms to high ridges, so elk are not concentrated right now as they would be in harsher conditions.”

Weather remained mild during the season’s third week with the region’s greatest snow accumulation of only seven inches reported in the Bitterroot Mountains.

During the season’s first two weeks 16,063 hunters passed through the three west-central Montana check stations with 492 elk, 257 mule deer, 628 white-tailed deer, nine black bears, four moose and eleven bighorn sheep, for 8.7 percent of hunters with game.

Hunters are reminded that they must stop at all check stations that they pass on their way to or from hunting—even if they have not harvested any animals.

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