Northwest Montana Deer And Elk Harvest Still Lags Behind Last Year

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According to results at the six northwest Montana check stations, whitetail deer and mule deer harvest still lags behind last year’s at the same point in the hunting season. A total of 20,072 hunters have taken 1,135 whitetails (644 of these were bucks), 181 mule deer, and 123 elk for a 7.2 percent rate of hunters with game (as compared to 8.1 percent last year). Overall, the harvest of whitetails and elk is slightly down while the mule deer harvest is down about 25 percent.

The Olney check station reported the highest percent of hunters with game at 9.2 percent. At the Swan Check Station, Wildlife Biologist John Vore reports that whitetail deer harvest is now running about 10 percent higher than the long-term average in the Swan. He noted that whitetail bucks are now fully in rut, and it would be a good time for hunters to try antler rattling or grunt calls to draw in a buck. Harvest is expected to pick up over the last week of the general big game hunting season especially if hunting areas receive precipitation.

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