Big-game hunting off to a slow start

Opening day of the 2005 big-game hunting season was one of the slowest in recent

memory in Northwest Montana.

Opening day of the 2005 big-game hunting season was one of the slowest in recent memory in Northwest Montana.

Numbers tallied at six check stations across the region were down in just about every category. A total of 2,453 hunters checked 136 whitetail deer, 36 mule deer and 19 elk.

"This is the fewest number of hunters we've checked on opening day in 10 years," said Jim Williams, the regional wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Hunter numbers were well below last-year's opening day mark of 2,697 and the 10-year high of 3,750 counted in 1996. The number of whitetails checked was well off last year's 209. The mule deer count was the same as last year's, and the elk count was one lower than last year.

The Olney check station had the highest percentage of hunters with game - 11.1 percent. The North Fork Flathead check station once again had the lowest percentage, 4.5 percent.

Tim Thier, a biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, speculated that the low numbers won't continue through the entire five-week hunting season, mainly because game counts have been steadily increasing because of at least six straight mild winters.

Hunting conditions also could improve considerably with snow in the weeks to come, compared to Sunday's bluebird weather outside the Flathead Valley.

"I think people are taking their time," Thier said. "They know there's lots of deer out there, lots of opportunity, so why rush it?"

One of the last whitetails to come through the Olney check station was a big deer for a young hunter.

Michael Mideke, a 13-year-old from Kalispell, checked a 170-pound, five-point buck that he took down while hunting with his father and brother. It was his first deer.

Either-sex whitetails can be taken in most hunting districts through Nov. 6, and again during the last four days of the season, from Nov. 24-27. In between those periods, only whitetail bucks are legal game.

Mule deer hunting is buck-only all season, and for elk, only brow-tined bulls can be harvested all season.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.