Hunt improves on final weekend

The 2007 big game season ended with a lot of bangs on Sunday in Northwest Montana, with hunter numbers and the deer harvest up substantially across the region.

Statistics collected at six check stations over the five-week hunting season counted 24,389 hunters with 1,961 whitetail deer, including 1,064 bucks, along with 287 mule deer and 153 elk.

Those add up to a 9.8 percent rate of hunters with game.

Hunter numbers were up 11 percent over last year's count, and the number of whitetails harvested was the highest since 1996. Mule deer numbers were nearly identical to last year and the regionwide elk take was down 29 percent from last year.

But numbers varied from one station to the next.

Jerry Brown, a wildlife biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, noted that the 23 elk that went through the Canoe Gulch check station near Libby was strong this year.

"The number of elk checked at the Libby area check station was up from last year," he said. "The number of brow-tined bulls was twice the long-term average."

But the Thompson Falls check station came up with a 43-percent decline in the number of antlerless elk harvested this year compared to last.

Bruce Sterling, the Thompson Falls area wildlife biologist, said that was mostly due to mild weather and poor hunting conditions that prevailed through much of the season.

Regional Wildlife Manager Jim Williams said weather turned around on the final weekend.

"The weather finally cooperated over the Thanksgiving weekend and provided better conditions for hunters," he said.

The whitetail harvest over the last eight years has been relatively constant, hovering just over 1,000, and that indicates a stable population with predictable hunting opportunities in the region, Williams said.

Check station statistics reflect only a sample of the overall harvest.

A detailed phone survey of licensed hunters is used to develop an official harvest estimate that is released in June.

The check station numbers, however, generally provide a trend that closely follows the official harvest estimate.

The U.S. 2 check station west of Kalispell finished the season with 8,937 hunters with 683 whitetail deer, 103 mule deer and 51 elk.

The Swan check station near Ferndale reported 4,161 hunters with 457 whitetail deer, 10 mule deer and 14 elk.

The North Fork check station near Canyon Creek had 1,705 hunters with 78 whitetail deer, 24 mule deer and nine elk.

The Thompson Falls check station had 3,011 hunters with 241 whitetail, 44 mule deer and 44 elk.

The Olney check station had 3,607 hunters with 376 whitetail, 35 mule deer and 12 elk.

The Canoe Gulch check station near Libby had 2,968 hunters with 126 whitetail, 71 mule deer and 23 elk.

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