Hunt success still elusive

With less than two weeks remaining in the 2011 general hunting season, hunter success continued at a slow pace as measured at six check stations across Northwest Montana.

The check stations managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks have counted 11,842 hunters so far this season with 379 whitetail deer (294 of them bucks), along with 52 mule deer and 64 elk for a 4.2 percent rate of hunters with game.

The number of whitetails harvested is down 15 percent from last year’s numbers at this point in the season, while mule deer numbers are down 47 percent and elk are down 23 percent.

Regarding wolves, hunters have harvested 30 wolves so far in Northwest Montana’s Region One. The quota is 71 wolves for the region.

Hunters have stopped with six wolves at check stations, while the other 24 have been reported as required within 12 hours of the animals being harvested.