Deer, elk hunt enters final week

Entering the final week of the hunting season, the deer harvest in Northwest Montana continues to surpass last year’s counts at six area check stations. 

Through Sunday, a total of 15,061 hunters had checked 842 whitetail deer (762 of them bucks), along with 116 mule deer and 51 elk for an overall success rate of 6.7 percent of hunters with game.

Last year at this point in the season, there had been 13,976 hunters with 842 whitetails (605 of them bucks), 101 mule deer and 67 elk for a 5.5 percent success rate.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist John Vore said the deer harvest pace picked up because of the rut. At the Swan Valley check station, hunters stopped with 60 bucks over the weekend, while 65 were counted at the Olney check station. Both counts are well above average for the weekend.

“We saw a good number of older bucks come through this weekend,” Vore said.

The check stations are open only on weekends and reflect only a fraction of the overall harvest.

General hunting season ends on Sunday, Dec. 1.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reported that hunters in Northwest Montana have taken 28 wolves, compared to 19 at this time last year. Statewide, hunters have taken 87, compared to 66 last year.