Hunters enter final week of season

Entering the last week of the general hunting season, the deer harvest in Northwest Montana is slightly ahead of last year at the same point in the season.

The general big game season ends one half hour after sunset on Sunday, Nov. 30.

Biologists report that the whitetail rut is now in full swing, which should help hunters as they take to the field during the Thanksgiving holiday. This past weekend, hunters brought a good number of older bucks through the check stations. 

At the six Northwest Montana check stations through this weekend, a total of 14,194 hunters checked 879 white-tailed deer (766 of these were bucks) compared to 842 whitetails last year.  Also in the count were 124 mule deer, and 43 elk.

Overall, 7.4 percent of hunters were successful.  

The harvest was up slightly compared to last year when 6.7 percent of hunters checked game.  Hunter numbers are down about 6 percent from last year.

The U.S. 2 Check Station west of Kalispell has led the way in whitetail counts, followed by the Olney Check Station and then the Swan Check Station. Check-station counts represent a sampling of the harvest and not the complete number of animals taken.

Hunters are reminded that it is buck-only for whitetails in Northwest Montana. Antlerless whitetails remain legal game for youth hunters.  

Mule deer are buck-only for the entire season. Elk are brow-tine bull only — spike bull elk are not legal game for any hunter in Northwest Montana.  

Wolf harvest: The wolf take is behind last year. Hunters have taken 22 wolves in Northwest Montana (compared to 28 last year). Statewide, hunters have taken 75 wolves (compared to 87 last year).