Northwest Montana hunters have mixed results opening weekend

The opening weekend of the general big game season brought mixed results for hunters in Northwest Montana.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 1,754 hunters stopped at regional game check stations on Saturday and Sunday, which is a slight decline from 2021 and well below the 2,712 reported in 2019. Last weekend’s weather offered cool temperatures and even measurable snow in the higher terrain.

The overall number of hunters with harvested white-tailed deer and mule deer was slightly up, while the number of elk was down compared to last year. Totals for the region showed 203 white-tailed deer, 101 white-tailed bucks and 16 mule deer harvested. An even dozen elk were reported, which is down from the 18 elk harvested on opening weekend last year.

The check station along U.S. 93 near Olney saw the highest percentage of hunters with harvested game at 21 percent. That compares to 18.6 percent for last year’s opening weekend.

The U.S. 2 check station had 843 hunters stop, with 10.2 percent with game.

The Thompson Falls check station showed 11.4 percent with game, and the Swan station showed 12.8 with game.