Big game harvest trends ahead of last season
Lyla DeShazer with her first harvested deer at the Olney check station in Northwest Montana. (FWP photo)
The general deer and elk hunting season is underway in Montana, and game check station results are outpacing last year for harvested deer across northwest Montana.
More than 3,700 hunters have stopped at Region 1 regional game check stations on the first two weekends of the season. Overall, about 9 percent of hunters reported game, a slight increase over last year’s first two weekends. The overall number of harvested white-tailed deer and mule deer was higher for the region compared to last year. The number of harvested elk is about the same overall.
Check stations are open on weekends during general season from 10 a.m. to approximately 1.5 hours past sunset. The northwest Montana stations are located at U.S. 2 west of Kalispell, Montana 83 north of Swan Lake, Montana 200 west of Thompson Falls and U.S. 93 near Olney.
The Olney check station has seen 924 hunters with 100 white-tailed deer, 43 bucks, three mule deer and two elk. The area north of Whitefish has the highest percentage of hunters with game compared to over stations in the region.
The station on U.S. 2 west of Kalispell reported 8.7% of hunters with game. A dozen elk have been reported at that station, along with 131 white-tails, 72 bucks and 23 mule deer.
The 2024 general deer and elk season runs through Dec. 1.