Elk Harvest Steady for West-Central Montana

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Elk harvest is just above last year and on par with the five-year average at west-central Montana hunter check stations, while deer harvest continues to lag behind.

Overall at the region’s three check stations through the first three weeks of the season, a total of 13,916 hunters checked 467 elk, 195 mule deer, 266 white-tailed deer, six black bears, one moose, 13 bighorn sheep, three mountain goats and sixteen wolves for 6.9 percent of hunters with game.

General license holders could hunt for antlerless elk in many Blackfoot and Upper Clark Fork hunting districts during the third week of general hunting season, possibly bolstering the hunter and elk numbers tallied at Bonner and Anaconda check stations this weekend.

“The cold weather with snow accumulations at the end of the week, combined with antlerless elk hunting opportunities for general license holders, made for a lot of antlerless elk checked through the station this weekend,” says Ray Vinkey, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) wildlife biologist responsible for the Anaconda station.

The Anaconda station saw 19 elk this weekend and 66 elk this season so far—the highest checked at the station during the first three weeks of the season since 2000.   FWP also ran a check station in Hall this weekend to monitor antlerless elk harvest. The Hall station saw 15 elk and 426 hunters.

Elk harvest in the Blackfoot hunting districts saw a jump in harvest this week, where elk harvest totals are now just below this point in the season last year and slightly above the five-year average.   

The Darby check station—which sees hunters from the Bighole and southern Bitterroot Valleys reported an elk harvest 10 percent below the five-year average.

White-tailed deer harvest reported at the check stations is approximately 50 percent behind the five-year average through the season’s third week.   Mule deer harvest totals are nearly 40 percent below.

Most of the decrease in white-tailed deer harvest has been seen at the Bonner check station where totals are half of what they were at this point in the season last year.   Part of the decline in harvest is likely due to the elimination of over-the-counter white-tailed Deer B license for rifle hunters in Region 2 this year. 

FWP wildlife biologists also note that buck harvest is declining as well as antlerless harvest, which may reflect a reduction in the white-tailed deer population.   As a result, FWP is considering whether to recommend more season adjustments next year. 

Hunter numbers are down approximately 10 percent from both last year and the five-year average.   

Three wolves were harvested in Wolf Management Unit 2 (WMU), which encompasses most of west-central Montana, over the weekend. Hunters are reminded that wolf hunting in Montana will close statewide Monday, November 16, 2009 at one half-hour after sunset.
 

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