Lack of snow, crunchy conditions made hunting tough

Dec. 5—Montana's general deer and elk hunting season wrapped up last weekend and the harvest results at check stations in northwest Montana showed similar results to a year ago.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks tallied more than 10,000 hunters at its four regional check stations in northwest Montana. Hunters reported harvesting 761 white-tailed deer, including 567 bucks and 97 mule deer.

The number of mule deer harvested was slightly higher than last year's tally of 69. There were also 44 elk reported this year, down from 61 a year ago. The total percentage of hunters with game was 9 percent compared to 9.7 percent last year.

According to reporting in the Daily Inter Lake, the Thompson Falls check station tallied 17 elk, with 21 coming from the U.S. 2 station west of Kalispell.

The Olney and U.S. 2 stations showed upticks in white-tailed deer harvests, with all four Region 1 stations showing an increase in the number of mule deer taken.

In Region 1, deer infected with Chronic Wasting Disease were not found in any new locations this season. District 100 in the far northwest corner of Lincoln County accounted for four positive samples, according to the state's CWD sampling map. District 104 had three positive cases, and District 103 reported one.

The Region 2 elk harvest finished at 225 this year, compared to 296 in 2022. The five-year average is 237. Traffic through all of the region's hunter check stations was up, except for at the station in the Fish Creek drainage west of Missoula.

Deer harvest totals were almost exactly the same as last season for mule deer at 102, compared to 105 in 2022, and identical for white-tailed deer at 492. Both were up from the five-year average.

In West-Central Montana's Region 2, CWD was detected for the first time in District 213 during the last week of the season.

Statewide, there have been 128 positive cases since July.

With the season over, hunters are encouraged to take part in Fish, Wildlife and Park's annual phone survey that wildlife officials use to capture more accurate data that is used for game population modeling.

"That provides a much more clear picture than the check stations do," Tabish said.

Hunters still have opportunities into winter. Certain areas have continued elk hunting opportunities, and there is also Montana's muzzleloader heritage hunting season for deer and elk, Dec. 9-17.

Trapping season is underway for furbearers. For more information on quotas and season dates, visit https://fwp.mt.gov/hunt/seasons.

Wolf trapping and snaring in FWP administrative regions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and in Hill, Blaine, and Phillips counties won't start until Jan. 1 and will run through Feb. 15, according to a federal court injunction issued recently.

The wolf hunting season, separate from trapping and snaring, remains in place and is open through March 15 as described in the 2023 wolf regulations. Wolf harvest quotas are still in place for FWP regions and can be tracked via the Wolf Harvest Dashboard online at https://fwp.mt.gov.

As a reminder, to help prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease, all carcasses, including the head and spinal column, must be disposed of in a class II landfill after butchering and processing. Dumping carcasses is illegal, unethical and can spread diseases, including chronic wasting disease. This requirement applies to all deer, elk, and moose carcasses harvested by hunters or as vehicle-killed salvage.

As the season wraps up, Montana hunters can thank landowners for access and share stories through a new online portal. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is offering this opportunity to say thank you to landowners who have provided access and helped to make your hunting season great. FWP will collect these expressions of gratitude and share them with the specific landowners at the end of the season. Notes can be submitted online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/thank-a-landowner.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will vote on hunting regulations for the 2024-2025 hunting season during its Dec. 14 meeting, which will also include the opportunity for the public to comment.

To view proposed regulations and to comment, go to fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/commission/december-2023-meeting.

Muzzleloader Heritage Hunting Season — The Muzzleloader Heritage hunting season is Dec. 9-17, 2023. — During the muzzleloader heritage season, a person may take a deer or elk with any unused license or permit that is valid on the last day of the general hunting season (i.e., Nov. 26, 2023). — Hunters can use plain lead projectiles and a muzzleloading rifle that is charged with loose black powder, loose pyrodex, or an equivalent loose black powder substitute and ignited by a flintlock, wheel lock, matchlock or percussion mechanism using a percussion or musket cap. — The muzzleloading rifle must be a minimum of .45 caliber and may not have more than two barrels. — During the muzzleloader heritage season, hunters may not use a muzzleloading rifle that requires insertion of a cap or primer into the open breech of the barrel (inline), is capable of being loaded from the breech, or is mounted with an optical magnification device. — Use of pre-prepared paper or metallic cartridges, sabots, gas checks or other similar power and range-enhancing manufactured loads that enclose the projectile from the rifling or bore of the firearm is also prohibited. — Many of Montana's Wildlife Management Areas have seasonal closures from Dec. 2 through May 14. Before heading to the field, hunters should review the regulations for each hunting district they plan to hunt. A list of WMAs and seasonal closure dates are available online at https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management-areas.