Region 1 hunters take more deer

More hunters in the woods does not always mean an increase in hunting success, but that was the case in Region 1 for the recently completed deer and elk season.

At the six Northwest Montana check stations, whitetail deer harvest finished ahead of last year’s totals as the season wrapped up on Sunday, Dec. 1.

At those six check stations, a total of 18,262 hunters checked 1,112 white-tail deer (985 of these were bucks), 134 mule deer, and 56 elk for a 7.1 percent rate of hunters with game. This is slightly higher than the 6.5 percent of hunters with game last year.

“The season sort of started off slow, but the numbers came up near the end of the season,” said Libby Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Biologist Tonya Chilton-Radandt.

At the Canoe Gulch check station, there were 2,427 hunters, which exceeded last year’s tally by 154. There were 73 whitetail deer taken, or 15 more than last year. Of those 73, 67 were bucks. While the whitetail numbers were up, mule deer (36-46) and elk (6-7) were down from last year.

Overall, in Region 1, hunters checked about the same number of mule deer, but fewer elk as compared to last year. Generally, the number of hunters in Northwest Montana was very similar to last year’s total.

According to FWP Wildlife Biologist John Vore, whitetail bucks, a reliable indicator of the population, are up significantly from the last three years.

“The increase in bucks harvested is a good indication that the whitetail population continues to recover from a recent low in 2009,” Vore said. “As expected, based on our spring surveys, many of the bucks harvested were yearlings and 2-year olds.”

Vore added that there was also a good representation of 5-year old and older trophy bucks in the harvest.

The counts at the six Northwest Montana check stations represent a sampling of the harvest and do not represent the complete number of animals taken.

A more complete estimate of total harvest for each hunting district will be known after telephone hunter surveys are completed this spring.

Also, through the end of the general deer and elk season, hunters in Northwest Montana have taken 32 wolves. Statewide, 93 wolves have been taken. This is slightly ahead of last year at the end of the general deer and elk season.