Harvest numbers jump

The third week of hunting season brought 292 hunters through the Canoe Gulch check station, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP).

Numbers are spiking — at least for whitetails — as hunters benefit from distracted doe-driven bucks. The Canoe Gulch check station reported 15 more white-tailed deer harvested compared to last week.

Additionally, five more mule deer and three more elk were reported to the game check station.

Total tallies at Canoe Gulch through Nov. 10: 37 white-tailed deer, 14 white-tailed bucks, 18 mule deer and 10 elk.

“Hunter harvest is expected to keep improving with the onset of peak mating activity among deer,” FWP Regional Wildlife Manager Neil Anderson said.

Across the state at FWP’s five mandatory game check stations, reports through Nov. 10 show 363 White-tailed deer, 52 mule deer and 40 elk tags filled. So far, upwards of 7,000 hunters have stopped at one of the five stations in Montana.

FWP reminds readers and hunters that the counts at the hunter check stations represent a sampling of the harvest and do not represent the complete number of animals taken. Hunters must stop at all check stations (excluding CWD sampling stations) that they pass, even if they have not harvested any animals.

All deer, elk and moose harvested within the Libby CWD Management Zone — hunting districts 100, 103 and 104 — must be checked and sampled within three days of harvest.