Ten days left in general big game hunting season

Montana’s general hunting season is down to the final 10 days and activity has picked up in northwest Montana.

The general deer and elk hunting season concludes Dec. 1.

Hunters typically see increased chances of success with the arrival of the deer breeding season, known as the “rut,” which typically begins in early-to-mid November.

So far this season, more hunters have reported harvesting more deer and elk at the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' regional game check stations in northwest Montana compared to last season. 

Overall through four weekends of the season, more than 7,400 hunters have been checked at the stations and the percentage of hunters with game has been 9.8 percent compared to 7.5 percent a year ago. A total of 625 white-tailed deer have been reported at the check stations compared to 382 a year ago.

Check stations are open on weekends during general season from 10 a.m. to approximately 1.5 hours past sunset. The regional stations are located at U.S. Highway 2 West of Kalispell, Montana Highway 83 north of Swan Lake, Highway 200 west of Thompson Falls, and Highway 93 near Olney.

Hunters must stop at any check station they encounter whether they harvested an animal or not. The counts at the stations represent a sampling of the harvest and do not represent the complete number of animals taken.

CWD Testing

CWD sample submission is voluntary in most places in Montana.

There are new mandatory testing requirements for tags associated with CWD management near Libby. Testing is required for all animals harvested using the Deer B License 199-20 in HDs 100, 103 and 104, or Deer Permit 103-50 in HD 103.

FWP strongly recommends that hunters receive a negative CWD test result before bringing their deer, elk or moose to a meat processor or donating it to a food bank. 

If the animal tests positive for CWD, FWP will advise the hunter on proper carcass and meat disposal and give instructions on how to request a replacement license.

How to Submit Samples for Testing

All hunters who want their harvested animal sampled can submit samples themselves by following steps on the Montana CWD Submission Guide or visit a CWD Sampling Station.

CWD Sample Stations

A CWD sampling station in Libby will operate Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays, 10 a.m. to 1.5 hours past sunset, and Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to sunset at the Montana Department of Transportation shop on U.S. Highway 2 south of town.

Hunters who want their animal sampled should leave 2 to 4 inches of the neck below the low jawbone and base of the skull to ensure lymph nodes are present and not inadvertently left with the carcass. Samples cannot be collected from frozen heads.

Carcass Disposal

Carcass parts, such as brain, eyes, spleen, lymph glands, and spinal cord material, should be left at the kill site when possible. If the animal is transported for taxidermy or meat processing, the brain and spinal tissue must be bagged and disposed of in a Class II landfill.