Hunters make final push as season ends

Montana’s big game hunting season ended on Sunday, and the Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) check station in Thompson Falls saw a final push of hunters hoping to fill their freezers. “It was incredibly busy Saturday and Sunday,” FWP Biologist Bruce Sterling said, noting that they had mostly white-tailed bucks reported in the last weekend of the season.

Hunters reported 57 deer during the last weekend, more than what FWP had seen in total the first five weeks of the season. Sterling said this is typical of the white-tailed numbers, as the rut kicks in late in the season.

Sterling noted that the number of white-tailed bucks were down this season, with 70 through the check station. The 10-year average for white-tailed bucks at the Thompson Falls check station is 104. Sterling said that decrease wasn’t unexpected because of the two most recent hard winters, and said that the number of bucks reported was only five less than last year.

“We knew the deer numbers were low, and the harvest showed that,” Sterling said.

The number of hunters through the Thompson Falls check station during the season was up slightly, with 1,722 checking in compared with 1,675 hunters in 2017. The number of mule deer harvested was up, with hunters checking in 17 compared with 5 in 2017.

The elk harvest was also lower this year, according to FWP. The Thompson Falls check station saw 25 elk this year, compared with 30 last year. The 10-year average for the elk harvest at the check station is 22. Sterling said that the bull harvest was the best at the Thompson Falls check station since 2012, with 16 through the check station this year.

The harvest overall was down, with 8.4 percent of hunters successful. That’s 1.5 percent less than last year.

Numbers were down at all of FWP’s Region 1 check stations, with 14,615 total hunters this year and 16,269 in 2017.