Slow start to rifle season

The 2020 hunting season has had a less-than-stellar start after much of Montana received a hefty early snow. “Many may have stayed home instead of getting out into the woods,” said Jeff Davidson with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP), who worked the Thompson Falls check station last Saturday and Sunday with Marc Terrazas. They said they only saw four animals on Saturday, and not many more on Sunday. A slow start, they both said.

Together, Terrazas and Davidson will be working the check station every weekend, from 11 a.m. until half an hour after dark, and Davidson will man the post Mondays alone at the same times. This year the station is specifically for testing animals for chronic wasting disease (CWD) and according to Terrazas, does not plan to be a hunter check station as it has in past years. This will be the first time Thompson Falls and other locations across the state will be participating in the CWD testing and will also be the first year that the stop will not be mandatory, though it is highly recommended to all hunters that they have their game tested. According to Davidson most people should stop because testing is free to the hunter, and is paid for through their licensing, and most hunters want peace of mind. Currently there is no information on any harmful effects to humans who ingest an animal with CWD, however it is not advised.

Hunters can either stop to get their animal’s test sent off at the stop, just west of the Thompson Falls Post Office, or can participate in self submittal, sending in their own specimen. Information for this can be found on FWP’s website. Davidson added that they can test an animal from anywhere in the state, so if a hunter comes back into town from anywhere else, they can bring their animal into the Thompson Falls testing location without any problem.

Both Terrazas and Davidson recommend that Hunters either leave the carcass remains where they are or dispose of the entire thing properly. The transfer station is one place they recommend for proper disposal. They advise leaving the body on site to “reduce the amount of spreading due to human interaction,” said Davidson. CWD spreads through contact and can even spread from mother to offspring before birth. According to Davidson, it can take up to two years for an infected animal to show symptoms, however, once it does the disease is 100% fatal. Deer, elk and moose are all susceptible to CWD and Davidson says that an infected animal will appear unhealthy and disoriented.

According to Terrazas, there are several reasons that the stop is no longer required. He thinks that this decision will be controversial, however says that most of the information from hunters comes from post season call-in-surveys anyways, so he is not worried about the station being optional.