Hunting season enters final week

Montana’s general deer and elk season is wrapping up Nov. 27, 2022.

So far this season, more than 7,300 hunters have appeared at game check stations in northwest Montana. The overall number of hunters with harvested elk is up compared to a year ago while the number of hunters with deer is down.

At the Thompson Falls check station, the number of hunters is down this year, with 947 compared with 1,065 through week five in 2021, but the percentage of hunters with game is up almost a full percent to 10.3%. Hunters have come through the check station with 63 white-tailed deer, 42 of those bucks, as well as 19 mule deer and 16 elks.

Check stations are open on weekends during general deer and elk hunting 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.

While the general hunting season ends after this week, hunters will still have opportunities into winter. Certain areas have continued elk hunting opportunities, and there is also Montana’s muzzleloader heritage hunting season for deer and elk, Dec. 10-18, 2022.