The general deer and elk season came to an end Sunday with fewer hunters venturing into the field over the weekend amid a stint of warmer weather and melting snow. Still, many hunters saw success, especially in the easternmost part of the region.
The Alder check station saw a success rate over 23 percent with 33 deer and 25 elk coming through as staff and volunteers visited with 237 hunters. Cameron checked 460 hunters over the two days with a total of 20 deer and 37 elk. Success in the Madison was slightly below the recent average.
At Divide, hunter success jumped 93 percent over the same time last year and 34 percent over the long-term average while seeing fewer hunters. Hunter numbers were also down at the Mill Creek check station, yet hunter success climbed 80 percent from last year, and was up 49 percent from the long-term average. For the season, overall hunter success at Divide and Mill Creek was 11.7 percent and 5.6 percent respectively.
Once again, the highest hunter harvest success was seen in the Paradise Valley with the Livingston check station seeing nearly half the hunters coming through with game. Workers at Livingston were also busy collecting samples for chronic wasting disease testing as the area included within the primary surveillance area.
The Gallatin check station saw the fewest hunters and lowest success rate for the final weekend checking just five animals.
Over the course of the season in Region 3, staff met with a total of 10,740 hunters checking 155 white-tailed deer, 309 mule deer, and 720 elk.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks thanks the volunteers who helped each weekend and the hunters who took the time to provide valuable information toward the management of Montana’s wildlife.
(via MT FWP)
