R4: Hunter Harvest Near Average for Elk, Whitetail Deer Despite Unsettled Weather
By angelamontana

Posted: November 11, 2019

​Despite weather that’s windy and warm one day, then cold and snowy the next, hunters on the Rocky Mountain Front west of Augusta are taking home elk and white-tailed deer at numbers near or above long-term averages, a state wildlife biologist said.

Elk harvest remains at seven percent below the 10-year average” said Brent Lonner, Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife biologist. “But the white-tailed deer harvest is 17 percent above the 10-year average.”

Mule deer numbers, however, are lagging behind.

“The mule deer harvest is 21 percent below the 10-year average,” Lonner said.

The numbers were collected in Augusta at FWP Region 4’s sole biological check station and apply only to a handful of hunting districts on the Rocky Mountain Front.

​Elk hunters this season have brought in 107 animals (45bulls, 53 cows and nine calves) compared to the 10-year average of 115 elk.

Mule deer at the check station have numbered 63 (57 bucksand six does). The 10-year average is 81 animals.

White-tailed deer numbers this year in Augusta stand at 91(34 bucks, 48 does and nine fawns), while the 10-year average is 77.

The big game general season ends Dec. 1.

 

 

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