BILLINGS – The general antelope hunting season opened Saturday, Oct. 11. Much of the region experienced mild weather Saturday, with cooler temperatures and precipitation Sunday. FWP operated game check stations in Big Timber, Broadview and Billings on both Saturday and Sunday for the opening weekend.
Broadview and Billings stations both saw above average hunter numbers for the weekend with success similar to last year, while hunter numbers and success at the Big Timber station were well below average.
The youth deer hunt is this Thursday, Oct. 16, and Friday, Oct. 17. These two early days of deer hunting are open to legally licensed hunters aged 12-15 who have completed hunter education and properly certified and legally licensed apprentice hunters aged 10-15. All regulations apply. For more information on youth hunting in Montana, visit: fwp.mt.gov/hunt/youth.
All hunters are required to stop at game check stations, regardless of success. No biological check stations will operate this weekend, Oct. 18-19. In south-central Montana, check stations in Billings, Lavina, Columbus and Big Timber will operate on both Saturday, Oct. 25, and Sunday, Oct. 26, for the opening weekend of the general deer and elk season. The general antelope season is open until Nov. 9.
Hunting regulations for deer, elk and antelope are available online here.
Big Timber Check Station
Hunter success was highest at the Big Timber check station at 57 percent. Over the weekend, 157 hunters visited the check station, which is down slightly from opening weekend last year and well below the long-term average of 281 hunters. This was the only check station in the region with a decrease in hunters compared to opening weekend of 2024.
FWP staff checked 88 antelope—67 males and 21 females—at this check station, which is well below the long-term average of 157. Five of the checked males had horns 14 inches or longer, which is significantly lower than the thirteen of this size class checked last year over opening weekend.
Fifty upland bird hunters also visited this check station over the weekend, a slight increase from last year’s forty-three.
Broadview Check Station
The Broadview check station saw the highest number of hunters but the lowest success rate for the region, a trend consistent with recent years. Of the 237 hunters that visited this check station, only 27 percent had harvested big game. Hunter numbers were above the long-term average of 205 for the weekend.
Sixty-one total harvested antelope were checked at the Broadview station. Of these, 48 antelope were males and 7 of these males had horns 14 inches or larger, an increase from 2 last year.
FWP staff also checked 32 bird hunters at the Broadview check station, which is consistent with the number of bird hunters at this check station in recent years. Two mule deer and one elk were also checked at the Broadview check station over the weekend.
Billings Check Station
The Billings check station had the fewest number of hunters in the region over the weekend at 153. However, this was the highest number of hunters at the Billings check station for the same weekend since 2015.
Hunter success was similar to last year at 41 percent. Of the 63 harvested antelope that came through this check station, 49 were males and 14 were females.
In addition to antelope hunters, FWP staff at the Billings check station checked 19 upland bird hunters and 3 waterfowl hunters who reported mixed success.
Photo: Pixabay
Source: FWP
