GREAT FALLS – After a busy opening weekend, the number of hunters passing through the Augusta check station during the first full week of the general rifle season remains above average, with an above average number of deer and elk harvested as well.
Snow and cool weather have provided good conditions for hunters during the initial days of the season, and 630 hunters have been checked at the check station operated by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Augusta, which is nine percent above average.
Through the second Sunday of the season on Nov. 1, 26 percent of hunters stopping at the check station successfully harvested big game in the southern Rocky Mountain Front area, compared to the ten-year average of 19 percent. A total of 167 elk and deer have been brought through the check station, which is 20 percent above recent average and 15 percent above last year at this time.
Total deer harvest is approximately 12 percent above average and five percent above levels seen last year at this time. A total of 41 mule deer and 55 white-tailed deer have been checked.
Elk harvest is also above recent average harvest levels with a total of 71 elk checked thus far this season, which is more than 30 percent higher than the long-term average. Overall harvest distribution remains well distributed across the primary deer and elk hunting districts the Augusta check station monitors (hunting districts 422, 424, 425, 442, 444 and 450).
After an initial surge of elk migration activity on to the Sun River WMA in October due to early snow and cooler temperatures, moderating weather has reduced elk movement, and hunting success within hunting district 442 has declined somewhat. The HD 442 elk quota remains open to antlerless harvest. If the quota is met, antlerless elk harvest closes but the brow-tined bull season remains open through Thanksgiving weekend for hunting district 442.
In addition to the deer and elk harvest, five antelope, one wolf, and a variety of game birds (upland and waterfowl) have been checked though the station.
Despite the cool weather and snow, reports continue from hunters who have been seeing grizzly bears and grizzly bear sign, so hunters are urged to continue to use caution and remain vigilant while hunting, and around big game carcasses, food storage in camps, and while packing meat.
Hunters are reminded that they must stop at any check station they pass while hunting, whether or not they have harvested game. Biological check stations like the station in Augusta are intended primarily to gather trends and statistical information about animals and hunters. Although biological check stations sample a relatively small portion of the overall hunter effort and harvest, they capture important hunter and harvest trends and other information, and by stopping to report a harvest and other information, hunters are helping with wildlife management in Montana.
The general deer and elk seasons run through Sunday, Nov. 29. The check station operated by FWP along Main Street in Augusta is the only biological check station in Region 4 and operates seven days a week from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends.
-fwp-
Montana's outdoor week, in your inbox at 7am Friday.