Hunting season picks up in final two weeks

Montana’s general hunting season is down to the final two weeks, and activity has picked up in northwest Montana.

The general deer and elk hunting season concludes Dec. 1.  

Hunters typically see increased chances of success with the arrival of the deer breeding season, known as the “rut,” which typically begins in early-to-mid Nov. 

So far this season, more hunters have reported harvesting more deer and elk at the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' regional game check stations in northwest Montana compared to last season. Overall through four weekends of the season, more than 7,400 hunters have been checked at the stations and the percentage of hunters with game has been 9.8 percent compared to 7.5 percent a year ago. A total of 625 white-tailed deer have been reported at the check stations compared to 382 a year ago. 

Check stations are open on weekends during general 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.