The  big-game hunting season is winding down for 2008 and numbers for Region 1 in northwest Montana have declined.

While hunters checking into the Canoe Gulch station were up for week three compared to last season, hunter success is down.

Week three at Canoe Gulch showed 2,084 hunters with 57 whitetails taken, 22 mule deer, nine elk and a success rate of 4.2 percent.

The 2007 week three statistics reported 2,026 hunters harvesting 57 whitetails, 41 mule deer, 20 elk and a success rate of 5.7 percent.

Big-game season – which includes bighorn sheep, fall black bear, deer and elk, moose, mountain goat and fall mountain lion – officially ends at 5:20 p.m. on Nov. 30.

Hunting season opens for winter mountain lion Dec. 1. Upland game birds season continues with sharp-tailed grouse, partridge, pheasant and fall turkey ending Jan. 1 and mountain grouse concluding on Dec. 15.

Western News seeks hunting photos

The Western News is looking for recent photographs of local hunters – young and old – with their trophies.

Include a brief description with names, dates, location and weaponry.

Submit photos online by e-mailing to: thewesternnews@gmail.com . Or, drop off a high-quality print at the Libby office on 311 California Ave.

For more information, call reporter Brandon Roberts at 293-4124.