Weather and biology should be beneficial for Northwest Montana hunters in the remaining weeks of the general hunting season.

“The cold and the rut should give an advantage to hunters over the next two weeks,” said Jim Williams, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region One supervisor.

The general season lasts through Nov. 30. 

Check-station numbers show the deer harvest in Northwest Montana is about the same as last year at the same point in the season.

At the six northwest Montana check stations through Sunday, a total of 11,233  hunters had checked 597 white-tailed deer (511 of these were bucks), 108 mule deer  and 38 elk for a 6.6 percent rate of hunters with game.

The harvest was similar to 2013 when 6.2 percent of hunters checked game.  Hunter numbers are down slightly as compared to last year.

Check-station counts represent a sampling of the harvest and do not represent the complete number of animals taken.

Hunting is limited to whitetail bucks for hunters in Northwest Montana except for youth hunters who can take antlerless whitetails. Mule deer are buck-only for the entire season.  

Elk are brow-tine bull only. Spike bull elk are not legal game for any hunter in Region One.

Wolf harvest: Hunters have taken 19 wolves in Northwest Montana.  Statewide, hunters have taken 66 wolves. The wolf take is behind last year at this same point in the season.