Hunting success this season is on par with last season to date. At the six northwest Montana check stations through Sunday, a total of 8,634 hunters checked 442 whitetail deer (335 of these were bucks), 61 mule deer, and 55 elk for a 6.5 percent rate of hunters with game, the same percentage as last year, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The number of whitetail bucks and mule deer bucks checked is down slightly from last year, while elk numbers are up. Hunter numbers are up about 7 percent.

The counts at the six northwest Montana check stations represent a sampling of the harvest and do not represent the complete number of animals taken.

Wildlife Manager Neil Anderson noted that strong numbers of younger bucks continue to show up at the check stations.

“We anticipate seeing the older bucks come through check stations over the next few weekends,” he said.

Snow is in the forecast through the week, with levels dropping to valley floors.

Locally, hunting success in the North Fork is almost double last year, with 4.6 percent of hunters with game, compared to 2.6 percent last year. Hunters have taken 20 wolves in Region 1 to date, up from 13 last year at the same time.

There’ still more than two weeks left in the season.