With the final week of the general hunting season underway, deer harvest remains strong in Northwest Montana, according to check station data from Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Overall harvest of white-tailed deer — particularly white-tailed bucks — is at a five-year high in Northwest Montana, as is the number of hunters.

By Monday, 953 white-tailed deer including 779 bucks had been harvested. The U.S. 2 checkpoint still generated the biggest numbers for all game animals, although its 7.5 percent hunter success rate lagged behind Olney, where 10.7 percent of hunters had harvested animals, and Thompson Falls, where 8.9 percent had successful hunts.

Total mule deer harvest is at 114, down from last year but close to the five-year average. While the Canoe Gulch check station has posted low success rates and overall harvest for most species, it is responsible for more than a third of all mule deer reported at game checks in the region.

Elk numbers are well in excess of the past two years, with 76 harvested throughout the region. More than two-thirds of those have been logged at the U.S. 2 and Thompson Falls check stations.

The wolf harvest is about the same as last year at this same point in the season. Hunters in Region One have taken 24 wolves, with 82 wolves killed statewide.

The general big game season ends one half hour after sunset on Sunday.