Northwest Montana game season outpacing last year
courtesy photo
Lyla DeShazer sits on a tailgate with her first harvested deer at the Olney check station in northwest Montana.
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News from MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks
KALISPELL — The general deer and elk hunting season is underway in Montana, and game check station results are outpacing last year for harvested deer across northwest Montana.
More than 3,700 hunters have stopped at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ regional game check stations on the first two weekends of the season. Overall, about 9 percent of hunters reported game, a slight increase over last year’s first two weekends. The overall number of harvested white-tailed deer and mule deer was higher for the region compared to last year. The number of harvested elk is about the same overall.
The 2024 general deer and elk season runs through Dec. 1.
Check stations are open on weekends during general season from 10 a.m. to approximately 1.5 hours past sunset. The northwest Montana 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.
