Game check stations continue in southwest Montana over 5th weekend of general hunting season
FWP biologists again operated several big game check stations in southwest Montana over the fifth weekend of the general deer and elk hunting season.
In total, biologists met with 836 hunters at check stations in Cameron, Gallatin, Divide and the Blacktail Deer Creek Watershed for all or part of Nov. 21 and 22.
Biologists use check stations to collect data on hunters’ participation, success and wildlife observations, as well as the species, sex and age class of the animals harvested. This supplements data collected through hunter harvest phone surveys.
At the Divide check station, 276 hunters were checked over Weekend 5. That represents a 58 percent increase from the same weekend last year and is 24 percent greater than the 10-year average. That weekend’s hunter success rate of 12 percent was 22 percent greater than the 6-year average.
This was the busiest weekend at the Cameron station this season, with 351 hunters and a hunter success rate of 9.1 percent for deer and elk. But hunter numbers and success rates here remained below the long-term average.
The number of hunters checked at the Gallatin check station — 116 — was up slightly from the past two years, but still on the low side of the average range. Hunter success was about average at 8.6 percent.
The best hunter success rate for the region was at the Blacktail Deer Creek Watershed check station, with 24 percent of the 93 hunters checked having harvested at least one animal.
Over the weekend, biologists checked 62 elk, 25 mule deer and 12 white-tailed deer.
These figures do not account for different hunting season regulations over the years, which have varied from liberal to restrictive for elk and mule deer, depending on population status.
The chronic wasting disease sampling station in Bozeman will reopen Friday.
The station at FWP’s Bozeman office at 1400 S., 19th Ave., will operate on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through its last day of operation on Wednesday, Dec. 2. This station is closed on weekends.
This station was closed previously due to COVID-19. FWP personnel will assist hunters to collect CWD samples of harvested deer, elk and moose. For more information, contact the FWP’s Bozeman office at 406-577-7900.
