MISSOULA — Montana’s 2023 general big game hunting season closed Sunday, November 26, 2023, across Montana.
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks reports the elk harvest reported at the wildlife check stations in west-central Montana trailed behind 2022 by 71 elk and was slightly down from the five-year average.
Lower than normal elk harvest can be largely attributed to the lack of snow season-long and mild temperatures that extended through the first half of the season, according to FWP.
Elk harvest tracked through the stations was 225 this year, compared to 296 in 2022. The five-year average is 237.
Traffic through all of the region’s hunter check stations was up, except for at the station in the Fish Creek drainage west of Missoula.
Deer harvest totals were almost exactly the same as last season for mule deer at 102, compared to 105 in 2022, and identical for white-tailed deer at 492. Both were up from the five-year average.
The Anaconda hunter check station didn’t operate during the final weekend of the season so a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) testing station near Deer Lodge could run instead.
The general rifle season closed on Nov. 26, but some winter hunting opportunities, such as the muzzleloader season (Dec. 9-17, 2023), are coming up. Find out more at: fwp.mt.gov/hunt.
