FWP Gives Hunting Numbers In State
State officials report mixed hunting results across Montana as the general deer and elk season ended on Nov. 30, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Montana FWP collects data through check stations and reports back success rate and numbers relating to animals taken. In northeastern Montana, hunter numbers were in line with long-term averages, but distributed differently than they had been in the past.
“Hunter numbers at the check station were up 27 percent at the beginning of the season after antelope and pheasant season opened, but down 15 percent during the general deer and elk season,” Scott Hemmer, a Havre-area biologist said in an FWP press release. “Most notably, deer hunter numbers were down 11 percent from last year and 14 percent below the long-term average.”
Lower white-tailed deer numbers and mule doe takes were reported, though this was expected, Hemmer said in the press release. Notably, antelope checked by FWP in the area was 55 percent higher than in 2024. FWP reported 1,681 hunters passed through the Havre check station.
They took 346 mule deer, 67 white-tailed deer, 232 antelope and 26 elk. Additionally, 639 pheasants were taken and 126 sharp-tailed grouse.
“Most antelope hunters reported improved numbers of antelope seen compared to recent years,” Hemmer said in a press release, “and this was our largest number checked since 2010.”
Hunter harvests in southwestern Montana were “mixed,” an FWP press release said. FWP’s Region 3 office reported check stations at Alder, Cameron, Canyon Ferry, Divide, Gallatin Canyon, Lakeside and Silver City collectively met with 7,069 hunters who harvested 49 whitetailed deer, 174 mule deer and 355 elk.
In southcentral Montana, FWP reported a below-average deer harvest and an above average elk take.
Throughout the season, a total of 4,203 hunters visited Big Timber, Columbus, Lavina and Billings check stations in Region 5. FWP reported they harvested 487 total mule deer, 384 white-tailed deer, 284 elk and 58 antelope.
“Season totals for mule deer, elk and antelope were all above totals observed in 2024; total white-tailed deer harvest this year was slightly below the total from 2024,” a Region 5 FWP press release said.
Augusta, the only check station in Region 4, reported just over 2,800 hunters passing through the check station.
That’s a 10 percent increase above the five-year average but a 9 percent decline from the 10-year average, a FWP press release stated.
Overall harvest finished with 679 deer and elk with Montana residents taking 83 percent of the total harvest in Region 4. Additionally, 75 percent of the total deer and elk harvest came from public lands, the Region 4 release said.
