GREAT FALLS, Mont. (NMB) – Heading into the final days of Montana’s big game season, numbers of mule deer and elk taken by hunters on the Rocky Mountain Front near Augusta continue to remain below average.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife biologist Brent Lonner said, “Elk harvest is 25 percent below the 10-year average. Mule deer harvest is at 20 percent below the 10-year average.”
Only the number of white-tailed deer taken by hunters to the FWP Augusta check station is on the plus side at 8 percent above the average. Lonner adds that the antlerless harvest continues to be the main driver of this year’s increase.
The numbers collected at the Augusta check station apply only to a handful of hunting districts on the Rocky Mountain Front.
Elk hunters so far have brought in 188 animals compared to the average of 251. Mule deer have numbered 154, with the 10-year average at 193. White-tailed deer numbers stand at 223, with the average at 205.
