Hunting season closed with mixed success

The 2021 general big game hunting season closed Sunday, Nov. 28. While the west-central Montana wildlife check stations reporting overall hunter activity and harvest totals down just slightly from last season, the overall big game harvest remained higher than recent years at the check stations in northwest Montana.

In the six weekends of the season, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologists staffing four check stations recorded 10,216 hunter stops and a harvest of 192 elk, 109 mule deer and 513 white-tailed deer. This compares to 10,717 hunter stops, 235 elk, 90 mule deer and 540 white-tailed...