General rifle season for big game started last Saturday, Oct. 24, across Montana. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks data, the season is off to a mixed start for deer and elk in southwest Montana, the busiest region in the state. Meanwhile, wolf harvest is quickly increasing as hunters enter the woods.
Hunters have killed 11 wolves since Oct. 24 across the state. The modest spike in wolf mortality reflects a broader wolf-hunting trend in Montana, FWP officials say — the majority of wolf hunters aren’t exclusively searching for wolves. Instead, they’re opportunistic hunters who carry a wolf license in case they encounter one while searching for other game.
Region 3, which encompasses southern Montana’s portion of Greater Yellowstone, has long hosted the largest number of both elk hunters and harvested elk in the state. In the first two days of rifle season, 2,200 big game hunters stopped at FWP check stations in the region. Fewer than 1 in 10 were successful. Check-station data isn’t exhaustive, but state officials documented a harvest of 59 deer and 146 elk in Region 3 over opening weekend of big game rifle season. Those totals were near or above historical averages at some check stations, and below average at others, according to FWP.
At the same time, the state wolf dashboard shows hunters have taken a total of 32 of the canids since the season opened in early September. More than one-third of the total harvest has been killed since Oct. 24.
“[We’ve seen] more deer and elk hunters on the ground and an uptick in wolf harvests,” said FWP Chief of Conservation Policy Quentin Kujala. “That reflects deer and elk hunters with a wolf tag running into wolves.”
Kujala said the agency’s assessment of wolf hunters in general is qualitative; there’s no specific survey asking wolf hunters how actively they’re pursuing wolves.
The agency keeps track of wolf-harvest data going back to 2009, the state’s first-ever legal wolf season. FWP spokesperson Greg Lemon said the harvest so far this year is slightly lower than years past. “There’s a recent uptick,” he said. “But we’re still well behind most years.”
Another rapid increase usually occurs, according to Lemon, when trapping season opens on Nov. 30 in some parts of the state and Jan. 1 in others. Trappers, FWP officials said, are almost always dedicated — rather than opportunistic — wolf hunters.
The state lowered its wolf quota this year following a new population estimate that showed the species had far lower numbers in Montana than wildlife officials previously believed. Hunters and trappers can kill as many as 300 wolves this season, down from 458 last year.
Big game season ends in late November, but shoulder season hunts extend through mid-February. Wolf hunting and trapping ends March 15.
