With the general hunting season drawing to a close the weekend after Thanksgiving, we wanted to take a look back on the season, sharing our observations and what we garnered from talking to locals and hunters.
Comments about deer numbers, or the lack thereof, were first and foremost on the list. The drought conditions over the last two years, as well as liberal bag limits on mule deer seem to have combined to either cause the death or killing off of a large number of mule deer, or caused deer to migrate from much of the area.
One local rancher told us that in a field near his house where a few years ago over 100 head of deer would be spotted, now only a small handful of does remained. Similar stories are repeated around the county.
Whitetail deer populations, though still robust, took a hit as Blue Tongue/EHD swept along portions of the river, with ranchers finding large numbers of dead animals early this fall. One report indicated seven dead whitetail deer in one hay meadow.
Hunter’s difficulty in finding deer was confirmed after speaking to Sherry Considine with Broadus Meats, who told us that their overall numbers of processed game were down this year compared to last, though the number of processed elk had increased.
Early in the season we postulated the bountiful grass growth this summer may have had something to do with the lack of deer seen in fields, and that seemed to be a factor as more deer were spotted as storms descended on the area around opening day, and again around Veteran’s Day, making deer more visible and perhaps pushing a few to grounds with easier feeding.
The downside to those storms was the difficulty in hunting, somewhat limiting the number of hunters in the backcountry, though we certainly heard of and witnessed public land hunters in the furthest reaches of their domain, despite the cold and snow.
Reports of hunter numbers from around the county seemed to be around average or even below average as traffic on county roads was not quite the maelstrom of non-local people parked in the middle of the road on blind hills with doors flung open like we normally witness (those non-locals bearing just as many license plates from central and western Montana as out of state plates).
FWP’s reports back up these claims, as check stations both mid-season and over the final weekend saw below-average numbers of hunters checked through the stations, and below average harvest rates.
An end of season press release from FWP had the following comments:
“The 2022 season started with mild conditions,” said Baker-based wildlife biologist Melissa Foster. “The fall rains and subsequent green-up and available water on the landscape was great for wildlife but made for difficult hunting, as animals tend to be dispersed on the landscape, in smaller groups, and more difficult to pattern.
“Exacerbating that was the fact that numbers of both mule and white-tailed deer were down following last year's extreme drought and hemorrhagic disease outbreaks,” Foster said. “Lower-than-average numbers combined with better-than-average conditions makes for very difficult hunting.”
Then the weather abruptly turned bitterly cold, which served to concentrate deer into habitat that offered thermal cover. Foster noted many days with blowing snow and wind and sub-zero temperatures that created miserable conditions for hunters to be afield.
“Deep snow drifts in places limited travel and crusty snow made sneaking a challenge with the crunch of footsteps making it difficult to get close to quarry undetected,” she said.
The end of the season saw more mild conditions and lots of hunters afield, but mud from melting snow still made for difficult travel through a lot of the area, Foster noted.
“Many hunters reported seeing better numbers of deer toward the end of the season, even though numbers overall are down from previous years,” Foster said. “Age structures were good, with 85 percent of harvested bucks checked closing weekend at Glendive being 3.5 years of age or older.”
According to Forsyth-based wildlife biologist Steve Atwood, who manned the Hysham station, “The feedback from hunters was that in general mule deer numbers were down from last year, but most reported having a chance to harvest deer and valued their opportunities to hunt in eastern Montana.”
With the general season now closed hunters still have opportunities to fill their freezers, as the Montana muzzleloader season takes place December 10th through the 18th, and elk shoulder season, which applies to grounds only on private land in the local units, runs through February 15th.
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