General deer, elk hunting season wraps up with mixed hunter success in southwest Montana

BOZEMAN – Montana’s general deer and elk hunting seasons have ended, and biologists with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks saw mixed hunter participation and success in southwest Montana.

Hunter participation and success can be heavily influenced by weather. Severe winter weather over opening weekend limited hunter travel and access in some areas, but significant snowfall didn’t persist over the following weeks enough to cause elk to move to winter range in large numbers. So hunter harvest was lower than average in some areas.

Six game check stations operated during some or all weekends of the ge...