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Montana Antelope Opener Update

October 17, 2011.

From Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks:

The number of antelope hunters who stopped at south central Montana check stations during the opening weekend of the 2011 antelope season was down slightly from last year. But the percentage of hunters who bagged game was up from 2010 at two of the three check stations.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks runs three check stations in south central Montana during the opening weekend of antelope season to gather biological data.
FWP wildlife biologist Justin Paugh reported that 343 hunter stopped at the Big Timber check station. That was just 10 fewer hunters than in 2010. About 64 percent of those hunters had harvested an antelope – well ahead of the 59 percent who checked in with game last year. He counted 142 bucks and 79 antlerless antelope among the 221 harvested.

Heavy rain on Friday muddied roads throughout the region making for slow hunting on Saturday, Paugh said. However, things dried out Sunday and hunter numbers picked up.

Many hunters reported a noticeable decrease in antelope numbers from previous hears in hunting districts east of the Crazy Mountains, Paugh said.
At the Broadview check station, FWP wildlife biologist Ashley Beyer said the number of hunters and number of tagged antelope were among the lowest in the past 20 years. This is only the second year in recent history that the season opened on a Saturday and the station was open for two days. Still numbers of hunters and harvested antelope were lower than all but two years when the station opened for only one day.

This year 204 hunters checked in at Broadview compared with 243 last year, Beyer said. But 43.6 percent of hunters had harvested antelope compared to 41.2 percent in 2010. The antlerless antelope harvest was down more than 60 percent from the long-term average, reflecting a decrease in permits in districts surrounding Broadview.

“It was apparent that the die off associated with a 2007 bluetongue outbreak and low fawn-doe ratios for the past four years have affected antelope harvest numbers – and will affect them for a number of years to come,” she said. Bluetongue is a naturally occurring insect-borne virus that often is fatal to large numbers of antelope and white-tailed deer.

At the Billings check station on the Roundup highway, hunter numbers and the number of hunters with tagged antelope were among the lowest in recent years. FWP wildlife research specialist Jay Watson said just 163 hunters with 46 antelope stopped at the check station. Both numbers were the lowest on record, except for 2008 when a blizzard hindered hunters on the opening weekend of antelope season.

While only 28 percent of all hunters who stopped at the check station had harvested game, Watson said, 38 percent of those exclusively hunting for antelope were successful. Of the hunter who stopped, more than a fourth were elk and deer bowhunters. Another quarter were bird and waterfowl hunters.
The low numbers reflected muddy conditions on Saturday and low numbers of antelope and permits north of Billings.

Upland game bird hunters reported finding fewer birds in the field than in the recent past. Juvenile pheasant checked were in the early stage of molting, which is an indication of poor nesting conditions in early June, Watson said.
Montana’s deer and elk season starts Oct. 20 with a special two-day youth deer hunt followed by a five-week general season that opens Oct. 22.

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