Hunting season is almost over for West Central Montana and according to Montana FWP Public Information Officer Vivaca Crowser the harvest numbers have increased a bit the past week.

“Through the two check stations, which are the station near Darby and the station near Bonner, we have collectively seen 209 elk, 66 mule deer and 329 white tail deer,” Crowser said. “If you look individually at each station, the elk, mule deer and white tail deer totals are almost exactly where we were last year at Darby.”

Though the Darby check station seems to be on par, the Bonner check station is seeing lower counts of elk and whitetail.

“At the Bonner station, the elk harvest of 66 is down from 91 last year," Crowser said. "There is quite a significant difference there, but it is on track with the five year average. We will see where that shakes out here in the next week. White tail deer is down a bit, 281 compared to 393 last year. Without any significant weather event, it may not quite bump up to be on par with last year.”

The last day of general rifle season is November 25, so with less than a week to go, it appears very unlikely that hunters will be able to reach last year’s harvest totals.

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