Hunters must stop at all check stations they pass; CWD sampling options are also available
MISSOULA – Three weekends in, and the numbers say it’s an ordinary year. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks check stations across west-central Montana are logging deer and elk harvest right on par with last season and a hair above the five-year average.
Not every station tells the same story, though. Whitetail harvest at the Bonner station is up 30 percent from 2025, while it’s average or a little down elsewhere. The reason is simple. Several Blackfoot hunting districts offered either-sex whitetail harvest on the general license, but only for the first week of the season. Hunters took advantage, and the Bonner numbers show it.
Expect the deer numbers to climb across the region over the next few weeks as the rut kicks in. Bucks get careless when their minds are elsewhere, and hunters notice. Elk harvest is up slightly from last season at Bonner and Anaconda, and down slightly through Darby.
The stations tallied 5,324 hunter stops over
The stations tallied 5,324 hunter stops over the first three weekends, compared to 5,643 over the same stretch last year. Those hunters checked 78 mule deer (88 in 2025), 224 white-tailed deer (188 last year) and 184 elk (180 last year).
The general big game season opened October 24 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 29, so we’re just about at the halfway mark.
Check stations only sample a small slice of the total hunting effort and harvest. Still, they catch the trends and the biological data FWP needs, and every hunter who pulls in to report a harvest or just describe what they saw is helping manage the herds. Here’s the rule, and it applies to everyone: you must stop at every wildlife check station you pass, even if your tag is still in your pocket. Honestly, it takes five minutes, and the data is better for it.
You can also help with chronic wasting disease
You can also help with chronic wasting disease (CWD) management by submitting samples from harvested deer, elk and moose. In west-central Montana, the check stations near Darby and Anaconda are collecting CWD samples during their normal weekend hours. There are two more options: a dedicated CWD sampling location in Drummond (Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-dark, and Monday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.), and the Missoula FWP office (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.). For a complete list of stations and hours across the state, visit fwp.mt.gov/cwd. Prefer to do it yourself? You can take samples yourself and mail them to the wildlife lab for testing.
Testing is voluntary. If you ask me, it shouldn’t feel that way, because samples from hunter-harvested deer, elk and moose are the backbone of how FWP understands and manages the disease. A few hunting districts around west-central Montana are Priority Surveillance Areas for CWD, where FWP is pushing hard to gather more samples. All sampling is free to hunters. You’re a big part of the picture here, both by providing data and by disposing of wildlife parts properly so the disease doesn’t spread. Read more: fwp.mt.gov/cwd.
Piper Germane and her grandpa stopped by the Bonner hunter check station over the third weekend of the season with two mule deer bucks.
