Opening Weekend Brings Success To Area Hunters

The opening weekend for western Montana hunters was a success for the most part.

Education and Public Relations Coordinator for Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Vivaca Crowser, said the weekend saw greater numbers than last year.

"Across the three check stations in western Montana, in Bonner, in Darby and near Anaconda, we had more people out and more animals harvested than we've had for the past couple of years," Crowser said. "It was a decent weekend, considering the fact that we didn't have any weather to move the game down in to the valleys."

Crowser breaks down the statistics for both hunters and game.

"Across the region we had 2,864 hunters go through one of the three check stations," she said. "We had 100 elk harvested, 29 mule deer, 76 whitetails, along with a handful of black bears and moose."

Blackfoot area wildlife biologist Scott Eggeman, said there were no injuries reported over the weekend coming through the Bonner check station.