MILES CITY – The weather was pleasant for the opening weekend of the general deer and elk season, and the number of hunters visiting the three area check stations and the harvest rates were near the long-term average.

Ashland

The nice weather this past weekend made it great for hunters to be afield but also limited the amount of big game activity during daylight hours. A few folks coming through the Ashland check station had decided not to harvest anything due to the heat.

A total of 78 parties and 160 hunters came through the check station, with a harvest success rate of 38 percent (6 percent above the 10-year average). The number of parties and hunters is similar to the 10-year average. Harvest included 27 pronghorn (19 bucks, eight does), four elk (one six-point bull, one spike bull, and two cows), 25 mule deer (20 bucks, five does), 16 white-tailed deer (three bucks, 13 does), four turkeys, and one sharp-tailed grouse. Multiple people harvested their first deer or pronghorn, making it extra special for them.

Hysham

In terms of hunters, most of the metrics for the Hysham check station were on pace with previous general season openers. We visited with 79 hunting parties and 134 hunters, with both figures slightly above the 10-year average. For harvest, 37 percent of hunters had game, which is about 10 percent below average. Hunters brought through 22 antelope (18 bucks, four does), which is right at the 10-year average.

The number of deer checked was below average, with nine mule deer (eight bucks, one doe) and nine white-tailed deer (four bucks and five does).

With the mule deer populations currently well below average, it stands to reason that the number of mule deer brought through the check station is down as well, especially since antlerless mule deer licenses were dramatically reduced over the last couple of years and the option to harvest antlerless mule deer on a general license was eliminated this year.

Glendive

The Glendive check station had a total of 17 parties come through that were hunting in Region 7, with another 10 groups that stopped in on their way back from hunting in Region 6. The number of parties and hunters were similar to what has come through the Glendive check station on opening weekend of the general season in the past five years.

Harvest from those who hunted in Region 7 included two buck antelope, one mule deer buck, four antlerless white-tailed deer, 31 pheasants, three Hungarian partridge, one sharp-tailed grouse, and one turkey.

Many hunters who pursued upland game birds reported seeing a lot of birds around, and it was a mix of what deer hunters reported seeing. A few of the deer hunters who came through said they passed on the deer they saw in hopes of harvesting one later in the season.