Hunter Harvest Near Average for Elk, Whitetail Deer Despite Unsettled Weather

Despite weather that’s windy and warm one day, then cold and snowy the next, hunters on the Rocky Mountain Front west of Augusta are taking home elk and white-tailed deer at numbers near or above long-term averages, a state wildlife biologist said.

“Elk harvest remains at seven percent below the 10-year average” said Brent Lonner, Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife biologist. “But the white-tailed deer harvest is 17 percent above the 10-year average.”

Mule deer numbers, however, are lagging behind.

“The mule deer harvest is 21 percent below the 10-year average,” Lonner said.

The numbers were co...