Montana’s Big Game Season Shows Surprising 2025 Harvest Trends

General hunting season for elk, mule deer, and whitetail is winding down as we move toward the end of November. If you have been out in the field this year, you already know just how unusual things have been. With almost no early-season snow to push animals down, many elk and deer stayed high, making the hunt a little tougher for everyone.

My archery season was a bust. Between limited time and rough weather on the days I could go, the odds were not in my favor. The upside is that bad weather can make for great scouting, and that played a huge role once rifle season arrived. After countless miles and a lot of glassing, I was able to tag a solid bull, and thankfully, our freezer is full for the year. It was one of those moments where you feel truly grateful, because public land hunting in the West is never simple. Every hunter has a different journey, and every season seems to throw new curveballs.

So what does the 2025 season look like overall? Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks recently released some numbers, and they paint an interesting picture.

Check station data from the first four weekends shows steady participation and harvests that are mostly in line with last year. So far, 7,148 hunters have been checked, which is slightly down from last season. White-tailed deer continue to lead the harvest with 576 checked, just under last year’s 625. Mule deer are also down, with 59 checked compared to 74 in 2024. Elk numbers dipped a bit too, with 42 checked versus last year’s 46.

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