STEVE FULLERTONPublished: November 2, 2020Mule Deer in Bitterroot Valley. (Mike Daniels, Townsquare Media)

• https://klyq.com/hunter-numbers-remain-low-for-early-montana-season/

The first nine days of hunting in the Montana general hunting season saw less hunters in the west-central region of the state, but a better success rate than in the previous four years, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. From the three check stations, the department checked through 3,131 hunters, with 1,388 coming through the Darby Check Station over two weekends. For the region, 118 elk were taken, along with 24 mule deer and 87 white-tailed deer. At Darby, the totals were 85 elk, 12 mule deer and 15 white-tailed deer. The Darby station also checked through one goat and one wolf. The success rate for the Bitterroot hunters was 8.2 percent, up from 7.9 percent last year and only 6.2 percent the year before.

Vivaca Crowser of FWP said that…