NORTHWEST MONTANA DEER/ELK HERD UPDATE
Linehan Outfitting guest with whitetail buck
The 2026 hunting season promises healthy numbers of deer and elk across most of the state due to a mild winter.
Above average snowpack is always welcome here in Montana. It provides good water conditions on the landscape throughout the spring and summer and moist soil helps decrease the risk of forest fires. But, there is an upside to not having lots of snow.
Game herds have a difficult time finding food and good cover when snowpack is heavy. Deep snow means difficult travel making it harder for ungulates to maintain body weight throughout the winter. Deep snow also makes it much more difficult for game to feed. Obviously, they have to dig for snow and depending on conditions, are often shut out of certain food sources lying beneath a deep blanket of snow.
This winter has been particularly mild and low elevation snow has been minimal. What does this mean? It means that deer and elk populations had a much easier time surviving this winter.
As I write there are nine whitetails does in our field here in Yaak valley, Montana. Normally this time of year they’d be looking a bit thin through the ribs. Instead, they are looking perfectly healthy. They have had an easy winter and it’s obvious.
For the last four or five years we’ve seen very little winter kill on game herds. And last season we saw many mature bucks and more elk than we’ve seen in a long time. With successive mild winters game herds have grown in a healthy way.
Building on last five seasons, we're expecting this fall to be excellent with lots of mature bucks and healthy numbers of elk.
Please call if you have any questions about our hunts and good luck this season.
406-295-4872
