Hunter traffic slows a bit on closer in southeast Montana

The final weekend of the 2021 big game season was warm and windy, and check station traffic on November 28 was a bit slower than is typical.

Hysham check station

Hysham saw 116 hunters in 59 parties come through that Sunday. That's just shy of the 10-year average of 134 hunters and 66 parties.

"Overall, hunter success was below average at 52 percent," said wildlife biologist Steve Atwood.

The 10-year average is an 84 percent success rate, but Atwood attributes some of that to a drop in bird hunters in the area.

"Typically, upland game bird hunters and waterfowl hunters have a high success rate...