Northwest Rut Report, Week 9: Hunting Seasons Wind Down in the Northwest

For hunters in the Northwest, December generally means it’s time to put away the bows and guns and close out the season for big game. General seasons have ended, and only a few late archery and muzzleloader seasons remain open.

Idaho and Wyoming hunters don’t have the opportunity to pursue deer during much of the rut. However, Montana’s general season was open through December 1, 2024. The season closes the Sunday after Thanksgiving. With such a late date for Thanksgiving this year, the season was one of the latest on record. For mule deer hunters this meant they had time to watch the peak of the rut come and go.

During the final week of the season, hunters targeting mule deer saw much lower levels of rut activity, if any activity at all. In areas where I was seeing multiple bucks a day, I didn’t glass a single buck all week. Friends and other hunters I spoke with also only glassed groups of does without bucks, or the bucks they did see were very young. Mature bucks were the hardest to find in weeks. Many of these mature bucks have presumably disappeared to more remote locations, especially due to hunting pressure in recent weeks.

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Hunting pressure was a big complaint this year for hunters in Eastern Montana. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the mule deer population in this part of the state is down nearly 50 percent from its 10-year average. Biologists blame drought, winterkill, and chronic wasting disease, but many residents and non-resident hunters believe it’s also due to increased hunting pressure.

Hunters had a little better luck with Montana’s whitetails during the final week of the season. While some hunters say whitetails have also entered the post-rut, other hunters are still reporting seeing some chasing and even fighting. However, movement during daylight hours has sharply declined. Mallory Walser spent the final days of Montana’s general season in search of both mule deer and whitetail bucks with her family. She didn’t spot much rut activity at all, especially among mule deer. During her hunt for whitetails, she saw three whitetail bucks chasing a group of does.

The only bucks still experiencing the peak of the rut are the blacktails along the coast. In Washington, late season blacktail hunters say they are still seeing bucks seeking during the day.