Hunting News: Slow Start in Northwest Montana, Two Grizzlies Misidentified Near Condon, and a Push to Open Landlocked Public Land

Montana's general deer and elk season is one weekend old, and the early numbers out of northwest Montana are a little thin. This week: what the Region 1 check stations saw, rule changes to know before you head out again, where to get your animal tested for chronic wasting disease, and a hard lesson on bear ID from the Swan Valley. Nationally, the Bureau of Land Management is looking for ways to open public land hunters can't legally reach today.

1. Opening weekend in Region 1: fewer animals at the check stations

The 2026 general season opened Saturday, Oct. 24, and runs through Nov. 29. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, nearly 1,900 hunters stopped at the four Region 1 check stations over opening weekend. Hunter success was 7.4%, down from 10.6% on the 2025 opener. White-tailed deer and elk harvest were both lower than last year, while mule deer buck harvest held about steady.

Check stations only sample the harvest, so one weekend doesn't tell the whole story. Going in, The Western News reported good big game survival and recruitment in northwest Montana over the last three winters.

Region 1 check stations run weekends on U.S. Highway 2 west of Kalispell, Highway 83 north of Swan Lake, Highway 200 west of Thompson Falls, and Highway 93 near Olney. You have to stop at any one you pass, even with an empty truck.

2. Region 1 rule reminders that can trip you up

FWP flagged a few things for northwest Montana hunters this season:

• Antlerless elk B-licenses in Region 1 are only valid on private property for the 2026/2027 season.
• SPP Montana block management has been split into three areas. What used to be one SPP access area is now SPP MT Ashley Lake, SPP MT McGinnis, and SPP MT North. Ashley Lake and McGinnis are Type 1 BMAs that require a season-long hang tag (blue for Ashley Lake, yellow for McGinnis) hanging from your rearview mirror. The tags aren't interchangeable. SPP MT North is a Type 2 BMA that needs written permission picked up in person at WPR Ranch Headquarters near Libby, plus a heads-up to ranch staff before each visit.
• Flathead Ridge Ranch BMA also has new permission requirements, so check FWP's current map and rules first.

3. CWD testing in northwest Montana

FWP is asking hunters to help track chronic wasting disease again this year, and in a few spots it isn't optional. Under the 2026 regulations, testing is mandatory for animals taken with the White-tailed Deer B License 199-20 in hunting districts 100, 103 and 104, and the Mule Deer Permit 103-50 in HD 103. FWP's Region 1 release also lists the B License 170-20 in HD 170, so double-check your regulations if you carry any of these tags.

Testing is free. In northwest Montana you can get it done at:

• Libby CWD Sampling Station, MDT's Libby Shop at 35838 U.S. Highway 2, just south of where Big Cherry Creek crosses the highway. It's open Saturday through Monday, 10 a.m. to sunset, from Oct. 24 to Nov. 30.
• FWP Kalispell office, 490 North Meridian Road, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• FWP Thompson Falls office, Mondays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Bring the animal or just the head with 3 to 4 inches of neck, or pull the sample yourself and mail it in using FWP's online form. FWP strongly recommends having a "Not Detected" result before you drop an animal at a processor or donate it to a food bank. Leave the brain and spinal cord at the kill site when you can, or bag them for a Class II landfill. Dumping carcasses is illegal and can spread the disease.

4. Two grizzlies killed near Condon, mistaken for black bears

The Seeley Swan Pathfinder reported this week that on Oct. 15, two hunters self-reported killing two grizzly bears off Kraft Creek Road south of Condon. FWP warden Jacob Pickens told the paper the hunters had "misidentified them as black bears," and that both were not Montana residents. Because grizzlies are federally protected, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to file charges. As of Oct. 23, FWP had documented 40 known grizzly deaths across the state this year, not counting reservation lands.

Closer to home, a landowner near Trego shot a radio-collared grizzly at close range on Oct. 1, and FWS is investigating. Wildlife managers have said a poor huckleberry crop pushed bears lower this year, and they're in their fall feeding push right now.

Fall black bear season runs through Nov. 29, and every Montana black bear hunter has to pass FWP's bear ID test before buying a license. The field marks to know:

• Grizzly: shoulder hump, dished face profile, short rounded ears.
• Black bear: no hump, straight face profile, taller pointed ears.

Color and size don't tell you anything reliable. Black bears range from jet black to blond. If you can't confirm all of the field marks, don't shoot. A good set of binoculars from a shop like Brownells does more for bear ID than a scope ever will, because you can study the animal without pointing a rifle at it.

For deer and elk hunters, FWP's bear reminders still apply. Hang carcasses at least 10 feet off the ground and 4 feet out from any upright, keep them away from houses and garages, and carry bear spray where you can reach it and know how to use it.

5. National: BLM looks for ways to open landlocked public land

On Sept. 17, President Trump signed Executive Order 14429, "Reinvigorating America's Hunting Heritage." It directs federal land agencies to propose changes within 180 days that would generally allow hunting on federal land unless a closure is justified by local conditions, improve access to hard-to-reach federal lands through voluntary easements and land exchanges, and permit traditional lead ammunition and tackle. National parks are excluded from the general hunting-access provisions.

The first follow-up hunters can actually use showed up last week. As reported by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership on Oct. 22, the BLM is now taking nominations for voluntary projects with willing sellers that would open access to Dingell Act nominated lands and other landlocked parcels. Those are BLM tracts of at least 640 contiguous acres where hunting is allowed but there's no legal way in. Projects can include access easements, rights-of-way, or in some cases buying the land, funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Nominations go through local BLM field offices on a rolling basis.

A 2018 analysis by TRCP and onX found 9.52 million acres of landlocked federal land across 13 western states, most of it managed by the BLM. If there's a chunk of BLM you've stared at on your map for years with no legal way in, it's worth a call to your local field office. Every project still depends on a willing landowner.

The bottom line

The opener was slower than last year, but there's a month of season left. Double-check your B-license and block management rules, get tested if you're in a CWD zone, and take bear ID seriously.

This article is for entertainment and informational purposes only. It isn't professional, legal, or safety advice. Always check the facts, local laws and regulations, and manufacturer data for yourself, and use your own judgment before you hunt or handle any firearm or ammunition.

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