Controlled hunt application period for deer, elk, pronghorn, swan, and fall black bear and turkey runs May 1 through June 5

Looking back at 2025 and ahead at 2026

Obviously, it’s a little early to make predictions about the 2026 fall big game seasons. Last year's harvest data and winter survival monitoring of elk and mule deer herds, especially fawns and calves, provide a glimpse of what might happen in 2025 if harvests and survival continue on their current trajectory—at least from a statewide perspective.

So, to kick off last year’s harvest summary, let’s take a look at the one species that didn’t see an uptick from the previous year: whitetails.

White-tailed deer harvest typically hovers around the 22,000 mark, and last year’s harvest wasn’t too far off from that. Hunters still have room for celebration, as the year’s harvest could’ve looked a lot different—but more on that in a bit. 

Last year’s 19,702 whitetail harvest still sits right in line with the 10-year average, which despite a handful of EHD outbreaks during the past decade, still continue to flourish. Despite slipping a bit from the 2024 hunter harvest, last fall’s harvest has Fish and Game biologists nodding their heads with optimism as we round out the final weeks of winter and approach this year’s hunting season.

Mule deer (or, technically speaking, mule deer hunters) are the biggest winners from the 2025 fall season. Harvest of muleys jumped 2.8% from 2024, or put another way, 691 more animals during this past year’s harvest. That’s worth noting, considering some of the state’s population had a rough go of it during the winter of ’22 and ‘23.