Bowhunters heading for the woods this weekend could have better-than-expected luck this year.

"This cool weather is going to be real helpful, and it should continue through next week," said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife manager Mike Thompson. "It should keep elk scattered high and low. And all the animals that we've had our hands on this year were really fat and healthy."

Archery season starts Saturday for antelope, black bear, deer, elk and mountain lion. The lucky few who drew bighorn sheep permits must wait until Sunday.

Rifle season doesn't start until Oct. 9 for antelope and Oct. 23 for deer and elk. Those with special permits for bighorn, moose, mountain goat and black bear may start shooting Sept. 15. That's also the day deer and elk hunters in four remote backcountry hunting districts can start using rifles.

"Archery season is the great equalizer," Thompson said. "A hunter can catch them doing their natural thing, before the first shots of rifle season drive them into thicker cover. It's the time when a hunter can hunt an animal on its own terms."

Bull elk may start bugling this week, although the mating season is expected to peak around Sept. 25. Population numbers remain low in areas west of Missoula, but that's not the case everywhere.

"We're seeing high numbers of elk in the Upper Clark Fork," FWP biologist Ray Vinkey said. "It's been a tremendous summer as far as forage production. There's lots of food out there for game."

West and south of Missoula, elk numbers are 60 percent below objectives. A recent population survey also found that bulls between 2 and 3 years old were at their lowest point on record. That's the age bracket hunters usually have the most success finding, so they can expect to work much harder this fall.

Deer seem to be at average or above average numbers, however. Thompson said landowners in the western parts of Region 2 have been reporting larger-than-expected herds on their fields this summer. Deer numbers east of Missoula aren't showing any notable increase, but do appear at healthy averages.

In Region 1, covering northwest Montana, whitetail deer herds also appear to have wintered well and produced more fawns than usual. Elk survey numbers are not tabulated yet, according to Region 1 spokesman John Fraley. But the interest in bowhunting training and licenses has been growing.

"Nice time of year to be out, and for a lot of hunters it's something new," Fraley said. "But when they realize how difficult it is to get that close to an animal, the novelty wears off."

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Bighorn ram permits were not reduced in 2010, despite an extensive outbreak of pneumonia in herds near East Missoula, Darby, Rock Creek and Anaconda. FWP Bitterroot Valley biologist Craig Jourdonnais said some hunters doing preseason scouting had found several bands of rams at high elevations that might have missed the disease entirely.

"They should enjoy a good, fruitful hunting season," Jourdonnais said. "Whatever actions we took last winter seem to have taken hold."

The Bitterroot's East Fork herd lost almost half its 170 animals. But Jourdonnais said this year's lamb crop was surprisingly strong, given that pneumonia survivors often have difficulty supporting offspring for years following an outbreak. Nevertheless, FWP biologists want hunters to report any coughing or otherwise unhealthy sheep they see.

Last month saw new outbreaks in the Skalkaho Creek and Anaconda areas, and poor lamb survival in Rock Creek. But the Skalkaho sheep had a different strain of the disease than their cohorts in the East Fork, and lab tests aren't complete yet for the animals farther east.

With the start of hunting season comes the reminder that unsportsmanlike conduct is not only unfair, it's illegal. Anyone observing poaching or other improper hunting activity can report it to 1-800-TIP-MONT (1-800-847-6668). Backcountry users also should refrain from taking their trucks or all-terrain vehicles off established roads and trails. Doing so is not only illegal, it disrupts wildlife habitat and spreads noxious weeds that ruin forage.

Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com.