The right weather coupled with strong elk, deer and antelope populations could mean a lot of full freezers this fall.

Forecasts are calling for winter-like weather this weekend, which could bode well for Sunday’s antelope hunting opener.

“We have our first winter weather episode coming our way … bringing a 50 percent chance of snow in the mountains Friday,” said Ed Kurdy, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service in Great Falls. “A Canadian front will drop into Helena Thursday night, but we’ll have a Pacific cold front precede that; so after today temperatures will be going down.”

He expects today’s highs to be around 55, which is almost 20 degrees colder than Tuesday’s high of 74. Those highs will continue to drop through the week, with temperatures hovering in the low 40s this weekend before they rebound with sunny skies and 50-degree days Monday and Tuesday.

The chance of snow extends onto the plains and the Rocky Mountain Front, with overnight lows anticipated in the 20s in the eastern half of the state.

“Out over the plains, we’re looking at a 20 to 30 percent chance of snow,” Kurdy added. “I think it will be cold enough that any precipitation will be in the form of snow.”

That cold weather might not affect antelope hunting this weekend, but it will help hunters successfully get their meat out of the field, notes Chris Bone at Capital Sports and Western Wear.

“I always like it to be cold because anytime you get snow it keeps the meat cold,” Bone said.

Quentin Kujala, Wildlife Management Bureau chief for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said he doesn’t expect the forecasted cold and snow to have much of an impact on the antelope season opener because it’s not enough to drive them into their wintering grounds just yet.

Kujala pointed out that unlike deer and elk that summer in the high country and go low once snow gets deep in the mountains, antelope typically are found on the plains, with their numbers increasing as you move east from the Continental Divide across Montana. Long, drawn-out storms can push them to winter ranges out of the Treasure State. But the types of storms expected to roll through this weekend shouldn’t move them around much.

“Antelope hunting is not necessarily defined by winter-like weather,” Kujala said. “Antelope hunters exhibit a certain significant degree of success without the inclement weather factor.”

He said antelope typically hunker down along the lee side of hills and wait for squalls to pass, which means that hunters this weekend probably just need to know where to look in order to get their shot.

However, if the cool, wet weather sticks around, that should improve hunter success when the general big game season opens on Oct. 26.

Not only does snow push elk and mule deer down the mountains from their high summer ranges, it also muffles the sounds of hunters as they push through the woods.

Forecasters rarely like to predict more than three to five days out, but the National Weather Service expects below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation for the next few weeks east of the Continental Divide.

Kujala said if that prediction holds and hunters have done their homework scoping out herds and meeting with landowners to gain access to private property, the healthy populations of elk and deer throughout Montana should make this a successful season.

“The moisture so far this summer and early this fall leads me to wonder if that rain will turn to snow and we’ll have a fall like fall used to be,” Kujala said. “Across the state, elk numbers are strong. In some districts, elk management units are over objectives, but in some places they’re below, too.”

Some “hot spots” for elk include the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex, and more than 1,600 elk were spotted in the lower Clark Fork region during spring helicopter surveys. North central Montana has good numbers of older elk.

Elk populations also are building in the Missouri Breaks, with surveys showing an average of 36 bulls for every 100 cows, with 58 percent being six points or better.

Deer hunters should also find abundant opportunities, although some areas suffered from low production this year.

The Swan Valley is looking good for whitetails, but hunters must navigate through thick stands of trees. Whitetails also are abundant in Glasgow and near Glendive and Sidney, where the ratio is 40 bucks per 100 does.

Their numbers have dropped, however, along the Musselshell River due to a blue tongue outbreak last year. That outbreak also affected whitetails between Miles City and Hysham.

In western Montana, mule deer are being seen at lower elevations in numbers not seen in the past 30 years, according to FWP. Their populations are relatively flat in southwestern Montana near Bozeman, but higher than last year around Billings. In Glasgow, they’re exceeding management objectives.

Bones said one change he’s hearing from hunters this year is that more of them plan to stick around the Helena area instead of branching out.

“Most guys aren’t traveling nearly as far as they have in the past because of gas prices,” he said. “So the local areas probably are going to get hit pretty heavily.”

Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com