I hunted opening morning for elk around Helena and had one truck drive by. I hunted the last three days out east for deer and saw a couple trucks that may have been hunting. I found several little bucks but nothing I wanted to shoot. I never stalked anything so no pressure on the deer at all from me. Either the areas that I hunt are in shorter supply than usual of even decent bucks, or they crawl back into their holes after the rut. The lack of good bucks seen in November make me think it's at least a little of both.
I don't think there will be a lot of folks hunting this season. It's late, it's cold, the snow is crunchy and getting close won't be easy. I think it should definitely stay traditional muzzleloader, no inline, no scopes. I was checked by a game warden out east and he verified that I had a legal muzzleloader. He was a nice guy that I talked to for 15 minutes or so.