Montana Deer — Hunting District 215

Montana Hunting District 215 covers 370,737 acres and lies 9 miles south-east of Deer Lodge and 23 miles west of Boulder. 51% of it is public land, mostly national forest (36%) and state land (8%). In 2025, 1,406 people hunted deer here and took 286 — 20% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 7 tags here for 7 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):14 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:7 All deer success (2025):20% Public land:51% Size:370,737 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunting District 215, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 14 tags · 7 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 215-00 Deer B License 215-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer [MULE] 7 tags · 7 applicants · Standard
    18% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • 215-00 Deer B License 215-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer [MULE] 7 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner
    100% No first-choice applicants
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
Montana lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.
3 hunts not offered in 2026 are hidden — show discontinued hunts.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Standard license $65 $65 $65
Landowner license $65 $65 $65

Application deadlines: Apr 1, 2027 (expected) for the main draw · Jun 1, 2027 (expected) for B license. Full fee breakdown.

Other licenses valid in Hunting District 215

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.

The country

Deer Lodge Butte Dillon Missoula Great Falls
Hunting District 215 within Montana
291 204 370 339 340 390 213 212 350 318 319 270 211 335 312 380 293 446 217 261 216 392 292 214 311 210 391 298 343 388 Deer Lodge Boulder Butte Anaconda Helena
Hunting District 215 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • Private 178,954 ac · 48%
  • National Forest 134,169 ac · 36%
  • State land 31,475 ac · 8%
  • State trust land 21,057 ac · 6%
  • County or city land 2,335 ac · 1%
  • BLM 0 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
  • Department of Defense 0 ac · 0%
  • National Park Service 0 ac · 0%
  • National Wildlife Refuge 0 ac · 0%
  • Tribal 0 ac · 0%
  • Other public 0 ac · 0%

Source: Deer Elk Lion 2026-2027 Hunting District Landcover and Land Ownership Calculations

How the hunting has gone

What Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Montana's figures blend mandatory reporting with a phone and mail survey. FWP does not publish district-level hunter counts for elk or antelope, so success rates are missing for those.

All deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 1,406 286 20%
2024 0 334
2023 1,324 291 22%
2022 0 277

Mule Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 1,406 161 11%
2024 0 188
2023 1,324 140 11%
2022 0 150

White-tailed Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 1,406 126 9%
2024 0 146
2023 1,324 150 11%
2022 0 127

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 52 taken · 309 hunters
  • Resident 522 taken · 3,906 hunters

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Deer Lodge

Source: Deer and Elk Hunting Districts (2026 and 2027 Seasons)

Boundary: Deer and Elk Hunting Districts (2026 and 2027 Seasons)

Harvest: 2025 Deer Harvest Estimates (MyFWP Harvest Estimates Search, District=ALL)

Harvest: 2024 Deer Harvest Estimates (MyFWP Harvest Estimates Search, District=ALL)

Harvest: 2023 Deer Harvest Estimates (MyFWP Harvest Estimates Search, District=ALL)

How we compute draw odds · All Montana deer hunts