Montana Deer · Hunting District 261
Montana Hunting District 261 covers 137,418 acres and lies 11 miles east of Hamilton and 31 miles west of Philipsburg. 62% of it is public land, mostly national forest (56%) and state trust land (5%). In 2025, 486 people hunted deer here and took 183, a 38% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 261-50, put up 1 tag (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 51 nonresident first-choice applicants.
4 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
2025, all deer
56% Forest Service
137,418 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Every License in Hunting District 261
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 261-01 Standard | Deer B License 261-01 — Antlerless Mule Deer | 2% (small sample) | — | |
| 261-01 Landowner | Deer B License 261-01 — Antlerless Mule Deer | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| 261-50 Standard | Deer Permit 261-50 — Antlered Buck Mule Deer | <1% (small sample) | — | |
| 261-50 Landowner | Deer Permit 261-50 — Antlered Buck Mule Deer | 14% (small sample) | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: 261-00.
Draw results: Montana FWP 2026 Deer B License Drawing Statistics…; Montana FWP 2026 Deer Permit Drawing Statistics Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $92.50 ($92.50 to apply) · Landowner $92.50 ($92.50 to apply). Deadlines: Apr 1, 2027 (expected) for the main draw · Jun 1, 2027 (expected) for B license. Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
All deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 486 | 183 | 38% |
| 2024 | — | 147 | — |
| 2023 | 500 | 185 | 37% |
| 2022 | — | 175 | — |
White-tailed Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 174 | — |
| 2024 | — | 132 | — |
| 2023 | — | 177 | — |
| 2022 | — | 160 | — |
Mule Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 9 | — |
| 2024 | — | 15 | — |
| 2023 | — | 8 | — |
| 2022 | — | 14 | — |
A dash under Hunters: hunter counts not published for that year or sub-species.
2025 split: nonresidents 8 from 10 hunters, residents 175 from 476 hunters
What Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. 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. Source: Montana FWP 2025 Deer Harvest Estimates; Montana FWP 2024 Deer Harvest Estimates; Montana FWP 2023 Deer Harvest Estimates.
The Ground
| National Forest | 76,514 ac | 56% |
| Private | 51,944 ac | 38% |
| State trust land | 6,527 ac | 5% |
| State land | 2,404 ac | 2% |
| BLM | 0 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 0 ac | <1% |
| Department of Defense | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Park Service | 0 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 0 ac | <1% |
| Tribal | 0 ac | <1% |
| Other public | 0 ac | <1% |
Source: Montana FWP 2026-2027 Deer Elk Lion Hunting District….
What the Agency Says About the Area
Elk Management Unit: Sapphire
▸ Sources 12
- Montana FWP 2026 Deer B License Drawing Statistics… draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026 Deer Permit Drawing Statistics Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-113 Application fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-116 Base hunting license… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026 Hunting Requirements fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026 Nonresident License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2025 Deer Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2024 Deer Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2023 Deer Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2022 Deer Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts boundary, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026-2027 Deer Elk Lion Hunting District… land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.
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We don't take applications: check Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Montana deer hunts