Montana Deer — Hunting District 312

Montana Hunting District 312 covers 317,087 acres and lies 9 miles north-east of Manhattan and 18 miles north of Bozeman. 23% of it is public land, mostly national forest (18%) and state trust land (3%). In 2025, 1,459 people hunted deer here and took 595 — 41% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 5 tags here for 5 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):18 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:26 All deer success (2025):41% Public land:23% Size:317,087 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunting District 312, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

4 licenses on offer · 18 tags · 26 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
  • 312-01 Deer B License 312-01 — Antlerless Mule Deer [MULE] 5 tags · 5 applicants · Standard
    10% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 312-01 Deer B License 312-01 — Antlerless Mule Deer [MULE] 5 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • 312-50 Deer Permit 312-50 — Antlered Buck Mule Deer [MULE] 4 tags · 21 applicants · Standard
    <1% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 312-50 Deer Permit 312-50 — Antlered Buck Mule Deer [MULE] 4 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.
1 hunt not offered in 2026 is 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 312

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

The country

Manhattan Townsend Ennis West Yellowstone Red Lodge
Hunting District 312 within Montana
304 309 311 315 320 370 380 390 393 451 Manhattan Belgrade Bozeman Townsend Livingston
Hunting District 312 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 242,889 ac · 77%
  • National Forest 56,822 ac · 18%
  • State trust land 10,273 ac · 3%
  • BLM 4,185 ac · 1%
  • State land 2,187 ac · 1%
  • County or city land 507 ac · 0%
  • National Wildlife Refuge 63 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
  • Department of Defense 0 ac · 0%
  • National Park Service 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 1,459 595 41%
2024 0 705
2023 1,471 559 38%
2022 0 694

White-tailed Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 1,459 417 29%
2024 0 535
2023 1,471 370 25%
2022 0 503

Mule Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 1,459 178 12%
2024 0 171
2023 1,471 189 13%
2022 0 191

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 76 taken · 303 hunters
  • Resident 1,116 taken · 4,074 hunters

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Bridger

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