Montana Deer · Hunting District 317

Montana Hunting District 317 covers 271,216 acres and lies 19 miles south of Livingston and 32 miles south-east of Bozeman. 67% of it is public land, mostly national forest (63%) and BLM (2%). In 2025, 1,116 people hunted deer here and took 537, a 48% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 317-01, put up 8 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 8 nonresident first-choice applicants, 7 of whom drew.

Tags, 2026
16

2 licenses · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
8

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
48%

2025, all deer

Public Land
67%

63% Forest Service

Size
424 mi²

271,216 acres

Livingston Belgrade Big Timber Ennis Three Forks 317
48%hunter success 2025 · 1,116 hunters, 537 deer

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

Every License in Hunting District 317

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
317-01 Standard 53% —
Landowner 100% —

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: 317-00.

Draw results: Montana FWP 2026 Deer B License Drawing Statistics…, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $92.50 ($92.50 to apply) · Landowner $92.50 ($92.50 to apply). Open Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

All deer

Year Hunters Deer Success
2025 1,116 537 48%
2024 — 636 —
2023 1,271 658 52%
2022 — 721 —

White-tailed Deer

Year Hunters Deer Success
2025 — 332 —
2024 — 451 —
2023 — 417 —
2022 — 424 —

Mule Deer

Year Hunters Deer Success
2025 — 205 —
2024 — 184 —
2023 — 241 —
2022 — 298 —

A dash under Hunters: hunter counts not published for that year or sub-species.

2025 split: nonresidents 65 from 130 hunters, residents 472 from 987 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 170,323 ac 63%
Private 90,314 ac 33%
BLM 5,153 ac 2%
State trust land 4,285 ac 2%
County or city land 976 ac <1%
State land 54 ac <1%
Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac <1%
Department of Defense 0 ac <1%
National Park Service 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: Absaroka

Source: Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts.

▸ Sources 11
  1. Montana FWP 2026 Deer B License Drawing Statistics… draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-113 Application fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-116 Base hunting license… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. Montana FWP 2026 Hunting Requirements fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. Montana FWP 2026 Nonresident License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. Montana FWP 2025 Deer Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. Montana FWP 2024 Deer Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. Montana FWP 2023 Deer Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. Montana FWP 2022 Deer Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts boundary, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  11. 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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Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

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