Montana Deer · Hunting District 318
Montana Hunting District 318 covers 172,996 acres and lies 12 miles west of Boulder and 28 miles south-west of Helena. 82% of it is public land, mostly national forest (75%) and BLM (6%). In 2025, 696 people hunted deer here and took 99, a 14% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 318-00, put up 2 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 7 nonresident first-choice applicants, 1 of whom drew.
2 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
2025, all deer
76% Forest Service
172,996 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Every License in Hunting District 318
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 318-00 Standard | Deer B License 318-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer | 8% (small sample) | — | |
| 318-00 Landowner | Deer B License 318-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer | 100% (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: 318-01, 318-40, 318-50.
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). 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 | 696 | 99 | 14% |
| 2024 | — | 162 | — |
| 2023 | 654 | 120 | 18% |
| 2022 | — | 112 | — |
Mule Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 78 | — |
| 2024 | — | 151 | — |
| 2023 | — | 101 | — |
| 2022 | — | 93 | — |
White-tailed Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 21 | — |
| 2024 | — | 12 | — |
| 2023 | — | 20 | — |
| 2022 | — | 20 | — |
A dash under Hunters: hunter counts not published for that year or sub-species.
2025 split: nonresidents 12 from 50 hunters, residents 88 from 646 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 | 130,525 ac | 75% |
| Private | 31,692 ac | 18% |
| BLM | 9,964 ac | 6% |
| State trust land | 449 ac | <1% |
| State land | 294 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 17 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: Deer Lodge
▸ Sources 11
- Montana FWP 2026 Deer B License Drawing Statistics… 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