Montana Deer — Hunting District 343

Montana Hunting District 343 covers 157,325 acres and lies 19 miles north-west of Helena and 32 miles north-east of Deer Lodge. 54% of it is public land, mostly national forest (39%) and BLM (11%). In 2025, 1,112 people hunted deer here and took 241 — 22% of them killed something. The 2021 draw put up 2 tags here for 6 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2021):4 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:6 All deer success (2025):22% Public land:54% Size:157,325 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunting District 343, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

Chances are from the 2021 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level

343-01 Deer B License 343-01 — Antlerless Mule Deer 2 tags · 6 applicants · Standard

12% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
343-01 Deer B License 343-01 — Antlerless Mule Deer 2 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner

100% No first-choice applicants

Hunt	Your odds (0 pts)	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	License	Season
343-01 ↗ Deer B License 343-01 — Antlerless Mule Deer	12% Point builder	0%	—	2 / 6	Standard	Sep 4 – Dec 19, 2021
343-01 ↗ Deer B License 343-01 — Antlerless Mule Deer	100% No first-choice applicants	—	—	2 / 0	Landowner	Sep 4 – Dec 19, 2021

What these columns mean

Your odds: the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2021 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 2021 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 2021 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 343

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2021 draw.

B licence — Deer B License 343-00 Standard Permit — Deer Permit 343-40 (unlimited quota) Standard Permit — Deer Permit 343-50 (unlimited quota) Standard

The country

Hunting District 343 within Montana

Hunting District 343 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 72,259 ac · 46%
National Forest 60,837 ac · 39%
BLM 17,447 ac · 11%
State trust land 3,791 ac · 2%
State land 2,753 ac · 2%
Department of Defense 15 ac · 0%
County or city land 15 ac · 0%
Bureau of Reclamation 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

Nearby areas

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.