Montana Deer · Hunting District 401
Montana Hunting District 401 spans 1,159,033 acres, centered 30 miles north-east of Shelby. 9% of it is public land, mostly state trust land (8%) and BLM (1%). In 2025, 1,204 people hunted deer here and took 758, a 63% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 401-50, put up 13 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 32 nonresident first-choice applicants, 12 of whom drew.
6 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
2025, all deer
8% State
1,159,033 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
Every License in Hunting District 401
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 401-00 Standard | Deer B License 401-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer | 25% | — | |
| 401-00 Landowner | Deer B License 401-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer | 100% | — | |
| 401-50 Standard | Deer Permit 401-50 — Antlered Buck Mule Deer | 12% | — | |
| 401-50 Landowner | Deer Permit 401-50 — Antlered Buck Mule Deer | 100% | — | |
| 401-51 Standard | Deer Permit 401-51 — Antlered Buck White-tailed Deer | 3% (small sample) | — | |
| 401-51 Landowner | Deer Permit 401-51 — Antlered Buck White-tailed 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.
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 | 1,204 | 758 | 63% |
| 2024 | — | 715 | — |
| 2023 | 1,392 | 800 | 57% |
| 2022 | — | 917 | — |
Mule Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 467 | — |
| 2024 | — | 443 | — |
| 2023 | — | 480 | — |
| 2022 | — | 511 | — |
White-tailed Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 291 | — |
| 2024 | — | 272 | — |
| 2023 | — | 320 | — |
| 2022 | — | 406 | — |
A dash under Hunters: hunter counts not published for that year or sub-species.
2025 split: nonresidents 125 from 124 hunters, residents 633 from 1,080 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
| Private | 1,048,345 ac | 90% |
| State trust land | 94,693 ac | 8% |
| BLM | 9,272 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 4,520 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 927 ac | <1% |
| Department of Defense | 115 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Park Service | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Forest | 0 ac | <1% |
| State land | 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: Sweetgrass Hills
▸ 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.
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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 · All Montana deer hunts