Montana Deer — Hunting District 405

Montana Hunting District 405 covers 301,645 acres and lies 18 miles north-east of Great Falls and 58 miles east of Choteau. 9% of it is public land, mostly state trust land (5%) and BLM (1%). In 2025, 1,279 people hunted deer here and took 794 — 62% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 40 tags here for 25 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):80 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:25 All deer success (2025):62% Public land:9% Size:301,645 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunting District 405, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 80 tags · 25 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
  • 405-00 Deer B License 405-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer [MULE] 40 tags · 25 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 100% as 2nd choice
  • 405-00 Deer B License 405-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer [MULE] 40 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.

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 window: opens Mar 1, closes Apr 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Great Falls Conrad White Sulphur Springs Lewistown Havre
Hunting District 405 within Montana
404 413 419 421 432 445 447 471 Great Falls Fort Benton
Hunting District 405 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 274,015 ac · 91%
  • State trust land 15,836 ac · 5%
  • BLM 3,861 ac · 1%
  • Department of Defense 3,257 ac · 1%
  • County or city land 1,417 ac · 0%
  • State land 1,387 ac · 0%
  • National Wildlife Refuge 331 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
  • National Park Service 0 ac · 0%
  • National Forest 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 1,279 794 62%
2024 0 940
2023 1,131 771 68%
2022 0 891

Mule Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 1,279 588 46%
2024 0 698
2023 1,131 583 52%
2022 0 682

White-tailed Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 1,279 207 16%
2024 0 242
2023 1,131 188 17%
2022 0 209

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 236 taken · 480 hunters
  • Resident 1,354 taken · 3,357 hunters

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Golden Triangle

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