Montana Deer — Hunting District 452

Montana Hunting District 452 covers 216,733 acres and lies 12 miles east of White Sulphur Springs and 39 miles west of Harlowton. 39% of it is public land, mostly national forest (32%) and state trust land (6%). In 2025, 962 people hunted deer here and took 345 — 36% of them killed something. The 2015 draw put up 5 tags here for 2 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2015):10 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:2 All deer success (2025):36% Public land:39% Size:216,733 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunting District 452, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 10 tags · 2 applicants in the 2015 draw

Chances are from the 2015 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 452-00 Deer B License 452-00 5 tags · 2 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed
  • 452-00 Deer B License 452-00 5 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 2015 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.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2015 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

White Sulphur Springs Big Timber Lewistown Great Falls Ennis
Hunting District 452 within Montana
416 446 451 540 580 White Sulphur Springs
Hunting District 452 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 132,857 ac · 61%
  • National Forest 69,766 ac · 32%
  • State trust land 13,372 ac · 6%
  • BLM 585 ac · 0%
  • County or city land 86 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
  • Department of Defense 0 ac · 0%
  • National Park Service 0 ac · 0%
  • State land 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

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 962 345 36%
2024 0 351
2023 830 254 31%
2022 0 301

Mule Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 962 232 24%
2024 0 211
2023 830 161 19%
2022 0 148

White-tailed Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 962 113 12%
2024 0 139
2023 830 93 11%
2022 0 152

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 220 taken · 825 hunters
  • Resident 470 taken · 2,064 hunters

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Castle Mountains

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