Montana Deer — Hunting District 540

Montana Hunting District 540 covers 373,651 acres and lies 16 miles north-west of Harlowton and 39 miles east of White Sulphur Springs. 34% of it is public land, mostly national forest (26%) and state trust land (6%). In 2025, 859 people hunted deer here and took 281 — 33% of them killed something. The 2021 draw put up 1 tag here for 7 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2021):2 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:7 All deer success (2025):33% Public land:34% Size:373,651 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunting District 540, 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

540-00 Deer B License 540-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer 1 tags · 7 applicants · Standard

13% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
540-00 Deer B License 540-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer 1 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner

100% No first-choice applicants

Hunt	Your odds (0 pts)	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	License	Season
540-00 ↗ Deer B License 540-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer	13% Point builder	0%	—	1 / 7	Standard	Sep 4 – Dec 19, 2021
540-00 ↗ Deer B License 540-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer	100% No first-choice applicants	—	—	1 / 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.

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

Hunting District 540 within Montana

Hunting District 540 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 247,618 ac · 66%
National Forest 98,681 ac · 26%
State trust land 24,212 ac · 6%
State land 1,345 ac · 0%
BLM 1,008 ac · 0%
County or city land 672 ac · 0%
Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
Department of Defense 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.