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, a 33% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 540-00, put up 1 tag (all residencies) in the 2021 draw for 7 nonresident first-choice applicants, 1 of whom drew.
No more draws here. The last one was 2021.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks held its 2026 deer draw without Hunting District 540. No current hunt code lists this unit; the Montana deer hunts on offer are drawn elsewhere. The odds, costs and harvest below are that history, kept for the record.
2 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
2025, all deer
26% Forest Service
373,651 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Every License in Hunting District 540
The last draw held in Hunting District 540 was 2021. These are that draw's chances for a first-choice nonresident applicant, kept for the record.
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 540-00 Standard | Deer B License 540-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer | 13% (small sample) | — | |
| 540-00 Landowner | Deer B License 540-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer | 100% (small sample) | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2021 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.
Draw results: Montana FWP 2021 Deer B License Drawing Statistics…, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $92.50 ($92.50 to apply) · Landowner $92.50 ($92.50 to apply). Open Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
All deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 859 | 281 | 33% |
| 2024 | — | 268 | — |
| 2023 | 739 | 209 | 28% |
| 2022 | — | 270 | — |
White-tailed Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 158 | — |
| 2024 | — | 166 | — |
| 2023 | — | 128 | — |
| 2022 | — | 129 | — |
Mule Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 123 | — |
| 2024 | — | 102 | — |
| 2023 | — | 82 | — |
| 2022 | — | 141 | — |
A dash under Hunters: hunter counts not published for that year or sub-species.
2025 split: nonresidents 49 from 152 hunters, residents 232 from 707 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 | 247,618 ac | 66% |
| National Forest | 98,681 ac | 26% |
| State trust land | 24,212 ac | 6% |
| State land | 1,345 ac | <1% |
| BLM | 1,008 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 672 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 0 ac | <1% |
| Department of Defense | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Park Service | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 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: Southeast Little Belts
▸ Sources 11
- Montana FWP 2021 Deer B License Drawing Statistics… draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 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 2021 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. How we compute these.
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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 · Methodology · All Montana deer hunts