Montana Deer — Hunting District 565
Montana Hunting District 565 covers 131,066 acres and lies 28 miles south-east of Livingston and 38 miles south of Big Timber. 99% of it is public land, mostly national forest (99%). In 2025, 108 people hunted deer here and took 40 — 37% of them killed something.
Your chance of drawing here
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has not offered a deer license in Hunting District 565 in any draw we hold. It has a page because the agency still publishes harvest for it — the Montana deer hunts that are on offer are drawn elsewhere.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest 129,231 ac · 99%
- Private 1,821 ac · 1%
- BLM 0 ac · 0%
- Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
- Department of Defense 0 ac · 0%
- National Park Service 0 ac · 0%
- County or city land 0 ac · 0%
- State land 0 ac · 0%
- National Wildlife Refuge 0 ac · 0%
- Tribal 0 ac · 0%
- State trust land 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 | 108 | 40 | 37% |
| 2024 | 0 | 38 | — |
| 2023 | 86 | 29 | 34% |
| 2022 | 0 | 58 | — |
White-tailed Deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 108 | 27 | 25% |
| 2024 | 0 | 29 | — |
| 2023 | 86 | 25 | 29% |
| 2022 | 0 | 36 | — |
Mule Deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 108 | 14 | 13% |
| 2024 | 0 | 9 | — |
| 2023 | 86 | 3 | 3% |
| 2022 | 0 | 22 | — |
Residents vs nonresidents (2025)
- Nonresident 17 taken · 72 hunters
- Resident 64 taken · 252 hunters
What the agency says about the area
Elk Management Unit: Absaroka
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)