Montana Deer — Hunting District 590

Montana Hunting District 590 covers 1,868,394 acres and lies 29 miles north-east of Billings. 10% of it is public land, mostly state trust land (5%) and BLM (4%). In 2025, 3,919 people hunted deer here and took 1,734 — 44% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 10 tags here for 17 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):20 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:18 All deer success (2025):44% Public land:10% Size:1,868,394 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunting District 590, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 20 tags · 18 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
  • 590-00 Deer B License 590-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer [MULE] 10 tags · 17 applicants · Standard
    10% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 590-00 Deer B License 590-00 — Antlerless Mule Deer [MULE] 10 tags · 1 applicants · Landowner
    100% Undersubscribed
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

Roundup Billings Red Lodge Lewistown Miles City
Hunting District 590 within Montana
411 418 502 515 525 535 540 565 575 580 701 702 Roundup Billings Hardin Columbus Forsyth
Hunting District 590 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 1,679,500 ac · 90%
  • State trust land 96,969 ac · 5%
  • BLM 77,725 ac · 4%
  • State land 5,605 ac · 0%
  • County or city land 5,044 ac · 0%
  • National Wildlife Refuge 1,121 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 373 ac · 0%
  • Department of Defense 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 3,919 1,734 44%
2024 0 1,841
2023 3,941 1,868 47%
2022 0 2,039

Mule Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 3,919 1,003 26%
2024 0 957
2023 3,941 1,033 26%
2022 0 1,034

White-tailed Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 3,919 731 19%
2024 0 884
2023 3,941 836 21%
2022 0 1,004

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 320 taken · 1,023 hunters
  • Resident 3,148 taken · 10,737 hunters

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Bull Mountain

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