Montana Elk — Hunting District 213

Montana Hunting District 213 covers 317,485 acres and lies 11 miles south-west of Deer Lodge. 58% of it is public land, mostly national forest (42%) and state land (12%). In 2025, hunters took 325 elk here. The 2026 draw put up 50 tags here for 68 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):174 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:107 Public land:58% Size:317,485 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunting District 213, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

4 licenses on offer · 174 tags · 107 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
  • 213-00 Elk B License 213-00 — Antlerless Elk 37 tags · 39 applicants · Standard
    87% Likely draw 0% as 2nd choice
  • 213-00 Elk B License 213-00 — Antlerless Elk 37 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • 213-01 Elk B License 213-01 — Antlerless Elk 50 tags · 68 applicants · Standard
    50% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • 213-01 Elk B License 213-01 — Antlerless Elk 50 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 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.
1 hunt not offered in 2026 is hidden — show discontinued hunts.

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.

Other licenses valid in Hunting District 213

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.

The country

Deer Lodge Butte Missoula Dillon Ronan
Hunting District 213 within Montana
204 210 211 212 214 215 216 217 261 262 270 291 292 293 318 319 335 343 350 370 388 Deer Lodge Philipsburg Anaconda Butte Boulder
Hunting District 213 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

  • National Forest 132,772 ac · 42%
  • Private 128,264 ac · 40%
  • State land 36,891 ac · 12%
  • State trust land 10,350 ac · 3%
  • County or city land 3,238 ac · 1%
  • National Park Service 1,269 ac · 0%
  • BLM 1,111 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
  • Department of Defense 0 ac · 0%
  • National Wildlife Refuge 0 ac · 0%
  • Tribal 0 ac · 0%
  • Other public 0 ac · 0%
  • Private or other non-public land 3,587 ac · 1%

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.

Season Harvest
2025 325
2024 369
2023 294
2022 334

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 61 taken
  • Resident 264 taken

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Flint Creek

Source: Deer and Elk Hunting Districts (2026 and 2027 Seasons)

Boundary: Deer and Elk Hunting Districts (2026 and 2027 Seasons)

Harvest: 2025 Elk Harvest Estimates (MyFWP Harvest Estimates Search, District=ALL)

Harvest: 2024 Elk Harvest Estimates (MyFWP Harvest Estimates Search, District=ALL)

Harvest: 2023 Elk Harvest Estimates (MyFWP Harvest Estimates Search, District=ALL)

How we compute draw odds · All Montana elk hunts