Montana Elk — Hunting District 250

Montana Hunting District 250 covers 355,346 acres and lies 39 miles south of Hamilton and 56 miles south of Stevensville. 97% of it is public land, mostly national forest (97%). In 2025, hunters took 38 elk here. The 2026 draw put up 4 tags here for 69 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):20 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:117 Public land:97% Size:355,346 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunting District 250, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

6 licenses on offer · 20 tags · 117 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
  • 250-00 Elk B License 250-00 — Antlerless Elk 2 tags · 21 applicants · Standard
    <1% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 250-00 Elk B License 250-00 — Antlerless Elk 2 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • 250-45 Elk Permit 250-45 — Brow-tined Bull Elk 4 tags · 69 applicants · Standard
    <1% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 250-45 Elk Permit 250-45 — Brow-tined Bull Elk 4 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • 250-46 Elk Permit 250-46 — Brow-tined Bull Elk 4 tags · 27 applicants · Standard
    <1% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 250-46 Elk Permit 250-46 — Brow-tined Bull Elk 4 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.
3 hunts not offered in 2026 are 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 deadlines: Apr 1, 2027 (expected) for the main draw · Jun 1, 2027 (expected) for B license. Full fee breakdown.

Other licenses valid in Hunting District 250

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

The country

Hamilton Missoula Dillon Plains Three Forks
Hunting District 250 within Montana
211 270 321
Hunting District 250 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 344,615 ac · 97%
  • Private 9,381 ac · 3%
  • State land 426 ac · 0%
  • State trust land 319 ac · 0%
  • 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%
  • 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

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 38
2024 51
2023 18
2022 30

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 3 taken
  • Resident 35 taken

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: West Fork Bitterroot

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