Montana Elk — Hunting District 298

Montana Hunting District 298 covers 97,104 acres and lies 36 miles north-west of Deer Lodge and 46 miles east of Missoula. 7% of it is public land, mostly national forest (3%) and state trust land (2%). In 2025, hunters took 56 elk here. The 2015 draw put up 25 tags here for 6 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2015):50 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:6 Public land:7% Size:97,104 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunting District 298, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 50 tags · 6 applicants in the 2015 draw

Chances are from the 2015 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 298-00 Elk B License 298-00 25 tags · 6 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 50% as 2nd choice
  • 298-00 Elk B License 298-00 25 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 2015 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 2015 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 2015 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 298

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2015 draw.

The country

Deer Lodge Missoula Ronan Butte Great Falls
Hunting District 298 within Montana
217 280 281 282 284 285 290 291 292 293 343
Hunting District 298 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 90,452 ac · 93%
  • National Forest 2,806 ac · 3%
  • State trust land 1,922 ac · 2%
  • BLM 1,573 ac · 2%
  • State land 310 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 56
2024 42
2023 43
2022 65

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 3 taken
  • Resident 53 taken

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Garnet

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