Montana Elk — Hunting District 311

Montana Hunting District 311 covers 362,117 acres and lies 9 miles south of Three Forks and 20 miles west of Belgrade. 15% of it is public land, mostly state trust land (10%) and BLM (2%). In 2025, hunters took 198 elk here. The 2019 draw put up 100 tags here for 14 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2019):200 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:14 Public land:15% Size:362,117 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunting District 311, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 200 tags · 14 applicants in the 2019 draw

Chances are from the 2019 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 311-00 Elk B License 311-00 100 tags · 14 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 100% as 2nd choice
  • 311-00 Elk B License 311-00 100 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 2019 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 2019 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

Three Forks Ennis Townsend West Yellowstone Columbus
Hunting District 311 within Montana
301 304 309 312 320 350 370 Three Forks Belgrade Whitehall Bozeman
Hunting District 311 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 308,596 ac · 85%
  • State trust land 36,791 ac · 10%
  • BLM 8,364 ac · 2%
  • State land 6,916 ac · 2%
  • County or city land 507 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
  • Department of Defense 0 ac · 0%
  • National Park Service 0 ac · 0%
  • National Forest 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 198
2024 238
2023 215
2022 295

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 31 taken
  • Resident 168 taken

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Lower Madison

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