Montana Elk — Hunting District 315

Montana Hunting District 315 covers 371,478 acres and lies 23 miles north of Livingston and 35 miles north-east of Bozeman. 20% of it is public land, mostly national forest (18%) and state trust land (2%). In 2025, hunters took 389 elk here. The 2023 draw put up 50 tags here for 90 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2023):100 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:91 Public land:20% Size:371,478 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunting District 315, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

Chances are from the 2023 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level

315-01 Elk B License 315-01 — Antlerless Elk 50 tags · 90 applicants · Standard

44% Real chance 100% as 2nd choice
315-01 Elk B License 315-01 — Antlerless Elk 50 tags · 1 applicants · Landowner

100% Undersubscribed

Hunt	Your odds (0 pts)	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	License	Season
315-01 ↗ Elk B License 315-01 — Antlerless Elk	44% Real chance	100%	—	50 / 90	Standard	Sep 2 – Dec 17, 2023
315-01 ↗ Elk B License 315-01 — Antlerless Elk	100% Undersubscribed	—	—	50 / 1 undersubscribed	Landowner	Sep 2 – Dec 17, 2023

What these columns mean

Your odds: the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2023 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 2023 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

Hunting District 315 within Montana

Hunting District 315 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 295,362 ac · 80%
National Forest 66,197 ac · 18%
State trust land 9,212 ac · 2%
BLM 557 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%
State 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

Nearby areas

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.