Montana Elk · Hunting District 318
Montana Hunting District 318 covers 172,996 acres and lies 12 miles west of Boulder and 28 miles south-west of Helena. 82% of it is public land, mostly national forest (75%) and BLM (6%). In 2025, hunters took 210 elk here; hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, 318-00, put up 15 tags (all residencies) in the 2015 draw for 17 nonresident first-choice applicants, 5 of whom drew.
No more draws here. The last one was 2015.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks held its 2026 elk draw without Hunting District 318. No current hunt code lists this unit; the Montana elk hunts on offer are drawn elsewhere. The odds, costs and harvest below are that history, kept for the record.
2 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
not published
76% Forest Service
172,996 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2015 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
Every License in Hunting District 318
The last draw held in Hunting District 318 was 2015. These are that draw's chances for a first-choice nonresident applicant, kept for the record.
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 318-00 Standard | Elk B License 318-00 | 11% | — | |
| 318-00 Landowner | Elk B License 318-00 | 100% | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2015 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2015 result: 318-80.
Draw results: Montana FWP 2015 Elk B License Drawing Statistics Report, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $92.50 ($92.50 to apply) · Landowner $92.50 ($92.50 to apply). Open Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Elk |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 210 |
| 2024 | 190 |
| 2023 | 135 |
| 2022 | 129 |
2025 split: nonresidents 14, residents 197
What Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Hunter counts not published for 2025. 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. Source: Montana FWP 2025 Elk Harvest Estimates; Montana FWP 2024 Elk Harvest Estimates; Montana FWP 2023 Elk Harvest Estimates.
The Ground
| National Forest | 130,525 ac | 75% |
| Private | 31,692 ac | 18% |
| BLM | 9,964 ac | 6% |
| State trust land | 449 ac | <1% |
| State land | 294 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 17 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 0 ac | <1% |
| Department of Defense | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Park Service | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 0 ac | <1% |
| Tribal | 0 ac | <1% |
| Other public | 0 ac | <1% |
Source: Montana FWP 2026-2027 Deer Elk Lion Hunting District….
What the Agency Says About the Area
Elk Management Unit: Deer Lodge
▸ Sources 11
- Montana FWP 2015 Elk B License Drawing Statistics Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-113 Application fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-116 Base hunting license… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026 Hunting Requirements fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026 Nonresident License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2025 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2024 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2023 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2022 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts boundary, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026-2027 Deer Elk Lion Hunting District… land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2015 draw, the latest on file, computed from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward.
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We don't take applications: check Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' results, not a forecast · All Montana elk hunts