Montana Elk — Hunting District 391

Montana Hunting District 391 covers 302,708 acres and lies 11 miles north-east of Townsend and 23 miles west of White Sulphur Springs. 40% of it is public land, mostly national forest (32%) and state trust land (4%). In 2025, hunters took 313 elk here. The 2026 draw put up 17 tags here for 54 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):34 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:56 Public land:40% Size:302,708 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunting District 391, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 34 tags · 56 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
  • 391-00 Elk B License 391-00 — Antlerless Elk 17 tags · 54 applicants · Standard
    11% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 391-00 Elk B License 391-00 — Antlerless Elk 17 tags · 2 applicants · Landowner
    100% Undersubscribed
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.
1 hunt not offered in 2026 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 391

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

The country

Townsend Three Forks Great Falls Ennis Lewistown
Hunting District 391 within Montana
315 318 335 339 343 350 370 380 388 390 392 416 420 446 448 451 452 455 580 Townsend White Sulphur Springs East Helena Boulder
Hunting District 391 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 182,805 ac · 60%
  • National Forest 96,776 ac · 32%
  • State trust land 12,532 ac · 4%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 5,600 ac · 2%
  • BLM 4,207 ac · 1%
  • County or city land 454 ac · 0%
  • State land 30 ac · 0%
  • Department of Defense 0 ac · 0%
  • National Park Service 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 313
2023 261
2022 287

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 88 taken
  • Resident 225 taken

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Southwest Big Belts

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: 2023 Elk Harvest Estimates (MyFWP Harvest Estimates Search, District=ALL)

Harvest: 2022 Elk Harvest Estimates (MyFWP Harvest Estimates Search, District=ALL)

How we compute draw odds · All Montana elk hunts