Montana Elk · Hunting District 417
Montana Hunting District 417 covers 550,938 acres and lies 39 miles north-east of Lewistown and 73 miles south of Chinook. 37% of it is public land, mostly BLM (26%) and state trust land (8%). In 2025, hunters took 302 elk here; hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, 417-20, put up 22 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 140 nonresident first-choice applicants, 19 of whom drew.
6 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
not published
26% BLM
550,938 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, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
Every License in Hunting District 417
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 417-02 Standard | Elk B License 417-02 — Antlerless Elk | 6% | — | |
| 417-02 Landowner | Elk B License 417-02 — Antlerless Elk | 100% | — | |
| 417-20 Standard | Elk Permit 417-20 — Either-sex Elk | <1% | — | |
| 417-20 Landowner | Elk Permit 417-20 — Either-sex Elk | 100% | — | |
| 417-21 Standard | Elk Permit 417-21 — Either-sex Elk | 2% | — | |
| 417-21 Landowner | Elk Permit 417-21 — Either-sex Elk | 100% | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: 417-00, 417-80, 417-81.
Draw results: Montana FWP 2026 Elk B License Drawing Statistics Report; Montana FWP 2026 Elk Permit Drawing Statistics Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $92.50 ($92.50 to apply) · Landowner $92.50 ($92.50 to apply). Deadlines: Apr 1, 2027 (expected) for the main draw · Jun 1, 2027 (expected) for B license. Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Elk |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 302 |
| 2024 | 292 |
| 2023 | 245 |
| 2022 | 278 |
2025 split: nonresidents 53, residents 250
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
| Private | 342,463 ac | 62% |
| BLM | 141,591 ac | 26% |
| State trust land | 46,223 ac | 8% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 18,566 ac | 3% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 0 ac | <1% |
| Department of Defense | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Park Service | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Forest | 0 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 0 ac | <1% |
| State land | 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: Missouri Rivers Breaks
▸ Sources 12
- Montana FWP 2026 Elk B License Drawing Statistics Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Montana FWP 2026 Elk Permit Drawing Statistics Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 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 2026 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. How we compute these.
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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 · Methodology · All Montana elk hunts