Montana Elk — Hunting District 422

Montana Hunting District 422 covers 310,543 acres and lies 38 miles south-west of Choteau and 55 miles north-west of Helena. 45% of it is public land, mostly national forest (36%) and state trust land (8%). In 2025, hunters took 136 elk here. The 2026 draw put up 20 tags here for 19 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):40 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:19 Public land:45% Size:310,543 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunting District 422, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 40 tags · 19 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
  • 422-00 Elk B License 422-00 — Antlerless Elk 20 tags · 19 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 17% as 2nd choice
  • 422-00 Elk B License 422-00 — Antlerless Elk 20 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 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 422

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

The country

Choteau Helena Anaconda Shelby Columbia Falls
Hunting District 422 within Montana
150 280 281 282 284 290 298 339 421 424 425 444 445 455
Hunting District 422 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 170,364 ac · 55%
  • National Forest 111,050 ac · 36%
  • State trust land 25,682 ac · 8%
  • BLM 3,136 ac · 1%
  • State land 31 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%
  • 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 136
2024 151
2023 109
2022 133

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Nonresident 20 taken
  • Resident 116 taken

What the agency says about the area

Elk Management Unit: Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex

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