Montana Elk · Hunting District 445

Montana Hunting District 445 covers 445,617 acres and lies 30 miles south-west of Great Falls and 40 miles north-east of East Helena. 12% of it is public land, mostly state trust land (7%) and BLM (4%). In 2025, hunters took 521 elk here; hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, 445-20, put up 3 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 28 nonresident first-choice applicants, 1 of whom drew.

Tags, 2026
6

2 licenses · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
29

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
—

not published

Public Land
12%

8% State

Size
696 mi²

445,617 acres

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Every License in Hunting District 445

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
445-20 Standard <1% (small sample) —
Landowner 80% (small sample) —

First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.

Draw results: 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). Open Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

Year Elk
2025 521
2024 350
2023 382
2022 266

2025 split: nonresidents 106, residents 415

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 391,831 ac 88%
State trust land 31,817 ac 7%
BLM 16,844 ac 4%
State land 4,277 ac <1%
National Wildlife Refuge 178 ac <1%
National Forest 89 ac <1%
Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac <1%
Department of Defense 0 ac <1%
National Park Service 0 ac <1%
County or city 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: Devil's Kitchen

Source: Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts.

▸ Sources 11
  1. Montana FWP 2026 Elk Permit Drawing Statistics Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-113 Application fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-116 Base hunting license… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. Montana FWP 2026 Hunting Requirements fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. Montana FWP 2026 Nonresident License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. Montana FWP 2025 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. Montana FWP 2024 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. Montana FWP 2023 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. Montana FWP 2022 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts boundary, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  11. 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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Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

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