Montana Elk · Hunting District 502
Montana Hunting District 502 covers 469,548 acres and lies 17 miles south of Laurel and 26 miles north-east of Red Lodge. 11% of it is public land, mostly BLM (6%) and state trust land (4%). In 2025, hunters took 70 elk here; hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, 502-20, put up 3 tags (all residencies) in the 2023 draw for 20 nonresident first-choice applicants, 3 of whom drew.
No more draws here. The last one was 2023.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks held its 2026 elk draw without Hunting District 502. 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
7% BLM
469,548 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Every License in Hunting District 502
The last draw held in Hunting District 502 was 2023. These are that draw's chances for a first-choice nonresident applicant, kept for the record.
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 502-20 Standard | Elk Permit 502-20 — Either-sex Elk | <1% (small sample) | — | |
| 502-20 Landowner | Elk Permit 502-20 — Either-sex Elk | 80% (small sample) | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2023 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2023 result: 502-00, 502-15.
Draw results: Montana FWP 2023 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 | 70 |
| 2024 | 58 |
| 2023 | 115 |
| 2022 | 46 |
2025 split: nonresidents 6, residents 64
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 | 418,086 ac | 89% |
| BLM | 30,473 ac | 6% |
| State trust land | 17,748 ac | 4% |
| County or city land | 2,206 ac | <1% |
| State land | 563 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 234 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 0 ac | <1% |
| Department of Defense | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Park Service | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Forest | 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: Absaroka
▸ Sources 11
- Montana FWP 2023 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 2023 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.
Report an error on this page
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