Montana Elk · Hunting District 515
Montana Hunting District 515 spans 1,615,056 acres, centered 25 miles north of Columbus. 7% of it is public land, mostly state trust land (6%). In 2025, hunters took 340 elk here; hunter counts not published.
0 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
not published
6% State
1,615,056 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Licenses
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has not offered an elk license in Hunting District 515 in any draw we hold. It has a page because the agency still publishes harvest for it; the Montana elk hunts that are on offer are drawn elsewhere.
Harvest
| Year | Elk |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 340 |
| 2024 | 234 |
| 2023 | 268 |
| 2022 | 264 |
2025 split: nonresidents 86, residents 255
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 | 1,488,112 ac | 92% |
| State trust land | 100,941 ac | 6% |
| BLM | 6,783 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 6,460 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 3,714 ac | <1% |
| State land | 2,745 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: Mid-Yellowstone
▸ Sources 6
- 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
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.
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 · Methodology · All Montana elk hunts