Montana Elk · Hunting District 525
Montana Hunting District 525 spans 1,044,368 acres, centered 29 miles south of Big Timber. 64% of it is public land, mostly national forest (60%) and state trust land (2%). In 2025, hunters took 421 elk here; hunter counts not published.
0 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
not published
60% Forest Service
1,044,368 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 525 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 | 421 |
| 2024 | 512 |
| 2023 | 533 |
| 2022 | 489 |
2025 split: nonresidents 124, residents 297
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
| National Forest | 629,231 ac | 60% |
| Private | 374,510 ac | 36% |
| State trust land | 25,587 ac | 2% |
| BLM | 11,488 ac | 1% |
| State land | 1,253 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 835 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 0 ac | <1% |
| Department of Defense | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Park Service | 0 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 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 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