Montana Elk · Hunting District 575

Montana Hunting District 575 covers 524,439 acres and lies 10 miles south-west of Columbus and 23 miles north of Red Lodge. 4% of it is public land. In 2025, hunters took 245 elk here; hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, 575-20, put up 2 tags (all residencies) in the 2021 draw for 6 nonresident first-choice applicants.

No more draws here. The last one was 2021.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks held its 2026 elk draw without Hunting District 575. 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.

Tags, 2021
4

2 licenses · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
6

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
—

not published

Public Land
4%

4% State

Size
819 mi²

524,439 acres

Columbus Red Lodge Big Timber Billings 575

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

Every License in Hunting District 575

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it

The last draw held in Hunting District 575 was 2021. These are that draw's chances for a first-choice nonresident applicant, kept for the record.

575-20 Standard 2% (small sample) —
Landowner 100% (small sample) —

First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2021 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2021 result: 575-00.

Draw results: Montana FWP 2021 Elk Permit Drawing Statistics Report, retrieved Sep 1, 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 245
2024 250
2023 215
2022 199

2025 split: nonresidents 28, residents 216

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 500,629 ac 95%
State trust land 16,257 ac 3%
BLM 3,985 ac <1%
State land 2,045 ac <1%
County or city land 524 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%
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

Source: Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts.

▸ Sources 11
  1. Montana FWP 2021 Elk Permit Drawing Statistics Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 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 2021 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