Montana Moose — Hunting District 261
East Bitterroot
Montana Hunting District 261 covers 376,774 acres and lies 6 miles east of Stevensville and 19 miles north-east of Hamilton. 40% of it is public land, mostly national forest (31%) and state trust land (5%). In 2025, 2 people hunted moose here and took 2 — 100% of them killed something.
Your chance of drawing here
Every moose license type on offer in Hunting District 261, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.
Simple view Odds at every point level-
— Not open to nonresidents
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 261-50 ↗ Moose License 261-50 — Antlered Bull | Not open to nonresidents | — | 0 / 0 | Sep 5 – Nov 29, 2026 |
What these columns mean
- Your odds —
- the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
- The badge —
- plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
- Points needed —
- the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
- Tags / applicants —
- tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.
What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)
| License | Up front | Gone if you miss | If you draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per application | $110 | $110 | $110 |
Application window: opens Mar 1, closes May 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Other licenses valid in Hunting District 261
Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- Private 226,441 ac · 60%
- National Forest 118,683 ac · 31%
- State trust land 17,859 ac · 5%
- State land 10,625 ac · 3%
- County or city land 2,938 ac · 1%
- BLM 37 ac · 0%
- Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac · 0%
- Department of Defense 0 ac · 0%
- National Park Service 0 ac · 0%
- National Wildlife Refuge 0 ac · 0%
- Tribal 0 ac · 0%
- Other public 0 ac · 0%
Source: Moose 2026-2027 Hunting District Landcover and Land Ownership Calculations
How the hunting has gone
What Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. 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.
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 2021 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2020 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2018 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2017 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2016 | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| 2015 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2014 | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| 2013 | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| 2012 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2011 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2010 | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| 2009 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2008 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2007 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 2006 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2005 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
Residents vs nonresidents (2025)
- Resident 2 taken · 2 hunters
Boundary: Moose Hunting Districts (2026 and 2027 Seasons)
Harvest: FWP Harvest Estimates CSV export - moose, all districts, 2005-2025