Hunting districts / Black bear
Black bear hunting district · Region 3 (Bozeman)
District 317
Montana hunting district 317 (Black bear), FWP Region 3 (Bozeman): 4,899 sq mi in Madison, Beaverhead, Silver Bow, Jefferson counties; 54% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land; median elevation 6,621 ft.
What stands out
- Among the highest of 35 black bear districts: median elevation 6,621 ft. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
Publicly administered land
| US Forest Service | 23.8% | |
| Bureau of Land Management | 18.1% | |
| Montana state trust land | 10.6% | |
| US Fish & Wildlife Service | 1.4% | |
| Montana FWP | 1.2% | |
| Other federal | 0.5% | |
| City & county | 0.1% |
Area of Montana State Library 'Montana Public Lands' polygons (derived from the Montana Cadastral Framework, Department of Revenue ownership records) intersected with the FWP district boundary, measured in NAD83(2011) Montana State Plane (EPSG:6514). Ownership is not access: some public land is closed to hunting or has no legal access.
Landscape
- Counties
- Madison, Beaverhead, Silver Bow, Jefferson counties
- National forests
- Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
- Wilderness
- None
- Wildlife management areas
- Robb-Ledford, Blacktail, Wall Creek
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- Blacktail Mountains, Centennial Mountains, Gravelly Range, Greenhorn Range, Highland Mountains, Horn Mountains, Ruby Range, Snowcrest Range, Tobacco Root Mountains, Western Centennial Mountains
- Highest named summits
- Hollowtop Mountain (≈10,505 ft), Granite Peak (≈10,479 ft), Hogback Mountain (≈10,479 ft), Sunset Peak (≈10,479 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- Mustard Pass, Low Pass, The Notch, Spuhler Saddle, Antone Pass, Ledoford Pass
- Towns and places
- Abe (historical), Adobe (historical), Alder, Apex, Ball Place, Beals, Bishop Place, Bond, Bowman Place, Brandon, Burdick Place, Butte-Silver Bow (balance), Campbell Place, Cardwell
Elevations sampled on a regular grid inside the district from AWS Terrain Tiles (Terrarium, zoom 10, ~105 m pixels; compiled from USGS 3DEP and SRTM). Approximate: summits read lower than their surveyed height.
Sources
- District boundary: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks hunting district layer.
- Public land: Montana State Library, Montana Public Lands (published 2026-10-06).
- Harvest: FWP Harvest Estimates, retrieved 2026-10-30.
- Places: USGS Geographic Names Information System. Wilderness and forests: USDA Forest Service.
- Elevation: AWS Terrain Tiles (USGS 3DEP, SRTM).
Live weather, snow, fire and access conditions are in the atlas card for this district.