Hunting districts / Deer · Elk · Lion
Deer · Elk · Lion hunting district · Region 4 (Great Falls)
District 416
Montana hunting district 416 (Deer · Elk · Lion), FWP Region 4 (Great Falls): 654 sq mi in Meagher, Cascade counties; 47% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land (mostly Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest); median elevation 5,820 ft; FWP estimated 563 elk harvested in 2025.
What stands out
- Among the highest elk harvests of 138 deer, elk and lion districts: 563 elk harvested in 2025 (FWP estimate). FWP harvest estimates
- Among the busiest for elk hunters of 138 deer, elk and lion districts: 35.6 elk hunter-days per square mile in 2024. FWP harvest estimates (calculated per sq mi)
Publicly administered land
| US Forest Service | 43.0% | |
| Montana state trust land | 3.2% | |
| Bureau of Land Management | 0.7% | |
| Montana FWP | 0.5% |
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.
Elk harvest estimates
| Year | Hunters | Days | Total Harvest | Bulls | Cows | Calves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | n/e | n/e | 563 | 279 | 273 | 11 |
| 2024 | 3,284 | 23,265 | 620 | 311 | 297 | 12 |
| 2023 | n/e | n/e | 589 | 334 | 252 | 3 |
| 2022 | 3,081 | 19,666 | 695 | 359 | 320 | 16 |
| 2021 | n/e | n/e | 480 | 273 | 191 | 17 |
| 2020 | 1,629 | 10,546 | 365 | 199 | 156 | 10 |
| 2019 | n/e | n/e | 322 | 181 | 126 | 15 |
| 2018 | 2,089 | 12,532 | 357 | 196 | 161 | 0 |
| 2017 | n/e | n/e | 406 | 194 | 193 | 20 |
| 2016 | 2,055 | 13,209 | 334 | 186 | 135 | 13 |
| 2015 | 1,667 | 10,411 | 293 | 115 | 152 | 26 |
| 2014 | 1,790 | 10,662 | 355 | 190 | 137 | 29 |
FWP estimates from the annual hunter harvest survey; they carry sampling error. "n/e": FWP did not estimate district-level hunter numbers that year (2019, 2021, 2023, 2025). Boundaries of a numbered district can change between years.
Deer harvest estimates
| Year | Hunters | Days | Total Harvest | Bucks | Does | Fawns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,750 | 13,203 | 501 | 387 | 114 | 0 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 577 | 418 | 159 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1,983 | 13,043 | 576 | 446 | 124 | 6 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 578 | 457 | 121 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1,253 | 7,860 | 436 | 322 | 114 | 0 |
| 2020 | n/e | n/e | 277 | 213 | 64 | 0 |
| 2019 | 925 | 5,719 | 325 | 255 | 66 | 3 |
| 2018 | n/e | n/e | 338 | 278 | 60 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1,164 | 7,221 | 415 | 316 | 97 | 2 |
| 2016 | n/e | n/e | 385 | 306 | 77 | 3 |
| 2015 | n/e | n/e | 305 | 245 | 58 | 2 |
| 2014 | n/e | n/e | 283 | 233 | 50 | 0 |
FWP estimates from the annual hunter harvest survey; they carry sampling error. "n/e": FWP did not estimate district-level hunter numbers that year (2018, 2020, 2022, 2024). Boundaries of a numbered district can change between years.
Mule Deer harvest estimates
| Year | Hunters | Days | Total Harvest | Bucks | Does | Fawns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,750 | 13,203 | 267 | 267 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 291 | 276 | 15 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1,983 | 13,043 | 319 | 317 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 353 | 343 | 10 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1,253 | 7,860 | 247 | 236 | 11 | 0 |
| 2020 | n/e | n/e | 122 | 118 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019 | 925 | 5,719 | 177 | 174 | 3 | 0 |
| 2018 | n/e | n/e | 206 | 197 | 9 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1,164 | 7,221 | 210 | 190 | 20 | 0 |
| 2016 | n/e | n/e | 225 | 216 | 9 | 0 |
| 2015 | n/e | n/e | 179 | 173 | 6 | 0 |
| 2014 | n/e | n/e | 165 | 160 | 5 | 0 |
FWP estimates from the annual hunter harvest survey; they carry sampling error. "n/e": FWP did not estimate district-level hunter numbers that year (2018, 2020, 2022, 2024). Boundaries of a numbered district can change between years.
Whitetail harvest estimates
| Year | Hunters | Days | Total Harvest | Bucks | Does | Fawns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,750 | 13,203 | 233 | 119 | 114 | 0 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 287 | 143 | 144 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1,983 | 13,043 | 258 | 129 | 122 | 6 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 225 | 114 | 112 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1,253 | 7,860 | 189 | 86 | 103 | 0 |
| 2020 | n/e | n/e | 155 | 95 | 61 | 0 |
| 2019 | 925 | 5,719 | 147 | 81 | 63 | 3 |
| 2018 | n/e | n/e | 132 | 81 | 51 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1,164 | 7,221 | 205 | 126 | 77 | 2 |
| 2016 | n/e | n/e | 160 | 89 | 68 | 3 |
| 2015 | n/e | n/e | 126 | 72 | 53 | 2 |
| 2014 | n/e | n/e | 118 | 73 | 46 | 0 |
FWP estimates from the annual hunter harvest survey; they carry sampling error. "n/e": FWP did not estimate district-level hunter numbers that year (2018, 2020, 2022, 2024). Boundaries of a numbered district can change between years.
Landscape
- Counties
- Meagher, Cascade counties
- National forests
- Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest
- Wilderness
- None
- Wildlife management areas
- Smith River
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- Little Belt Mountains, Park Hills
- Highest named summits
- Porphyry Peak (≈8,192 ft), Mizpah Peak (≈7,717 ft), Smoky Mountain (≈7,657 ft), Moose Mountain (≈7,618 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- Kings Hill Pass, Moose Pass, Butler Hill, Elk Horn Pass
- Towns and places
- Checkerboard, Forest Green, Wolsey
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.