Hunting districts / Deer · Elk · Lion
Deer · Elk · Lion hunting district · Region 4 (Great Falls)
District 426
Montana hunting district 426 (Deer · Elk · Lion), FWP Region 4 (Great Falls): 845 sq mi in Fergus County; 21% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land; median elevation 3,396 ft; FWP estimated 122 elk harvested in 2025.
Publicly administered land
| Bureau of Land Management | 13.1% | |
| Montana state trust land | 6.4% | |
| Montana FWP | 1.2% |
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 | 122 | 53 | 69 | 0 |
| 2024 | 319 | 2,106 | 89 | 57 | 29 | 3 |
| 2023 | n/e | n/e | 106 | 45 | 58 | 3 |
| 2022 | 322 | 2,477 | 91 | 50 | 42 | 0 |
| 2021 | n/e | n/e | 67 | 49 | 18 | 0 |
| 2020 | 377 | 2,737 | 90 | 39 | 48 | 4 |
| 2019 | n/e | n/e | 71 | 44 | 27 | 0 |
| 2018 | 390 | 2,627 | 68 | 28 | 34 | 6 |
| 2017 | n/e | n/e | 79 | 38 | 41 | 0 |
| 2016 | 392 | 2,426 | 82 | 42 | 41 | 0 |
| 2015 | 393 | 2,083 | 110 | 34 | 61 | 15 |
| 2014 | 317 | 2,003 | 75 | 26 | 49 | 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 (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 | 835 | 4,337 | 448 | 368 | 74 | 6 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 627 | 565 | 63 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1,038 | 4,844 | 658 | 576 | 81 | 2 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 715 | 563 | 151 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1,419 | 6,958 | 852 | 718 | 134 | 0 |
| 2020 | n/e | n/e | 808 | 677 | 128 | 3 |
| 2019 | 1,177 | 5,752 | 818 | 710 | 109 | 0 |
| 2018 | n/e | n/e | 728 | 635 | 89 | 3 |
| 2017 | 1,029 | 4,809 | 727 | 672 | 52 | 3 |
| 2016 | n/e | n/e | 728 | 676 | 53 | 0 |
| 2015 | n/e | n/e | 569 | 569 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | n/e | n/e | 497 | 493 | 4 | 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 | 835 | 4,337 | 335 | 316 | 19 | 0 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 498 | 477 | 21 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1,038 | 4,844 | 519 | 486 | 32 | 2 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 556 | 475 | 81 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1,419 | 6,958 | 725 | 635 | 90 | 0 |
| 2020 | n/e | n/e | 720 | 643 | 77 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1,177 | 5,752 | 692 | 631 | 61 | 0 |
| 2018 | n/e | n/e | 636 | 570 | 63 | 3 |
| 2017 | 1,029 | 4,809 | 664 | 619 | 42 | 3 |
| 2016 | n/e | n/e | 662 | 612 | 50 | 0 |
| 2015 | n/e | n/e | 544 | 544 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | n/e | n/e | 465 | 465 | 0 | 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 | 835 | 4,337 | 113 | 51 | 55 | 6 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 129 | 88 | 41 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1,038 | 4,844 | 138 | 90 | 49 | 0 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 159 | 88 | 70 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1,419 | 6,958 | 127 | 83 | 44 | 0 |
| 2020 | n/e | n/e | 88 | 33 | 51 | 3 |
| 2019 | 1,177 | 5,752 | 126 | 79 | 47 | 0 |
| 2018 | n/e | n/e | 92 | 65 | 27 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1,029 | 4,809 | 63 | 53 | 10 | 0 |
| 2016 | n/e | n/e | 66 | 63 | 3 | 0 |
| 2015 | n/e | n/e | 26 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | n/e | n/e | 32 | 28 | 4 | 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
- Fergus County
- National forests
- —
- Wilderness
- None
- Wildlife management areas
- Beckman
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- —
- Highest named summits
- Seventytwo Hills (≈3,806 ft), Indian Graves Butte (≈3,773 ft), Sand Rock Hill (≈3,698 ft), Twin Buttes (≈3,543 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- The Divide
- Towns and places
- Christina, Coffee Creek, Cone Butte (historical), Denton, Everson (historical), Judith (historical), Moulton, Rumble Creek (historical), Salt Creek (historical), Samples Crossing, Suffolk, Winifred
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.