Hunting districts / Deer · Elk · Lion
Deer · Elk · Lion hunting district · Region 5 (Billings)
District 525
Montana hunting district 525 (Deer · Elk · Lion), FWP Region 5 (Billings): 1,631 sq mi in Sweet Grass, Stillwater, Carbon, Park counties; 64% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land (mostly Custer Gallatin National Forest); median elevation 6,578 ft; FWP estimated 421 elk harvested in 2025.
What stands out
- Among the highest elk harvests of 138 deer, elk and lion districts: 421 elk harvested in 2025 (FWP estimate). FWP harvest estimates
- Among the most wilderness of 139 deer, elk and lion districts: 36% designated wilderness. USFS wilderness boundaries (calculated)
- Among the most rugged of 139 deer, elk and lion districts: 8,681 ft from low point to high point. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
- Among the largest of 139 deer, elk and lion districts: 1,631 square miles. FWP district boundary
Publicly administered land
| US Forest Service | 60.1% | |
| Montana state trust land | 2.5% | |
| Bureau of Land Management | 1.1% | |
| Montana FWP | 0.1% | |
| 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.
Elk harvest estimates
| Year | Hunters | Days | Total Harvest | Bulls | Cows | Calves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | n/e | n/e | 421 | 223 | 198 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1,874 | 13,939 | 512 | 220 | 292 | 0 |
| 2023 | n/e | n/e | 533 | 262 | 259 | 12 |
| 2022 | 1,826 | 12,280 | 489 | 293 | 189 | 7 |
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 | 2,334 | 13,051 | 1,198 | 822 | 372 | 4 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 1,199 | 809 | 387 | 3 |
| 2023 | 2,110 | 12,779 | 1,020 | 650 | 367 | 3 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 1,218 | 719 | 496 | 3 |
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 | 2,334 | 13,051 | 484 | 447 | 37 | 0 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 398 | 362 | 36 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2,110 | 12,779 | 377 | 332 | 42 | 3 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 395 | 350 | 42 | 3 |
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 | 2,334 | 13,051 | 714 | 375 | 335 | 4 |
| 2024 | n/e | n/e | 801 | 447 | 351 | 3 |
| 2023 | 2,110 | 12,779 | 643 | 318 | 325 | 0 |
| 2022 | n/e | n/e | 823 | 369 | 454 | 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
- Sweet Grass, Stillwater, Carbon, Park counties
- National forests
- Custer Gallatin National Forest
- Wilderness
- Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness (36%)
- Wildlife management areas
- Silver Run
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- Beartooth Mountains, Granite Range
- Highest named summits
- Castle Mountain (≈12,516 ft), Mount Wood (≈12,454 ft), Silver Run Peak (≈12,369 ft), Tempest Mountain (≈12,343 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- Sundance Pass, Jordan Pass, Mill Creek Pass, Meyers Creek Pass
- Towns and places
- Alex Boggio Place, Alpine, Beehive, Big Timber, Carney, Contact, Elton, Fishtail, George Place, George Place (historical), Greycliff, Limestone, Linley (historical), Luther
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.
Neighboring districts
- HD 575 4% public · 4,459 ft median
- HD 316 98% public · 8,945 ft median
- HD 565 99% public · 8,842 ft median
- HD 317 66% public · 7,144 ft median
- HD 555 63% public · 4,741 ft median
- HD 515 7% public · 4,180 ft median
- HD 580 22% public · 5,466 ft median
- HD 315 20% public · 5,650 ft median
- HD 502 10% public · 3,999 ft median
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.