Hunting districts / Mountain goat
Mountain goat hunting district · Region 5 (Billings)
District 518
Montana hunting district 518 (Mountain goat), FWP Region 5 (Billings): 96 sq mi in Park, Carbon, Stillwater counties; 97% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land (mostly Custer Gallatin National Forest); median elevation 9,941 ft; FWP estimated 2 goat harvested in 2025.
What stands out
- Among the busiest for goat hunters of 37 mountain goat districts: 0.4 goat hunter-days per square mile in 2025. FWP harvest estimates (calculated per sq mi)
- Among the highest of 37 mountain goat districts: median elevation 9,941 ft. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
- Among the smallest of 37 mountain goat districts: 96 square miles. FWP district boundary
- Among the most wilderness of 37 mountain goat districts: 97% designated wilderness. USFS wilderness boundaries (calculated)
- Among the most rugged of 37 mountain goat districts: 6,312 ft from low point to high point. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
Publicly administered land
| US Forest Service | 96.8% |
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.
Goat harvest estimates
| Year | Hunters | Days | Total Harvest | Billies | Nannies | Kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | 38 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 | 35 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2014 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 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. Boundaries of a numbered district can change between years.
Landscape
- Counties
- Park, Carbon, Stillwater counties
- National forests
- Custer Gallatin National Forest
- Wilderness
- Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness (97%)
- Wildlife management areas
- —
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- Beartooth Mountains
- Highest named summits
- Tempest Mountain (≈12,343 ft), Mount Peal (≈12,303 ft), Glacier Peak (≈12,224 ft), Mount Villard (≈12,159 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- None named in GNIS
- Towns and places
- —
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.