Hunting districts / Mountain goat
Mountain goat hunting district · Region 5 (Billings)
District 521
Montana hunting district 521 (Mountain goat), FWP Region 5 (Billings): 146 sq mi in Sweet Grass, Stillwater, Park counties; 100% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land (mostly Custer Gallatin National Forest); median elevation 9,193 ft; FWP estimated 3 goat harvested in 2025.
What stands out
- Among the busiest for goat hunters of 37 mountain goat districts: 0.2 goat hunter-days per square mile in 2025. FWP harvest estimates (calculated per sq mi)
- Among the most public of 37 mountain goat districts: 100% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land. MSL Public Lands (calculated)
- Among the highest of 37 mountain goat districts: median elevation 9,193 ft. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
- Among the most wilderness of 37 mountain goat districts: 97% designated wilderness. USFS wilderness boundaries (calculated)
- Among the smallest of 37 mountain goat districts: 146 square miles. FWP district boundary
Publicly administered land
| US Forest Service | 99.5% |
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.
Goat harvest estimates
| Year | Hunters | Days | Total Harvest | Billies | Nannies | Kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2023 | 4 | 32 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 3 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 4 | 50 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2020 | 4 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 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
- Sweet Grass, Stillwater, Park counties
- National forests
- Custer Gallatin National Forest
- Wilderness
- Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness (97%)
- Wildlife management areas
- —
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- —
- Highest named summits
- Tumble Mountain (≈11,253 ft), Mount Douglas (≈11,230 ft), Chalice Peak (≈11,040 ft), Two Sisters (≈10,981 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- Jordan Pass
- Towns and places
- Lazy Day (historical)
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.