North-central Montana: FWP Region 4 elk and deer hunting

Name: Montana FWP Region 4 hunting districts: harvest and public land
Creator: FilledTag

FWP Region 4, run from Great Falls, has 34 deer and elk hunting districts and is 24.9% public land (Montana Cadastral Public Lands, Montana State Library, published 2026). FWP estimates 5,803 elk and 15,574 deer were harvested in Region 4 in 2025.

Data updated October 2026. Harvest: FWP estimates to 2025. Land: Montana State Library, 2026-10. Block Management: FWP, 2026.

Map of Montana's deer and elk hunting districts with Region 4, North-central Montana, shaded — Region 4 shaded; the districts with a page of their own are darker.

Region 4 is north-central Montana around Great Falls: the Rocky Mountain Front, the Little Belt, Big Belt, Highwood and Snowy mountains, and wide farm and ranch country between them. Only about a quarter of its districts is public land, and Block Management fills much of the gap: FWP's 2026 map shows 168 areas and about 1.27 million acres in the region. FWP also manages several large wildlife management areas here, among them Sun River, Beartooth and Judith River.

Which hunting districts are in Region 4?

All 34 deer and elk districts in Region 4, with FWP's latest harvest estimate and the public land in each. The most elk were taken in HD 411 (700), HD 416 (563) and HD 445 (521). The most public land: HD 455 (99.6%), HD 442 (98.9%) and HD 424 (98.2%).

District	Name	Square miles	Public land	Block Management acres	Elk harvested, 2025	Deer harvested, 2025
HD 400	Lower Marias River	1,891	12.8%	152,460	27	1,091
HD 401	Sweet Grass Hills	1,810	9.3%	144,345	106	758
HD 403	Cut Bank	661	11.7%	33,910	10	225
HD 404	Lower Teton River	1,944	7.5%	69,424	3	994
HD 405	Carter	471	7.1%	2,097	18	794
HD 406	Upper Marias-Dupuyer	707	9%	37,736	7	445
HD 410	Missouri River Breaks	1,578	47.4%	320,126	452	221
HD 411	Snowy Mountains	1,179	20.7%	7,602	700	1,225
HD 412	Judith and Moccasin Mountains	660	15.6%	4,600	253	732
HD 413	Northwest Little Belt Mountains	879	34.3%	36,244	374	1,263
HD 415	Summit-North Fork Birch Creek	207	97.7%	0	18	34
HD 416	Southwest Little Belt Mountains	654	47.4%	26,430	563	501
HD 417	Armells Creek	860	37.5%	40,679	302	124
HD 418	South Judith Basin	480	21%	37,873	186	278
HD 419	Stanford	685	10.4%	18,095	58	505
HD 420	Judith River WMA-Sage Creek	77	53%	2,141	80	130
HD 421	Birdtail Hills-South Dearborn	810	11.4%	68,843	184	800
HD 422	North Dearborn	485	45.1%	5,677	136	306
HD 424	Benchmark	95	98.2%	0	4	99
HD 425	Sun River WMA	143	42%	0	98	203
HD 426	Winifred	845	20.8%	26,923	122	448
HD 432	Otter Creek	492	46.8%	23,690	115	282
HD 441	North Fork Birch Creek-Teton	595	37.9%	24,499	123	243
HD 442	Sun River	298	98.9%	0	44	94
HD 444	Lower Sun River	485	16%	18,004	22	592
HD 445	Hound Creek	695	12%	77,721	521	879
HD 446	Northeast Big Belt Mountains	593	23.1%	36,098	294	295
HD 447	Belt-Square Butte	884	21.2%	19,753	277	807
HD 448	North Judith Basin-Central Little Belts	384	73.8%	1,816	124	304
HD 450	Choteau	407	23.5%	1,283	53	227
HD 451	Southeast Big Belt Mountains	142	17.3%	2,933	39	46
HD 452	Castle Mountains	338	38.6%	14,468	299	345
HD 455	Beartooth WMA	66	99.6%	0	124	35
HD 471	Geraldine	752	19.2%	12,748	15	329

Harvest: FWP Harvest Estimates (elk and deer, 2020 to 2025). Public land and Block Management acres measured by FilledTag inside FWP's district boundaries from Montana Cadastral Public Lands, Montana State Library, published 2026 and FWP Block Management area boundaries (2026).

How many elk and deer are harvested in Region 4?

FWP's region totals, year by year. In 2024, 20,322 elk hunters spent 157,287 days in Region 4.

Year	Elk harvested	Bulls	Elk hunters	Deer harvested	Mule deer	White-tailed deer	Deer hunters
2025	5,803	2,774	not counted	15,574	7,939	7,635	26,388
2024	5,579	2,606	20,322	18,414	9,290	9,124	not counted
2023	5,313	2,512	not counted	17,835	9,557	8,278	27,907
2022	5,424	2,657	19,307	17,896	9,231	8,665	not counted
2021	5,103	2,495	not counted	18,075	10,157	7,918	28,652
2020	5,675	2,659	19,608	19,063	10,437	8,626	not counted

How much public land is in Region 4?

Manager	Acres	Share of the region
National forest	1,544,462	10.4%
State trust land	1,055,137	7.1%
BLM	823,106	5.5%
National wildlife refuge	123,550	0.8%
FWP land	101,706	0.7%
Bureau of Reclamation	60,860	0.4%
Other public	26,801	0.2%
National park (no hunting)	39	under 0.1%

Block Management: FWP's 2026 map shows 168 areas in Region 4, about 1,266,057 acres: 119 where hunters fill in their own permission slip (Type 1) and 49 where the landowner or FWP gives permission (Type 2).

Wildlife management areas in Region 4

FWP manages 9 wildlife management areas open to hunting in Region 4, from Beartooth (35,174 acres) down to Ear Mountain (3,053 acres).

Beartooth: 35,174 acres
Sun River: 19,745 acres
Freezout Lake: 11,294 acres
Blackleaf: 10,754 acres
Judith River: 9,397 acres
Marias River: 7,772 acres
Beckman: 6,639 acres
Smith River: 3,382 acres
Ear Mountain: 3,053 acres

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Sources: FWP Harvest Estimates (elk and deer, 2020 to 2025); Montana Cadastral Public Lands, Montana State Library, published 2026; FWP Block Management area boundaries (2026); FWP wildlife management area boundaries. FilledTag is not part of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

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