Elk Hunting in Montana HD 540 - South Little Belt Mountains

Those portions of Meagher and Wheatland Counties lying within the following-described boundary: Beginning at Harlowton, then westerly along US Highway 12 to Spring Creek-Whitetail Cabin Road (USFS Road 274), then northerly along said road to its intersection with the Willow Park Road (USFS Road 189), then easterly along said road to its intersection with USFS Trail 603, then easterly along said trail to the Mt. High Lookout Tower, then easterly along USFS Road 382 to a permanent boundary marker (Wheatland/Judith Basin county line) then northeasterly along the Wheatland County line to US Highway 191, then southerly along said highway to Harlowton, the point of beginning.

Access varies across the EMU and among hunting districts. Portions of the EMU currently have high road densities, providing easy access by vehicle, but other areas are reasonably remote and better suited to backcountry types of recreation. Public access to private lands on the periphery of the Little Belt Mountains has become very restricted in recent years, resulting in increased hunting pressure on adjacent national forest lands, as well as private lands still open to the public. Some landowners have leased hunting rights to outfitters, and many landowners have just closed their property to hunting altogether or to anybody other than immediate family and friends.

Access to private lands that have elk during the hunting season is especially limited in HDs 413, 416, 540, and the west half of HD 454. In some areas, reductions in elk security on public lands and the closure of large blocks of private land to the general public have resulted in concentrations of elk on private lands during the hunting season where they are unavailable to the general public.

Numbers of elk observed during post-season aerial surveys in this EMU have increased since the 1992 Elk Management Plan (Figure 1). The average number of elk observed in the EMU during post-season (late winter-early spring) aerial surveys in 2001-2003 was 3,828 elk (range 3,170-4,448). The 3-year average by hunting district was: HD 413 - 536 elk (range 383-657); HD 432 ? 374 elk (range 326-424); HDs 420/448 - 1,093 elk (range 772-1,323); HD 418 ? 170 elk (range 147-210); HD 540 - 729 elk (range 647-838); HD 454 ? 305 elk (range 258-378); and HD 416 ? 616 elk (range 326-942).; Increased opportunity for the general hunter to harvest antlerless elk (last 9 days either-sex) was implemented in 1994 in much of the EMU to help control the number of elk. A general season either-sex youth hunt was implemented in 2002 in most of the EMU.

The size of the Judith River Wildlife Management Area was increased by approximately 4,036 acres through two separate land acquisitions in the 1990s, increasing the amount of publicly owned winter range

HuntScore Tip

Public land and private land percentages can sometime be misleading. A unit may have 80% public land, but a particluar species may only occupy 20% on the entire area. And that 20% species distribution may lie 100% within private lands. Does that sound confusing? Just remember that there are always exceptions to the rule, and land ownership is just one piece of the puzzle.