Guide
Montana's general elk license vs. permits
Updated September 23, 2026
Montana's 2026 regulations include a branch-antlered bull on the General Elk License in 114 hunting districts. In 9 they list no General Elk License season at all. Every other district falls in between: the general license is good for a spike, an antlerless elk, or both, and a bigger bull, where one is offered at all, takes a drawn permit. Which kind of district you pick decides what you can shoot, so it is worth knowing before you look at a single success rate.
- Over the counter
- how Montana residents buy the General Elk License
- April 1
- 2026 application deadline for elk permits
- June 1
- 2026 application deadline for drawn Elk B licenses
What the General Elk License covers
Residents buy the General Elk License over the counter, or get one inside a Sportsman's License. Most nonresidents get it only by drawing a Big Game or Elk Combination license, with an April 1 deadline, as the Montana nonresident guide explains.
It is one license, but what it lets you kill is written district by district. Each district's section in the regulations lists the General Elk License season lines, such as "Brow-tined bull or antlerless elk," "Either-sex elk," "Spike bull elk," or "Antlerless elk," each with its archery, general, and muzzleloader dates.
HD 360, the Madison Range, is a general bull district: brow-tined bull or antlerless elk in the archery season from September 5 to October 18, the general season from October 24 to November 29, and the Heritage Muzzleloader season from December 12 to 20. Its 2021–2025 success rate is 40.3%. HD 580, on the east slope of the Crazy Mountains, lists either-sex elk for the same three seasons and posts 39.1%.
Districts where a bull takes a permit
Where no bull line appears, the general license is spike only, antlerless only, or both. HD 411 in the Snowy Mountains allows a spike bull or an antlerless elk. HD 417, Armells Creek, allows antlerless elk only. In HD 217, the Northwest Flint Range, the general license covers antlerless elk only, and a brow-tined bull requires drawn permit 217-10, or 217-11 for youth hunters ages 12 to 15.
An elk permit is not a stand-alone license. The 2026 regulations say residents must hold a General Elk License before they apply for one, and the district entries say the permit must be used with a valid General Elk License. Elk permit applications are due April 1.
This is where success rates mislead. Montana's rates count every elk hunter in a district, whatever license they carried. HD 417 posts 38.4% and HD 411 posts 34.5%, both among the higher elk rates in the state, but a hunter holding only the general license in either district cannot take a branch-antlered bull. The permit holders and the antlerless hunters are in that number with you.
Drawing-only districts
In 9 districts the regulations list no General Elk License season. Elk hunting there is by drawn license or permit only.
HD 455, the Beartooth WMA, is the clearest example, and it has one of the highest elk rates in Montana at 49.7%. FWP heads its elk section "ELK hunting by drawing only." The entries under it are Elk B license 455-00 for antlerless elk, with a quota of 250 and a June 1 deadline, and two either-sex elk permits, 455-20 and 455-21, due April 1. Both permits must be used with a valid General Elk License. A hunter who draws the 455-00 B license may also use the General Elk License to take a second antlerless elk in HD 455.
HD 700, Missouri Breaks-Prairie, is another, with a rate of 34.9% and a district note that public access to elk is limited and difficult. A strong number in a drawing-only district tells you how the people who drew licenses and permits there did. It tells you nothing about a general-license hunt, because there isn't one.
Antlerless B licenses
An Elk B license is an antlerless-only license good in one district or a named group of districts. It adds an antlerless elk; it never adds a bull. Many are drawn, with a June 1 deadline. Some are sold over the counter instead: Elk B license 005-00, listed in several 500-series districts including HD 555, goes on sale June 15 with no quota and is not valid on National Forest land.
Nonresidents do not need a combination license to hold an Elk B license. The nonresident price is $270, by drawing with a June 1 deadline, and sign-ups for the surplus list run from June 15 to July 15, 2026.
B license holders are elk hunters too, so they are counted in a district's success rate. A district with a generous antlerless season can post a high rate with few bulls in it. The 6+ pt bulls column on the best elk units page and the "Bull elk only" rate scope on the planner help separate the two.
How the planner's bull filter reads this
On the Montana planner, "General license includes bull elk" keeps the districts whose General Elk License season lines include a brow-tined bull, an antlered bull, or either-sex elk: the 114 above. It drops spike-only districts on purpose, along with antlerless-only and drawing-only districts. If you want a real bull on a general license, turn it on before you rank anything.
The filter looks only at the general license. It does not know whether you plan to apply for a permit, so if you do, turn it off and read each district's permit list instead. Every Montana unit page marks the general license "Included" or "Not included" for bull elk and shows the full regulation text underneath, including the numbers of the B licenses and permits listed for that district.
Success rates are covered in How to read hunting success rates, and the full process of choosing a district is in How to pick an elk unit. Read the current year's district section before you buy or apply. Season lines, quotas, and permit numbers can change from one year to the next.
Sources
- Montana FWP — 2026 Deer, Elk, and Antelope Regulations (PDF) — resident General Elk License and Sportsman's License sales (p. 12), the elk permit April 1 deadline and General Elk License prerequisite (p. 16), and the district sections for HD 217 (p. 62), HD 360 (p. 84), HD 411 (p. 93), HD 417 (p. 96), HD 455 (p. 106), HD 555 (p. 110), HD 580 (p. 111), and HD 700 (p. 118). Accessed September 2026.
- Montana FWP — Nonresident License Fees — the $270 nonresident Elk B license. Accessed September 2026.
- Montana FWP — Surplus Licenses — the June 15 to July 15, 2026 surplus sign-up for Elk B licenses. Accessed September 2026.
- Montana FWP — Harvest Reports — the hunter and harvest counts behind every Montana rate. Accessed September 2026. See the Data page for the per-unit sources.