Montana Hunting District 170
Elk
9.5%
Mule deer
0.8%
Whitetail
64.5%
For planning only. Seasons, license rules, and boundaries change, and this site can contain errors. Before you apply, buy a license, or hunt, confirm everything in the official FWP deer, elk & antelope regulations. Published state regulations always control. Terms of use
Elk
Licenses
General Elk License
Availability: Residents Over the counter · Nonresidents Draw
Included Includes bull elk
HD 170 (Flathead River) General Elk License opportunities, 2026 regulations p. 53.
District NOTE: 'HD 170 Check Restricted Area Legal Description, Flathead Weapons Restriction Area and Blasdel WPAs.
Bad Rock Canyon WMA closed Dec. 2-May 15.
Kuhns WMA closed Dec. 2-April 1.' Brow-tined bull elk: Archery Only Sep 05-Oct 18, General Oct 24-Nov 29, Heritage Muzzleloader Dec 12-Dec 20.
Brow-tined bull or antlerless elk: General Oct 24-Nov 29, Heritage Muzzleloader Dec 12-Dec 20, 'Only valid north of Lake Blaine Road and West of Hwy 35.' Elk B license 170-00 is also listed for this HD; not itemized here (general license only).
This restriction applies only to the sub-area described in the district NOTE, not to the whole hunting district, so no district-wide weapon restriction is recorded here.
Residents: Residents buy the General Elk License over the counter; the resident license availability chart (p. 12) lists no application deadline for it, and residents may instead buy a Sportsman's License that includes one.
Nonresidents: Most nonresidents cannot buy their General Elk License over the counter.
Per 'Elk Licenses & Permits - General Elk License' (p. 16), it must be obtained through the April 1 drawing for one of the 17,000 Big Game Combination Licenses (the Elk Combination License also includes a General Elk License).
Source: FWP regulations (2026)
Other permits and B-licenses may be available for this district — not yet itemized in this dataset.
6+ point bulls: 4 of 26 total bulls harvested (2025)
Success rate history
| Year | Hunters | All | Spike | Bull | 6+ pt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | ||
| 2025 | Not published | 67 | — | 0 | — | 26 | — | 4 | — |
| 2024 | 588 | 56 | 9.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 23 | 3.9% | 6 | 1.0% |
| 2023 | Not published | 45 | — | 0 | — | 27 | — | 12 | — |
| 2022 | 455 | 39 | 8.6% | 0 | 0.0% | 10 | 2.2% | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2021 | Not published | 31 | — | 0 | — | 16 | — | 12 | — |
Source: Montana FWP harvest reports, 2024.
Mule Deer
Licenses
General Deer License
Availability: Residents Over the counter · Nonresidents Draw
Included Includes antlered buck mule deer
HD 170 (Flathead River) General Deer License opportunities, 2026 regulations p. 53.
District NOTE: 'HD 170 Check Restricted Area Legal Description, Flathead Weapons Restriction Area and Blasdel WPAs.
Bad Rock Canyon WMA closed Dec. 2-May 15.
Kuhns WMA closed Dec. 2-April 1.' Either-sex white-tailed deer: Archery Only Sep 05-Oct 18, General Oct 24-Nov 29, Heritage Muzzleloader Dec 12-Dec 20.
Antlered buck mule deer: Archery Only Sep 05-Oct 18, General Oct 24-Nov 29, Heritage Muzzleloader Dec 12-Dec 20.
Deer B licenses 170-00 and 170-20 are also listed for this HD; not itemized here (general license only).
This restriction applies only to the sub-area described in the district NOTE, not to the whole hunting district, so no district-wide weapon restriction is recorded here.
Residents: Residents buy the General Deer License over the counter; the resident license availability chart (p. 12) lists no application deadline for it, and residents may instead buy a Sportsman's License that includes one.
Nonresidents: Most nonresidents cannot buy their general deer license over the counter.
Per 'Deer Licenses & Permits - General Deer License' (p. 15), it must be obtained through one of the April 1 drawings: the Big Game (deer and elk) Combination License (17,000 issued), the Deer Combination License (4,600 issued), or a Landowner Sponsored License (2,000 issued).
Nonresidents may apply for only one of these combination licenses per year.
Source: FWP regulations (2026)
Other permits and B-licenses may be available for this district — not yet itemized in this dataset.
4+ point mule deer bucks: 4 of 4 mule deer bucks harvested (2025)
Deer rates divide each species' harvest by all deer hunters in the district — FWP doesn't count mule deer and whitetail hunters separately.
Success rate history
| Year | Hunters | All | Buck | 4+ pt | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | ||
| 2025 | 2713 | 22 | 0.8% | 4 | 0.1% | 4 | 0.1% |
| 2024 | Not published | 36 | — | 30 | — | 12 | — |
| 2023 | 2431 | 44 | 1.8% | 34 | 1.4% | 10 | 0.4% |
| 2022 | Not published | 40 | — | 23 | — | 13 | — |
| 2021 | 2244 | 48 | 2.1% | 27 | 1.2% | 12 | 0.5% |
Source: Montana FWP harvest reports, 2025.
Whitetail
Licenses
General Deer License
Availability: Residents Over the counter · Nonresidents Draw
Included Includes antlered buck whitetail
HD 170 (Flathead River) General Deer License opportunities, 2026 regulations p. 53.
District NOTE: 'HD 170 Check Restricted Area Legal Description, Flathead Weapons Restriction Area and Blasdel WPAs.
Bad Rock Canyon WMA closed Dec. 2-May 15.
Kuhns WMA closed Dec. 2-April 1.'
Either-sex white-tailed deer: Archery Only Sep 05-Oct 18, General Oct 24-Nov 29, Heritage Muzzleloader Dec 12-Dec 20.
Deer B licenses 170-00 and 170-20 are also listed for this HD; not itemized here (general license only).
This restriction applies only to the sub-area described in the district NOTE, not to the whole hunting district, so no district-wide weapon restriction is recorded here.
Residents: Residents buy the General Deer License over the counter; the resident license availability chart (p. 12) lists no application deadline for it, and residents may instead buy a Sportsman's License that includes one.
Nonresidents: Most nonresidents cannot buy their general deer license over the counter.
Per 'Deer Licenses & Permits - General Deer License' (p. 15), it must be obtained through one of the April 1 drawings: the Big Game (deer and elk) Combination License (17,000 issued), the Deer Combination License (4,600 issued), or a Landowner Sponsored License (2,000 issued).
Nonresidents may apply for only one of these combination licenses per year.
Source: FWP regulations (2026)
Other permits and B-licenses may be available for this district — not yet itemized in this dataset.
4+ point whitetail bucks: 562 of 809 whitetail bucks harvested (2025)
Deer rates divide each species' harvest by all deer hunters in the district — FWP doesn't count mule deer and whitetail hunters separately.
Success rate history
| Year | Hunters | All | Buck | 4+ pt | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | ||
| 2025 | 2713 | 1750 | 64.5% | 809 | 29.8% | 562 | 20.7% |
| 2024 | Not published | 1790 | — | 887 | — | 650 | — |
| 2023 | 2431 | 1328 | 54.6% | 736 | 30.3% | 487 | 20.0% |
| 2022 | Not published | 1471 | — | 772 | — | 496 | — |
| 2021 | 2244 | 1428 | 63.6% | 793 | 35.3% | 541 | 24.1% |
Source: Montana FWP harvest reports, 2025.