2019 Montana Elk Season Dates
Please note that these Montana Elk Season Dates are from Montana’s Department of Wildlife’s website and that you should double check before hunting!
2019 Montana Archery Elk Season
September 7 – October 20
Two-Day Youth Hunt (Deer Only)
October 17 – October 18
2019 Montana General Elk Season Dates
October 26 – December 1
Backcountry (HD’s 150, 151, 280, 316)
Archery
September 7 – September 14
General
September 15 – December 1
Over The Counter Montana Elk
Elk range across several million acres of Montana in 148 hunting districts. Most live west of a line running from Glacier National Park to Yellowstone National Park. Roughly 50 percent of the annual elk harvest comes from southwestern Montana (FWP Region 3), in places like the Gallatin and Beaverhead-Deerlodge national forests. Elk also lives along the Rocky Mountain Front and in the Big Belt, Little Belt, Pioneer, Bitterroot, Purcell, Mission, and Cabinet mountains, as well as in the Swan, Garnet, and Whitefish ranges.
Two essential resources to help you decide where to hunt are the FWP Montana Elk Management Plan, available on the FWP website, and Elk Hunting Montana: Finding Success on the Best Public Lands, published by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The 400-page elk plan, last updated in 2004, lists public access opportunities, elk harvest over the previous decade, and other helpful information for each of the state’s 35 EMUs, or elk management units. (Each EMU
contains from two to five hunting districts or HDs.) The plan also includes a history of elk management in Montana, state wide harvest and hunter numbers over the past decades, and the comparative densities, by EMU, of bull elk and antlerless elk harvest during selected years. Elk Hunting Montana, avaliable at booksellers, divides Montana’s hunting range into 19 geographic areas. For each area, the book provides an overview of elk distribution, explains where to hunt, and offers hunting strategies.
It also includes a matrix—based on FWP harvest data and experiences by Montana hunters—indicating whether each area has low to high elk numbers, hunter densities, trophy bull potential, and proportions of roadless areas. Once you have a rough idea where you want to hunt, check the FWP elk regulations (available at FWP offices and fwp.mt.gov) to see what hunting districts you will be in and the boundaries, special seasons, regulations, and required permits that apply there.
Hunting Private Land In Montana
Though most elk in Montana during much of the year are on public land, many are on private property, especially at season’s end. Snow and cold drive them from mountains down into valleys, which are composed primarily of ranches and farms. Gaining access to this private land is not always easy, even for locals. The exception is on Block Management Areas (see below). The best way to get access to private land is to ask politely well before the season begins. The odds are better if you ask to hunt for antlerless elk only.
Montana Block Management Areas
Montana’s Block Management Program provides free hunting access to private land, under various restrictions. Eastern Montana holds most of the 8 million acres in Block Management, but tens of thousands of acres are in western Montana’s prime elk range. New Block Management maps and tabloids are available each year at all area and regional FWP offices starting in mid-August. Call or write the FWP regional office where you want to hunt and ask for their annual “Hunting Access Guide.” This booklet summarizes the current year’s Block Management opportunities and the rules and regulations for each area. You can also access maps to all Block Management Areas at fwp.mt.gov.
Montana Parks & Wildlife Website
2019 Elk Season Dates
Looking for the 2019 – 2020 elk season dates for your state, or looking to travel for the best out of state elk hunt? Legion Outdoors has compiled a list of all states cow and bull elk season dates to better assist you to plan your next in state or out of state elk hunt! Please note that these elk season dates are from each states department of wildlife’s website and that you should double check before hunting!
Legion Outdoors Performance Hunting Apparel
Many times we don’t think of our clothes as gear, but when it comes to outdoor and hunting planning and preparations, your clothes can make or break a camp out or hunting trip. Clothes help monitor climate and temperature and can make sure your target game animals can see or smell you. Our Synergy® camo pattern blends effectively with varied terrains from river bottoms and marshlands to sagebrush country to dense forests. This pattern is designed for early to late season hunting, blending with the foliage as it turns from summer greens and golds to fall oranges and browns. So, whether you’re stalking big game in the high country, antelope on sagebrush flats, whitetails in the river bottoms, ducks and geese in the marshlands or pheasants in open fields, we’ve got you covered.
Tags: Arizona Elk Season, Utah Elk Season, New Mexico Elk Season, Colorado Elk Season, Wyoming Elk Season, Kentucky Elk Season, Pennsylvania Elk Season, Oregon Elk Season, Washington Elk Season, Nebraska Elk Season, South Dakota Elk Season, North Dakota Elk Season, Nevada Elk Season.
Sign Up For FREE SHIPPING!
