District 260, Montana

The district occupies low-elevation valley floor along the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers, ranging roughly from 3,000 to 3,600 feet in elevation. Topography is predominantly flat to gently rolling, featuring agricultural fields, meandering creek and river bottoms, brush-choked oxbows, and low foothills transitioning into the Rattlesnake and Lolo National Forest uplands at the district margins. Approximately 80 percent of the landscape has minimal slope.

Public land comprises approximately 11-12 percent of the district; private land dominates at roughly 88-92 percent, making access the central challenge. Key public access points include: Kelly Island Fishing Access Site (approximately 705 acres), west of Missoula off the Clark Fork; Erskine Fishing Access Site (approximately 428 acres) with adjacent USFS lands, west of Missoula; Council Grove State Park (nearly 1.5 miles of Clark Fork frontage, 7 miles west of Missoula on Mullan Road — archery deer and waterfowl hunting permitted on the park island, confirmed by FWP); Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge near Stevensville (2,275 acres, 82 percent open to licensed archery hunters, with sign-in boxes at five parking areas along Eastside Highway, confirmed by USFWS); and South Side Road public corridor. FWP Region 2 Block Management program enrolls some private parcels annually — contact Region 2 office in Missoula (406-542-5530) for current enrolled properties. No wilderness areas fall within this valley-floor district. Highways US-93, MT-269, and Interstate 90 form portions of the district boundary; county roads provide grid access throughout the valley, though hunters must confirm land status at every parcel. Private landowner permission is essential for the vast majority of the district.

Dominant cover types include cottonwood-willow riparian corridors along the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers, dense brush bottoms and oxbow thickets, and open agricultural fields (hay, grain, and pasture). Upland edges grade into ponderosa pine and mixed conifer on foothills. River-bottom habitat provides dense thermal and escape cover for white-tailed deer year-round. Elk use is limited to dispersed individuals moving through river-bottom corridors seasonally.

White-tailed deer are abundant and the primary game species, concentrated in river-bottom brush and agricultural field edges year-round. Does and fawns are highly visible; bucks use dense cover especially during the archery rut, which can begin as early as the first week of September and run approximately one month. Elk are present but scarce — individuals and small groups move through the valley-floor corridor seasonally but do not hold in the district in significant numbers. Black bear and mountain lion are present given proximity to adjacent Lolo and Bitterroot National Forest uplands. Waterfowl concentrate along the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers and on Lee Metcalf Refuge ponds during migration.