District 309, Montana

Predominantly flat to gently rolling valley floor at approximately 4,300–4,820 feet elevation, flanked to the east by the Bridger Range (rising to Sacagawea Peak at 9,665 feet) and bounded to the south and west by the Gallatin Range foothills. The valley bottom is traversed by the East and West Gallatin Rivers and numerous irrigation ditches. River-bottom drainages provide the primary wildlife habitat corridors in an otherwise open agricultural landscape. Total district area is approximately 110,870 acres (173 square miles).

Access in HD 309 is extremely limited. Approximately 12% of the district is public or state land (6% federal/public + 6% state per HuntScore land-ownership data); roughly 88% is private. A handful of State of Montana land sections along the Gallatin River bottoms provide the only practical public hunting ground, and these are primarily accessible to archery hunters. Most game-inhabited areas are private ranchland and residential property immediately adjacent to Bozeman and Belgrade development. Permission from landowners is required for the vast majority of huntable ground and is historically difficult to obtain even for local residents. No Block Management areas are enrolled in the district (confirmed per FWP CWD extension release, Dec 2025). No major National Forest or BLM tracts lie within the district. The Gallatin National Forest and associated public lands begin in adjacent districts (311, 314). Primary roads include U.S. Highway 191 (Gallatin Road), MT Highway 86, and Frontage Road / Four Corners Road through the valley. The district is formally designated a Weapons Restriction Area; rifles are prohibited within HD 309. Allowed weapons are: archery (any legal bow), shotgun (slug ammunition), muzzleloader (minimum .45 caliber, black powder or Pyrodex, muzzle-loading only), and handgun (traditional revolver, maximum 4.75-inch barrel, straight-walled cartridges not originally designed for rifles). FWP Region 3 HQ in Bozeman (406-577-7900) maintains the district boundary map.

Dominant cover types are cottonwood and willow riparian corridors along the Gallatin River and its tributaries, interspersed with irrigated hay fields, grain croplands, and pasture. Upland areas consist largely of dryland wheat and grass with shelterbelts. Residential subdivisions and urban development have consumed thousands of acres of former habitat as Bozeman and Belgrade have expanded. There is minimal conifer habitat within the district boundaries; the forested Gallatin and Bridger ranges lie in adjacent districts.

White-tailed deer are abundant, with localized urban densities exceeding 60 deer per square mile in some areas; chronic game damage complaints (vehicle strikes, fence entanglements, landscape damage) are ongoing. Elk use the valley seasonally, migrating from surrounding national forest in fall and spring and foraging on cropland; a 2023 FWP count enumerated approximately 936 elk associated with HDs 301/309, reported as well above the 400–600 management objective (figure from commission documents; not independently verified from a primary-readable source). Elk are above objective and causing chronic agricultural damage. Mountain lion are present as a follow-on predator of deer and elk moving through the valley corridors. Mule deer occur in limited numbers, primarily near the foothills fringe. Black bear occasionally move through from adjacent forested districts. CWD was detected in white-tailed deer in HD 309; nine cases were confirmed in the 2024–2025 season, bringing the total to 14 confirmed cases in the greater Bozeman area as of December 2025, prompting an FWP season extension through February 15, 2026.