District 575, Montana

Rolling hills and short, steep draws descending to river valleys, with the Yellowstone and Stillwater Rivers as major topographic anchors. Elevation ranges from approximately 3,826 ft in the river bottoms to roughly 5,643 ft on the higher ridges and benches approaching the Beartooth foothills. The district covers about 816 square miles (522,248 acres).

Public land is extremely limited at approximately 5% of the district (roughly 1% BLM, 4% Montana State), making this one of the most private-land-dominated districts in Region 5. The interstate I-90 and US-212 bisect the northern portion near Columbus. Montana Highway 78 runs south along the Stillwater River toward Absarokee. No National Forest or Wilderness land falls within the district proper; the Custer Gallatin National Forest and Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness begin in adjacent districts to the south and west. The Block Management Program (administered by FWP Region 5, Billings: 406-247-2940, fwpr5bmp@mt.gov) provides the bulk of public hunting access across roughly 105 BMAs and 505,602 acres region-wide — hunters must obtain a current Block Management Area map from FWP before the season. Fishing access sites along the Yellowstone provide scattered walk-in points. Hunters are strongly advised to secure private access prior to the season.

High open prairie with grassy rolling pastures dominate the uplands. Sparse ponderosa pine stands appear on ridge tops and north-facing slopes. Riparian corridors along the Yellowstone, Stillwater, and tributary drainages support cottonwood gallery forests and willow thickets. Irrigated hay and cropland is widespread on private bottomland. There is no designated Wilderness within the district boundaries.

Elk are present year-round in multiple discrete herds; the 2024 population count was approximately 1,138 against a management objective of 650–1,050 (moderate confidence — PDF source not directly verified). Elk concentrate on private land bottomlands and sheltered draws, limiting public-land harvest. Both mule deer and white-tailed deer inhabit the district, with whitetails favoring river-bottom cottonwood cover and mule deer using drier open ridges and drainages. Pronghorn antelope occur in the open prairie portions (low-to-moderate confidence; not confirmed by HuntScore species list). Mountain lion are present but encounter rates are low. Black bear are present in low numbers near the Beartooth foothills fringe (low confidence; not listed by HuntScore).

1. Public land pct (5%: 1% BLM, 4% State) confirmed by HuntScore; corroborated by GoHunt (~4.5%). 2. Elevation low revised to ~3,826 ft (HuntScore); high ~5,643 ft (HuntScore). 3. Elk population 2024 (~1,138, objective 650–1,050) from FWP PDF search snippet — moderate confidence, PDF was binary and could not be parsed directly. 4. HuntScore lists only Deer, Elk, Mountain Lion for HD 575; Pronghorn and Black Bear retained from draft at low confidence as plausible fringe species. 5. Antelope hunt district number (575-20) removed — could not confirm from fetched sources. 6. Mountain lion season dates not confirmed for this district — null used. 7. Harvest stats (1,731 hunters, 34.7%, 1,336 total) from HuntScore 2021 — multi-species combined, not elk-only; not reported in species_data. 8. Season dates (archery, general, muzzleloader) confirmed from FWP 2026 statewide pages.