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Montana hunting unit

Hunting District 403: public land and hunting map

Hunting District 403 is one of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’s 139 deer, elk and lion hunting districts in Montana. It covers about 659 square miles (421,660 acres), and roughly 3.5% of it is public land: BLM 3.5%.

Measured Oct 12, 2026 from agency boundaries and USGS PAD-US 4.1 · sources and method

Who manages the land

  • Bureau of Land Management3.5%

Share of the unit’s area. Federal agencies plus state wildlife, trust and natural-resource land, as the WikiHunt map classifies it. The rest is private, tribal, local or other land.

Rut: Published rut estimates for Montana differ by region and species: Nov 21 – Dec 1, Mid – late November and ≈ Nov 21, each with its source on the rut page. Rut dates and sources for Montana.

Outline of Hunting District 403 and the units around itHunting District 401 · 1.2% publicHunting District 406 · 2.5% public
Hunting District 403 in orange; neighbours shaded by public land share (darker = more public). Tap a neighbour to open it.

Units next to Hunting District 403

Montana season dates, 2026

Statewide general seasons. Many units have their own dates, quotas or draw-only hunts, so check the unit in the regulations before you go.

SpeciesSeason2026 dates
Deer Archery Deer Sep 5 – Oct 18
Deer General Rifle Deer Oct 24 – Nov 29
Elk Archery Elk Sep 5 – Oct 18
Elk General Rifle Elk Oct 24 – Nov 29
Pronghorn Rifle Antelope Oct 10 – Nov 8
Moose Moose Sep 15 – Nov 29
Black bear Fall Bear Sep 15 – Nov 29

Full notes on the Montana page · Montana regulations.

Questions

How much of Hunting District 403 is public land?

About 3.5% of Hunting District 403 (14,758 of 421,660 acres) is federal or state public land in USGS PAD-US 4.1, mostly Bureau of Land Management. Public land is not always open land: check access and closures before you go.

Who manages the land in Hunting District 403?

Bureau of Land Management: 3.5%. The rest is private, tribal, local government or other land.

Which units border Hunting District 403?

Hunting District 401 and Hunting District 406.

Where are the season dates and rules for Hunting District 403?

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks sets them. Start at the Montana hunting regulations. WikiHunt shows the statewide general seasons on the Montana page and in the app.

Sources and method

  • Boundary: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the same layer the WikiHunt map draws.
  • Public land: USGS Protected Areas Database (PAD-US) 4.1, Fee Managers layer (public domain).
  • Method: the unit and PAD-US polygons are simplified to about 100 m and measured on a grid of about 250 cells across the unit, so overlapping records are counted once. Expect about ±1 percentage point.
  • Season dates: WikiHunt’s season table, updated Sep 2, 2026, checked against each state’s published regulations. Dates change; the regulations win.
  • Last updated: Oct 12, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.