You can really break Montana deer hunting into two different categories: deer hunting on private land and deer hunting on public land. If you have access to private land or are booking with an outfitter that’s been leased private land, you are going to be in for a good hunt—assuming the landowner or outfitter is managing the property. If you’re planning to hunt public land in the eastern part of the state, you should be aware that overhunting has led to low deer populations and very low age class. If you’re a public land hunter looking to hunt the more mountainous regions on the western side of the state, you will have a better chance of finding a mature buck.

The majority of the deer units in Montana are managed for hunter opportunity rather than trophy hunting. Montana’s general deer tags provide a great opportunity for hunters to harvest a nice mule deer or whitetail buck. Archery season is September 5 through October 18, rifle season is October 24 through November 29, and muzzleloader season is December 12 through 20. The rifle season dates allow hunters to hunt the entire rut. The downside of these season windows is that most of the mature bucks on public land are harvested each year, making it difficult to find many older-age-class bucks on the landscape. Montana can manage this because deer find sanctuary on private land, ensuring they get some age on them. That said, finding a 150” mule deer buck on public land is harder today than it’s been at any time in the last decade.

The eastern side of the state is by far the most popular general mule deer hunting spot, but populations are way down. That side of the state has a lot of private land, but there is plenty of Block Management and public land that anyone can hunt. For hunters wanting to see more deer, the central and eastern parts of the state are where they should be looking. For those who enjoy mountain hunting and are okay with not seeing a lot of mule deer, they should look towards regions 1, 2, and 3. More mature bucks have been taken in these timbered mountain areas in recent years. Ultimately, a big buck can come from anywhere in the state as long as he’s had the chance to get some age on him.

If you are wanting a deer hunt with less hunting pressure, you should look at the muzzleloader hunt. This hunt is post-rut, and bucks will be feeding hard to put some body weight back on for the winter. Be prepared for cold weather as the season runs through mid-December, and make sure your muzzleloader meets the Montana muzzleloader heritage season rules.

In Montana, fifteen percent of all permits for elk and deer can go to landowners. The landowner draw takes place before the regular draw. Any special permit that a non-resident landowner draws will count against the ten percent non-resident quota for that unit. In 2025, all of the non-resident deer permits in 261-50 were distributed through the regular draw and one of the three 270-50 non-resident tags was drawn by a non-resident landowner. Over the last eight seasons, all non-resident permits in unit 261, and eighteen of the twenty-six non-resident tags in unit 270 were drawn by non-resident landowners.

Unit 262 is still producing a couple good bucks each year, but if you don’t want to hunt on private land around houses, don’t apply for this unit. This is not going to be a fun hunt for a self-guided non-resident, as access is typically granted to local hunters who spend the spring and summer months knocking on doors to secure areas to hunt. Access is also getting harder to come by; many landowners in the area have grown tired of being asked for permission to hunt their land, and outfitters are also struggling to find access in this unit. Finding a big buck in unit 262 is more difficult now than in the past, though there was one 180” buck killed during the archery hunt in 2025.

Units in Eastern Montana have taken the biggest population hit and are still well below the ten-year average. Hunters have had to work a lot harder to fill their tags the last couple of years, and many have had to resort to shooting younger bucks. The herds in Western Montana are small but stable. The central and eastern parts of the state have stable or, in some cases, slightly increasing populations of mule deer. In 2025, the statewide mule deer population estimate came in at 273,415 deer—a ten percent increase over the 2024 population estimate. Montana FWP broke that number down into estimates for each region: 8,808 mule deer in region 1; 15,050 mule deer in region 2; 47,184 mule deer in region 3; 54,178 mule deer in region 4; 23,307 mule deer in region 5; 54,973 mule deer in region 6; and 69,915 mule deer in region 7. Hopefully, Montana will keep mule deer doe tags low and continue to give these numbers a chance to rebound. If you are a mule deer doe hunter, remember that the majority of mule deer doe permits will only be valid on private land. Check the regulations for more information on doe tags.

If you are planning on hunting general mule deer, we have included a 2026 General Districts map for mule deer on page 109. This map will give hunters a good idea of the units where they can hunt mule deer with a general tag. This map is based on the 2026 regulations.

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