Unit 123 (Clark Mountain)
Montana Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 123 lies in Sanders County and covers about 238 square miles. Ground runs from 3,202 to 5,772 feet. Montana FWP publishes no per-unit elk success figure we can verify for this unit. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 123
Unit 123 lies in Sanders County and covers about 238 square miles. Ground runs from 3,202 to 5,772 feet. Montana FWP publishes no per-unit elk success figure we can verify for this unit. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Unit 123
What Montana FWP publishes for unit 123 is a boundary, not a elk map. So the ground below is the unit's own and the read on where to start is ours, labelled as such. The unit lies in Sanders County. It runs to about 238 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Mosquito Creek, Sievers Ridge and Mosquito Peak
Montana FWP draws unit 123 in Sanders County with a boundary that runs on State Route 200, USFS Trail 398 and USFS Trail 1130, and on Mosquito Creek, Sievers Ridge, Mosquito Peak and Beaver Peak, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. What it does give you is the way in: the rivers and highways you cross, and the divides that decide which drainage you end up in.
High ground inside the line: Penrose Peak, Driveway Peak and Taft Summit
Named high points inside the unit include Penrose Peak at 7,214 feet, Driveway Peak at 6,408 feet, Taft Summit at 6,307 feet, Glidden Ridge at 6,302 feet and Table Top Mountain at 5,747 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk on low, open country live on distance and visibility, so they see you first.
Holding ground: Helwick Gulch, Glidden Gulch and Gold Rush Gulch
Below them sit Helwick Gulch at 3,621 feet, Glidden Gulch at 3,511 feet, Gold Rush Gulch at 3,497 feet, Monroe Gulch at 3,385 feet and Dirty Gulch at 3,368 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.
Water: Mass Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 23 mapped stream reaches, 6 lakes and 17 stock tanks. Named sources include Mass Spring. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Reading the land status
Our ownership read for this unit is approximate — it comes out as National Forest 60%, Private / Other 32% and State Trust 8%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. The unit runs from 3,202 feet to 5,772 feet, averaging 4,396 — enough relief to separate summer range from winter range.
Unit 123 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 3,202–5,772 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,396 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 238.1 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 32%
Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 17 tanks
- 23 stream segments
- 6 lakes
Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Penrose Peak (7,214 ft), Driveway Peak (6,408 ft), Taft Summit (6,307 ft), Glidden Ridge (6,302 ft)
Holding ground: Cooper Pass (5,819 ft), East Fork Pass (5,550 ft), Joan Creek Pass (4,581 ft), Mass Spring
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Elk in Unit 123
Elk Success Rates
Montana FWP's 2023 harvest estimates carry no elk row for unit 123 that we can read back to this unit on its own. Where the agency reports a unit inside a grouping, or prints a table our parser cannot resolve to a single column, we leave the number out rather than publish a statewide average as though it had been measured here. Montana FWP's current harvest estimates are the place to check before you apply.
Elk Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — B License either sex (resident) | 24 | 206 | 11.7% | — |
| Rifle — B License either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 11 | 9.1% | — |
Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.
Open in Draw Odds EngineMontana FWP's draw recap has no elk record we can tie to unit 123. That usually means the licence is sold over the counter, is issued under a hunt code covering several units, or was not offered in the years we hold. Rather than estimate a point requirement, we leave it blank — check Montana FWP's own draw recap for the hunt code you mean to apply for.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit 123?
What is the elk success rate in unit 123?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 123 hunt?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-24.
- Montana FWP Hunting District Legal Descriptions, 2026/2027 — deer-elk hunting districts (pp. 19-35) — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · supports: GMU boundary description, Counties the unit lies in · accessed 2026-10-24
- FWP hunting district feature services — deer/elk, antelope, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat districts (2026 and 2027 seasons) — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · supports: Mapped extent of the unit, Which named ground falls inside the unit line · accessed 2026-10-24