Unit 280 (North Blackfoot)
Montana Hunting Guide — Elk, Mule Deer, Whitetail
Unit 280 lies in Powell and Lewis and Clark counties and covers about 304 square miles. Ground runs from 5,383 to 7,812 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 280
Unit 280 lies in Powell and Lewis and Clark counties and covers about 304 square miles. Ground runs from 5,383 to 7,812 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 280
Montana FWP's material on unit 280 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its elk live. 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 Powell and Lewis and Clark counties. It runs to about 304 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Monture Creek, Falls Creek and Center Creek
Montana FWP draws unit 280 in Powell and Lewis and Clark counties with a boundary that runs on Monture Creek, Falls Creek, Center Creek and Youngs Pass, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. Its value is practical — those are the features you will navigate by, and the ridges that separate one day's country from another's.
High ground inside the line: Red Mountain, Evans Peak and Olson Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Red Mountain at 9,392 feet, Evans Peak at 8,964 feet, Olson Peak at 8,841 feet, Pyramid Peak at 8,664 feet and Red Ridge at 8,519 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: Tobacco Valley, Dry Fork Flathead Divide and Limestone Pass
Below them sit Tobacco Valley at 5,918 feet, Dry Fork Flathead Divide at 5,386 feet, Limestone Pass at 7,407 feet, Windy Pass at 6,951 feet and Camp Pass at 6,758 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.
Water in this unit
The water inside the unit line comes to 21 mapped stream reaches, 8 lakes and 3 stock tanks. 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 5,383 feet to 7,812 feet, averaging 6,710 — enough relief to separate summer range from winter range.
Unit 280 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 5,383–7,812 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,710 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 304.3 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
- 3 tanks
- 21 stream segments
- 8 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: Red Mountain (9,392 ft), Evans Peak (8,964 ft), Olson Peak (8,841 ft), Pyramid Peak (8,664 ft)
Holding ground: Limestone Pass (7,407 ft), Windy Pass (6,951 ft), Camp Pass (6,758 ft)
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 280
Elk Success Rates
Montana FWP's 2023 harvest estimates carry no elk row for unit 280 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
Draw odds data not available for this specific unit/species combination in our database.
Search Montana Draw OddsMontana FWP's draw recap has no elk record we can tie to unit 280. 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 280?
What is the elk success rate in unit 280?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 280 hunt?
What is the mule deer success rate in unit 280?
What is the whitetail success rate in unit 280?
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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