Unit 361 (Hebgen-Upper Madison)
Montana Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 361 lies in Madison and Gallatin counties and covers about 225 square miles. Ground runs from 6,539 to 9,122 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.
Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 361
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Elk Hunting in Unit 361
Unit 361 lies in Madison and Gallatin counties and covers about 225 square miles. Ground runs from 6,539 to 9,122 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 361
Montana FWP draws an exact line around unit 361 and says nothing about where the elk stand inside it. 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 Madison and Gallatin counties. It runs to about 225 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Duck Creek, Grayling Creek and Hebgen Lake
Montana FWP draws unit 361 in Madison and Gallatin counties with a boundary that runs on US Highway 191, US Highway 287 and Route 87, and on Duck Creek, Grayling Creek, Hebgen Lake and Hebgen Lake Dam, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. 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: Sheep Mountain, Coffin Mountain and Rumbaugh Ridge
Named high points inside the unit include Sheep Mountain at 10,252 feet, Coffin Mountain at 9,969 feet, Rumbaugh Ridge at 7,124 feet and Horse Butte at 7,071 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk want timber to bed in and open ground to feed on, within a short walk of each other.
Holding ground: Rocky Draw, Madison Valley and Madison Slide
Below them sit Rocky Draw at 6,680 feet, Madison Valley at 6,537 feet, Madison Slide at 6,501 feet, Moose Creek Plateau at 8,195 feet and Targhee Pass at 7,078 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.
Water in this unit
The water inside the unit line comes to 398 mapped stream reaches, 17 lakes and 54 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 6,539 feet to 9,122 feet, averaging 7,312 — enough relief to separate summer range from winter range.
Unit 361 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 6,539–9,122 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,312 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 224.9 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
- 54 tanks
- 398 stream segments
- 17 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: Sheep Mountain (10,252 ft), Coffin Mountain (9,969 ft), Rumbaugh Ridge (7,124 ft), Horse Butte (7,071 ft)
Holding ground: Moose Creek Plateau (8,195 ft), Black Bear Canyon (7,077 ft), Mosquito Gulch (6,716 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 361
Elk Success Rates
Montana FWP's 2023 harvest estimates carry no elk row for unit 361 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 361. 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
Planning Notes
Camp Sites
19 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, including Hideaway RV Park, Lonesomehurst Campground and Under Canvas Glamping.
Road Conditions
US 287, MT 87 and US 20 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 18 mi paved, 2 mi gravel and 1 mi four-wheel-drive.
Terrain Difficulty
6,539–9,122 ft, averaging 7,312. Enough relief to separate summer from winter range.
Hunting Pressure
Our land-status read for this unit is approximate, so treat any pressure estimate from it with suspicion and check a current ownership layer.
Weather
Season normals: Sep 68/32°F, 1.7 in.; Oct 51/24°F, 2 in.; Nov 35/14°F, 2.6 in..
Cell Service
Verizon 15%, AT&T 10%, T-Mobile 5% of the unit area — modelled coverage, not measured. Assume no signal off the paved road.
Nearest Town
West Yellowstone (8 mi), Island Park (21 mi), Mammoth (32 mi)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit 361?
What is the elk success rate in unit 361?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 361 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