Unit 445 (Hound Creek)
Montana Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 445 lies in Cascade, Lewis and Clark and Meagher counties and covers about 690 square miles. Ground runs from 3,377 to 6,180 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 445
Unit 445 lies in Cascade, Lewis and Clark and Meagher counties and covers about 690 square miles. Ground runs from 3,377 to 6,180 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 445
What Montana FWP publishes for unit 445 is a boundary, not a elk map. Every place named below sits inside the unit line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out. The unit lies in Cascade, Lewis and Clark and Meagher counties. It runs to about 690 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Missouri River, Smith River and Two Creek
Montana FWP draws unit 445 in Cascade, Lewis and Clark and Meagher counties with a boundary that runs on Interstate 15, and on Missouri River, Smith River, Two Creek and Trout Creek, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. Those features are what you will check against the map all week, and the divides among them are the ones that matter.
High ground inside the line: Adel Mountain, The Pinnacles and The Sawteeth
Named high points inside the unit include Adel Mountain at 7,091 feet, The Pinnacles at 6,629 feet, The Sawteeth at 6,503 feet, Black Mountain at 5,963 feet and Harris Mountain at 5,926 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: Herman Gulch, Spring Coulee and Too-nah-hin Hollow
Below them sit Herman Gulch at 4,472 feet, Spring Coulee at 4,358 feet, Too-nah-hin Hollow at 4,341 feet, Browns Flat at 4,281 feet and Mud Gulch at 4,070 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.
Water: 18N01E24B___01 Well, Mountain Spring and Castner Falls
The water inside the unit line comes to 35 mapped stream reaches, 19 lakes and 52 stock tanks. Named sources include 18N01E24B___01 Well, Mountain Spring, Castner Falls, 18N01W35____02 Well and 18N01E13A___02 Well. 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 3,377 feet to 6,180 feet, averaging 4,534 — enough relief to separate summer range from winter range.
Unit 445 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 3,377–6,180 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,534 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 690 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
- 52 tanks
- 35 stream segments
- 19 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: Adel Mountain (7,091 ft), The Pinnacles (6,629 ft), The Sawteeth (6,503 ft), Black Mountain (5,963 ft)
Holding ground: Mowing Machine Coulee (4,744 ft), The Devils Kitchen (4,038 ft), Chestnut Valley (3,342 ft), 18N01E24B___01 Well, Mountain 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 445
Elk Success Rates
Montana FWP's 2023 harvest estimates carry no elk row for unit 445 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 — General either sex (resident) | 28 | 668 | 4.2% | — |
| Rifle — General either sex (nonresident) | 2 | 40 | 5.0% | — |
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 445. 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 445?
What is the elk success rate in unit 445?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 445 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