Unit 447 (Belt-Square Butte)
Montana Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 447 lies in Cascade, Chouteau and Judith Basin counties and covers about 879 square miles. Ground runs from 3,068 to 5,720 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 447
Unit 447 lies in Cascade, Chouteau and Judith Basin counties and covers about 879 square miles. Ground runs from 3,068 to 5,720 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 447
Montana FWP draws an exact line around unit 447 and says nothing about where the elk stand inside it. 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, Chouteau and Judith Basin counties. It runs to about 879 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Judith Basin, Belt Creek and Arrow Creek
Montana FWP draws unit 447 in Cascade, Chouteau and Judith Basin counties with a boundary that runs on Highway 87, Route 228, Highway 80 and Route 551, and on Judith Basin, Belt Creek and Arrow Creek, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. 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: Highwood Baldy, Highwood Mountains and Arrow Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Highwood Baldy at 7,661 feet, Highwood Mountains at 7,661 feet, Arrow Peak at 7,470 feet, Lava Peak at 7,146 feet and Middle Peak at 7,077 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: Back Coulee, Todd Coulee and Big Coulee
Below them sit Back Coulee at 4,476 feet, Todd Coulee at 4,473 feet, Big Coulee at 4,462 feet, Eastern Coulee at 4,319 feet and Elmer Coulee at 4,316 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.
Water: 23N09E08AAAA01 Well and Harris Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 221 mapped stream reaches, 20 lakes and 170 stock tanks. Named sources include 23N09E08AAAA01 Well and Harris Spring. On ground with that many tanks, knowing which two or three hold water in your season is the most useful thing a scouting trip can tell you.
Reading the land status
Our ownership read for this unit is approximate — it comes out as National Forest 60%, Private / Other 17%, BLM 15% 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 3,068 feet to 5,720 feet, averaging 4,014 — enough relief to separate summer range from winter range.
Unit 447 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 3,068–5,720 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,014 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 879.1 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- BLM — 15%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 17%
Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 170 tanks
- 221 stream segments
- 20 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: Highwood Baldy (7,661 ft), Arrow Peak (7,470 ft), Middle Peak (7,077 ft), South Peak (7,071 ft)
Holding ground: Grouse Coulee (5,075 ft), Ole Coulee (3,126 ft), 23N09E08AAAA01 Well, Harris 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 447
Elk Success Rates
Montana FWP's 2023 harvest estimates carry no elk row for unit 447 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) | 79 | 1,281 | 6.2% | — |
| Rifle — General either sex (nonresident) | 6 | 63 | 9.5% | — |
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 447. 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 447?
What is the elk success rate in unit 447?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 447 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