Unit 555 (Pryors/Cottonwood Triangle)
Montana Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 555 lies in Carbon County and covers about 789 square miles. Ground runs from 3,832 to 8,207 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 555
Unit 555 lies in Carbon County and covers about 789 square miles. Ground runs from 3,832 to 8,207 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 555
What Montana FWP publishes for unit 555 is a boundary, not a elk map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Carbon County. It runs to about 789 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Sage Creek and Bighorn Lake
Montana FWP draws unit 555 in Carbon County with a boundary that runs on Highway 308, Highway 72, Highway 310 and Highway 212, and on Sage Creek and Bighorn Lake, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. 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: Tolman Mountain, Maurice Mount and Big Pryor Mountain
Named high points inside the unit include Tolman Mountain at 9,847 feet, Maurice Mount at 9,255 feet, Big Pryor Mountain at 8,779 feet, East Pryor Mountain at 8,771 feet and Red Pryor Mountain at 8,452 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: Stevens Draw, Haywood Gulch and Howell Gulch
Below them sit Stevens Draw at 6,305 feet, Haywood Gulch at 6,091 feet, Howell Gulch at 6,034 feet, Gooseberry Hollow at 5,830 feet and Bridge Hollow at 5,670 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: Tony Island Spring, Petes Spring and Teeples Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 27 mapped stream reaches, 3 lakes, 25 stock tanks and 17 springs. Named sources include Tony Island Spring, Petes Spring, Teeples Spring, Ingram Spring, Three Corner Spring and Annerer 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 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 3,832 feet to 8,207 feet, averaging 5,309 — that is a lot of vertical to cover, and it means the season you draw decides which half of the unit you hunt.
Unit 555 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 3,832–8,207 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,309 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 788.9 sq mi inside the boundary.
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
- 25 tanks
- 17 springs
- 27 stream segments
- 3 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: Tolman Mountain (9,847 ft), Maurice Mount (9,255 ft), Big Pryor Mountain (8,779 ft), East Pryor Mountain (8,771 ft)
Holding ground: Line Creek Plateau (9,981 ft), Tie Flat (7,076 ft), Harsten Flat (6,673 ft), Tony Island Spring, Petes 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 555
Elk Success Rates
Montana FWP's 2023 harvest estimates carry no elk row for unit 555 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) | 27 | 359 | 7.5% | — |
| Rifle — B License either sex (nonresident) | 2 | 24 | 8.3% | — |
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 555. 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 555?
What is the elk success rate in unit 555?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 555 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