Unit M261 (East Bitterroot)

Montana Hunting Guide — Moose

Unit M261 lies in Ravalli and Missoula counties. Montana FWP publishes no per-unit Shiras moose success figure we can verify for this unit. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Montana Hunting Guide

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Moose guide

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Moose Hunting in Unit M261

Unit M261 lies in Ravalli and Missoula counties. Montana FWP publishes no per-unit Shiras moose success figure we can verify for this unit. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit M261

Montana FWP draws an exact line around unit M261 and says nothing about where the Shiras moose stand inside it. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Ravalli and Missoula counties.

The lines of the unit: Crystal Creek, Clark ForkBitterroot Divide and Bitterroot-Rock Creek

Montana FWP draws unit M261 in Ravalli and Missoula counties with a boundary that runs on Route 269, Highway 93, Interstate 90 and Route 46, and on Crystal Creek, Clark ForkBitterroot Divide and Bitterroot-Rock Creek, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. What it does give you is the way in: the rivers and highways you cross, and the divides that decide which drainage you end up in.

High ground inside the line: Skalkaho Mountain, Palisade Mountain and Willow Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Skalkaho Mountain at 8,453 feet, Palisade Mountain at 8,449 feet, Willow Mountain at 8,176 feet, Dominic Buttes at 7,953 feet and Owen Point at 7,695 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Moose need standing water and willow, so on dry country they are tied to the few drainages that hold both.

Holding ground: Corley Gulch, Fullerton Gulch and Coffee Gulch

Below them sit Corley Gulch at 4,574 feet, Fullerton Gulch at 4,565 feet, Coffee Gulch at 4,313 feet, Newton Gulch at 4,181 feet and Mountain House Draw at 4,172 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.

Water: Mountain House Spring, Camp Spring and Last Drink Springs

Named sources include Mountain House Spring, Camp Spring, Last Drink Springs and Balsam Spring. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.

Unit M261 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Skalkaho Mountain (8,453 ft), Palisade Mountain (8,449 ft), Willow Mountain (8,176 ft), Owen Point (7,695 ft)

Holding ground: Skalkaho Basin (7,640 ft), Buck Horn Saddle (6,008 ft), Boulder Basin (5,900 ft), Mountain House Spring, Camp 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 Shiras Moose in Unit M261

Montana FWP publishes no Shiras moose success figure for unit M261 that we can tie to this unit alone, so we won't quote one. The plan: walk the willow bottoms slowly at first and last light and look for fresh browse before you look for the animal.

Glassing from Whe-lha-kleh-tseen Mountain, Mount Dean Stone and Baldy Mountain

Take a position on one of Whe-lha-kleh-tseen Mountain (6,651 ft), Mount Dean Stone (6,182 ft), Baldy Mountain (6,009 ft) and Mitten Mountain (5,979 ft) and be on it before light. Work the morning with the air falling away from you, then accept that by mid-morning the wind has reversed and the plan has to change with it. A tripod is worth more here than another hour of walking. On the rut hunts, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

The way in: Route 269, Highway 93 and Interstate 90

We have no road inventory for this unit, so the only routes we can name are the ones Montana FWP draws the boundary with: Route 269, Highway 93, Interstate 90, Route 46 and Route 38. Those are its edges, not its interior — useful because they are where you leave the pavement, and useless for telling you what the inside is like. Pick the edge nearest the country you mean to hunt and work in from it on foot, rather than driving the perimeter looking for a way through.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Skalkaho Mountain, Palisade Mountain, Willow Mountain and Owen Point as places to see from, and Skalkaho Basin, Buck Horn Saddle, Boulder Basin and Mountain House Spring as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the unit line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Walk between two of them rather than driving between four, and you will learn more in a day.

What we can't tell you

Some of the ground named above carries no land-status flag we trust, so check ownership on a current layer before you hunt it. We have no Shiras moose success figure for this unit that survives checking against Montana FWP's own harvest and hunter counts, and we would rather say so than print a statewide average as though it were measured here.

Montana rules that decide your day

Summarised from FWP regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Montana has no general off-road retrieval allowance; travel stays on open routes.

Tagging

Validate the tag and attach it to the carcass before moving the animal.

Leaving meat

Wasting game meat is illegal.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No discharging a firearm within 150 yards of an occupied dwelling without permission, and no shooting from or across a public road.

Moose: where to put the shot

Broadside, behind the shoulder and a third up. Moose look slow to react — the first shot has to count.

Shots to refuse

Where it falls decides your next two days. Avoid shots that drop a moose in water or a bog.
A .30-06 class cartridge minimum, with a bullet built for heavy bone.

Plan the carry: roughly 350– 500 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — four or more large coolers, or a processor. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Moose Success Rates

Montana FWP's 2023 harvest estimates carry no Shiras moose row for unit M261 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.

Moose Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — General either sex (resident)	2	209	1.0%	—

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 Engine

Montana FWP's draw recap has no Shiras moose record we can tie to unit M261. 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

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Terrain Difficulty

Moderate to strenuous. Willow bottoms, boggy crossings, and mixed forest require patient travel and careful recovery planning.

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Hunting Pressure

Low for moose specifically, but multi-use recreation and other big-game hunters can be present along access points.

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Weather

Expect cold nights, variable autumn storms, and possible early snow at elevation.

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Permit Notes

All HD 261-50 tags are special-draw only. Review current FWP regulations and apply before posted deadlines.

Note: Contact FWP Region 3 biologists for current moose sighting trends inside HD 261-50 when planning scouting trips.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Colorado unit M261?

Unit M261 lies in Ravalli and Missoula counties. Montana FWP draws unit M261 with a boundary that runs on Route 269, Highway 93, Interstate 90 and Route 46, and on Crystal Creek, Clark ForkBitterroot Divide and Bitterroot-Rock Creek, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit M261?

Montana FWP publishes no Shiras moose success figure we can tie to unit M261 on its own — the 2023 harvest tables either omit the unit or report it in a grouping we could not read back to it reliably. Rather than quote a statewide average as though it were measured here, we say so. Check Montana FWP's current harvest estimates before you apply.

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Sources & Verification

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 — moose hunting districts (pp. 36-42) — 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