Montana Unit 311 Moose Hunting Guide

For hunters chasing a Shiras moose tag in southwest Montana, Unit 311 sits among the most consistently productive draw units in the state. Montana Unit 311 moose hunting is entirely limited-quota — there is no general season here, and every bull or cow tag available comes through the draw. With a strong trophy history attached to the surrounding counties and a multi-year harvest record that shows real consistency, this unit deserves a close look from any hunter building a long-term moose application strategy.

Unit 311 covers 655,812 acres with elevations ranging from 4,060 feet up to 10,981 feet, giving hunters a wide vertical range to work with depending on where moose are holding during the season. Public land makes up 28% of the unit, with 10% falling inside designated wilderness. That public land percentage is below the threshold most DIY hunters want to see — the majority of this unit is privately held, and hunters need to plan access carefully rather than assuming open country at every turn.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 311 Worth Applying For?

Yes, with clear eyes about what kind of hunt this is. Unit 311 is a limited-quota moose unit through and through — there's no general season fallback, which means every hunter afield here has gone through the draw process and is hunting a tag that was specifically allocated for either an antlered bull or a cow, depending on the hunt type drawn. That alone tells hunters this is a managed, quality-focused unit rather than a high-volume opportunity area.

The harvest numbers back this up. Over the four most recent years of data, Unit 311 produced strong success rates: 50% in 2024 (1 of 2 hunters), 50% in 2023 (1 of 2 hunters), 100% in 2022 (2 of 2 hunters), and 100% in 2021 (5 of 5 hunters). These are small hunter numbers, which is typical for a limited-quota moose unit — but the success rates across all four years are notably strong, with two of the four years posting perfect harvest and the other two landing at 50%. For hunters who manage to draw a tag here, the data suggests that once in the field, the odds of connecting are good relative to many western moose units.

Trophy potential is another reason this unit draws attention. The counties overlapping Unit 311 carry a strong history of trophy-class moose production. Because record-book entries are logged by county rather than by hunt unit, these records are shared with neighboring units that fall within the same county boundaries — the specific animals may have come from anywhere across that broader area. Still, a strong trophy history at the county level is a meaningful signal that the habitat and herd genetics in this part of Montana are capable of producing mature, big-bodied bulls.

The trade-off is access. With only 28% public land, DIY hunters drawing a tag here will need to do real homework on where the public parcels sit relative to private ground, and how to approach landowners or work the wilderness portion (10% of the unit) if that's where they intend to hunt. This is not a unit where a hunter can show up, find a trailhead, and expect unlimited public access in every direction. Hunters should use HuntPilot's mapping tools to identify exactly where the public land blocks fall before committing to a scouting trip.

Taken together: strong success rates, a strong county-level trophy history, and a legitimate limited-quota structure make this a unit worth applying for — but the below-average public land percentage means hunters need a real access plan, not just a tag in hand.

Harvest Success Rates

Montana Unit 311's harvest data over the last four reported years shows a unit that, while drawing very few hunters each season, delivers strong results once tags are in hand:

• 2024: 2 hunters, 1 harvested — 50% success
• 2023: 2 hunters, 1 harvested — 50% success
• 2022: 2 hunters, 2 harvested — 100% success
• 2021: 5 hunters, 5 harvested — 100% success

These numbers reflect the nature of a limited-quota moose unit — very few tags are issued in any given year, so the hunter sample size is small. But the trend across four consecutive years is clear: success rates never dropped below 50%, and in two of the four years, every single hunter who drew a tag filled it. That's an unusually strong track record and speaks to a healthy, huntable moose population paired with hunters who are typically well-prepared and willing to put in the effort a moose tag demands. Hunters should keep in mind that with such low hunter numbers, a single unsuccessful season can swing the percentage significantly — but the multi-year pattern here is consistently favorable.

Trophy Quality

Trophy data for the counties overlapping Unit 311 points to a strong history of trophy-class moose production. This is a meaningful data point for hunters evaluating whether to spend points on this unit, but it comes with an important caveat: record-book entries are attributed to the county, not the specific hunt unit, so these records are shared across every neighboring unit that falls within the same county lines. The bulls behind those entries could have been taken anywhere across that broader geographic footprint, not necessarily within Unit 311's exact boundaries.

That said, a strong county-level trophy history is still a useful signal. It tells hunters that the habitat, genetics, and age structure in this region of Montana have historically been capable of producing mature bulls worth entering into the record books. Combined with the unit's strong recent harvest success rates, Unit 311 stands out as a unit where a patient hunter with a quality tag has a real shot at a notable bull — not just a filled tag, but potentially a trophy-class animal.

Access & Terrain

Unit 311 spans a dramatic elevation range, from 4,060 feet at the lowest points to 10,981 feet at the highest — nearly 7,000 feet of vertical relief across the unit. That range suggests hunters may find moose working anything from lower-elevation riparian and willow-choked drainages, which are classic moose habitat, up into high alpine basins near treeline depending on time of year and local conditions. Hunters should plan to scout across multiple elevation bands rather than assuming moose will hold in just one type of terrain.

Public land accounts for 28% of the unit's 655,812 total acres. That is a below-average public land percentage, and it means the majority of Unit 311 is privately held ground. DIY hunters need to treat this as a serious planning factor — public access will be concentrated in specific blocks rather than spread evenly across the unit, and much of the best moose habitat may sit on private land that requires permission or a different access strategy entirely. This is not a unit where hunters should expect to wander freely in any direction from a public road.

Wilderness makes up 10% of Unit 311. That's a meaningful chunk of the unit that will require backcountry travel — likely on foot or horseback — to access, and it often holds less hunting pressure than road-accessible public ground. Hunters comfortable with pack-in style hunts should factor this wilderness acreage into their planning, particularly if the public land blocks they identify sit adjacent to or inside that wilderness boundary.

Given the public land constraints here, hunters should use HuntPilot's mapping tools — including public land overlays and ownership boundary layers — well before the season to pinpoint exactly which parcels are open to them and how those parcels connect to accessible roads or trailheads. A access plan built in advance will matter more in Unit 311 than in units with higher public land percentages.

How to Apply

Montana Unit 311 moose tags are available exclusively through the state's limited-quota draw system — there is no general season option for hunters wanting to pursue moose here. Every hunter afield in this unit, whether chasing an antlered bull or a cow on an either-sex or antlerless tag, has gone through the application and draw process to secure that specific tag.

Montana's draw system uses a bonus-point structure where the number of entries a hunter has in the draw pool is tied to the square of their accumulated bonus points, plus one. Residents and nonresidents apply through separate pools, and no point total guarantees a draw — moose tags in Montana remain a weighted lottery at every point level, including for hunters who have accumulated points for many years. A successful draw consumes the hunter's accumulated bonus points for that species, so hunters who draw a tag in Unit 311 will restart their point total after that season.

Because moose tags are heavily restricted and highly sought after across Montana, most hunters treat an application here as part of a long-term, multi-year strategy rather than an expectation of drawing in any single year. Nonresidents in particular should expect this to be a long-term point-building pursuit given how competitive moose tags are statewide.

Application dates, fees, and current draw odds change every cycle and are not something to guess at from historical data. For the most current information on deadlines, costs, and draw statistics for Unit 311, hunters should check HuntPilot's Montana state page at /states/mt or the official state wildlife agency's current regulations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Unit 311 worth applying for moose? Based on the available data, yes. The unit has shown strong harvest success rates across the last four reported years — never dropping below 50% and hitting 100% in two of those years — combined with a strong trophy history in the surrounding counties. The main caveat is access: with only 28% public land, hunters need a solid access plan rather than relying on unlimited public ground.

What is harvest success like in Montana Unit 311? Harvest success has been strong and consistent. In 2024 and 2023, success rates sat at 50% (1 of 2 hunters each year). In 2022 and 2021, every hunter who drew a tag was successful, posting 100% success rates (2 of 2 hunters in 2022, and 5 of 5 hunters in 2021). These are small sample sizes typical of a limited-quota moose unit, but the trend across four years is clearly favorable for hunters who draw a tag.

How big are the moose in Unit 311? Trophy data for the counties overlapping this unit shows a strong history of producing trophy-class moose. Because record-book entries are logged at the county level and shared with neighboring units, these records don't pinpoint animals taken exactly within Unit 311's boundaries — but the broader regional trophy history suggests the habitat here is capable of growing mature, record-caliber bulls.

What is the terrain like in Unit 311? The unit covers a wide elevation range, from 4,060 feet up to 10,981 feet, spanning lower-elevation drainages up through high alpine terrain. Public land makes up 28% of the unit's 655,812 acres, with 10% falling inside designated wilderness, meaning much of the available public access will require backcountry travel while a majority of the unit remains in private ownership.

Does Unit 311 have a general moose season? No. Every moose hunt in Unit 311 is limited-quota and allocated through Montana's draw system — there is no general season option here. Hunters must successfully draw a tag through the application process to hunt moose in this unit.