Montana’s 1,207 elk records spread across 42 counties, but their center of gravity is unmistakable: Park County alone holds 518, at Yellowstone’s northern edge, with Gallatin National Forest, Yellowstone National Park, and the ranges around Missoula carrying most of the rest. From Glacier National Park near the Canadian line to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, the record follows the mountains.
A migratory herd animal in big country
Elk in Montana live on the move, summering in high meadows and dropping to open valley grasslands and south-facing slopes when snow piles up. That twice-yearly commute shapes the map: the same herd can be an alpine animal in July and a valley animal by December, so summer and winter records from the same county may describe very different ground.
Summer crowns the season
Counts climb from spring to a June and July crest, when herds are high, spread out, and active through long daylight, then ease through the September and October rut, when bulls bugle but spend more time in timber with their gathered cows. Records never bottom out; wintering elk stay on open lower ground all season.
Status in Montana
NatureServe ranks elk S5, Secure, in Montana, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
