American Prairie is pleased to announce it is once again enrolling more than 80,000 acres of its deeded land in the Block Management hunter access program managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP). In addition, 22 members of the public have drawn a bison harvest opportunity and 18 members of the public drew a special access opportunity to hunt elk on the wildlife-rich Blue Ridge property.
The conservation organization remains committed to offering quality public hunting opportunities. New in the 2024-25 hunting season will be the additional opportunity to hunt bull elk on American Prairie’s historic PN property along with whitetail deer, antelope, upland birds and spring turkey. There will also be a seasonal closure from August 15 – January 1 of approximately 1,000 acres along the lower Judith River to better disperse hunting pressure across the property. As FWP works to understand what is causing a decline in mule deer populations across much of the state, American Prairie will be excluding mule deer from the list of huntable species on some of its properties.
“Starting with the 2025 season we are asking hunters to access public land via a designated route along the west side of the Judith River to reduce hunter crowding and support the rebound of mule deer populations,” said Mike Kautz, Director of Public Access and Recreation for American Prairie. “We are working closely with FWP and appreciate their efforts to reduce hunting pressure and increase abundance as we share the same goals of providing a quality hunting experience.”
DIVERSE PROPERTIES ENROLLED IN BLOCK MANAGEMENT
The nonprofit conservation organization is one of the largest landowners in the state participating in FWP’s Block Management Area (BMA) program and has eleven properties enrolled. These units provide diverse opportunities for hunters seeking access to Central Montana’s grasslands, ponderosa ridges, rolling prairie and Missouri River breaks country.
For the past six years, American Prairie has worked with FWP to expand hunting opportunities by enrolling newly acquired properties into the program, including the 73 in 2022 and Wild Horse in 2023.
Approximately sixty percent of the organization’s private deeded lands are currently enrolled. Since 2018, American Prairie has expanded its enrolled block management inventory by over 300 percent.
“Public access is a core tenant of our mission at American Prairie and the Block Management Program is widely considered to be one of Montana’s most effective tools to provide public access to private lands,” said Kautz. “It is a valuable partnership that helps us collaboratively manage wildlife and provide access to phenomenal habitat.”
A full list of American Prairie’s 2024 BMA inventory is below and more information about enrolled properties can be found at https://www.americanprairie.org/hunting.
| Property Name & Map | Acres Enrolled | BMA Type |
| Two Crow | 7,335 | 2 |
| PN | 20,203 | 2 |
| Dry Fork | 12,310 | 2 |
| White Rock | 3,148 | 2 |
| 73 | 9,978 | 2 |
| Wild Horse | 3,075 | 2 |
| AB/AP – Blue Ridge | 4,489 | 1 |
| Cow Creek | 1,588 | 1 |
| Ragland Bench | 639 | 1 |
| Spring Creek | 1,573 | 1 |
| Timber Creek | 18,213 | 1 |
BISON HARVESTS AND SPECIAL ELK HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES
American Prairie is also pleased to announce additional opportunities have been awarded to harvest bison and hunt elk on deeded properties that are not enrolled in the Block Management program.
That includes awarding 22 bison harvest opportunities to applicants who entered the organization’s annual public drawing. Over 4,400 people entered the free public drawing this year, breaking the previous record set in 2023. This year, all opportunities were randomly awarded to Montana residents while four additional harvests were donated to other local charitable organizations.
In addition, 18 elk hunts have been awarded for the 9,695-acre Blue Ridge Special Management Area. While the majority of American Prairie’s deeded land is enrolled in Block Management, hunting on the wildlife-rich Blue Ridge property is managed by a special free drawing to facilitate lower-pressure hunting opportunities and access to world-class elk.
The free drawing was open to any hunters who already held 620-20, 620-21, 622-20, or 699-01 permits. For the 2024 season, 8 archery permit holders and 8 rifle permit holders have been awarded an opportunity to hunt bull elk. American Prairie also offered two additional permits for youth-only antlerless elk hunts.
Outside of designated wildlife areas, all of American Prairie’s deeded lands may be crossed to access adjacent public lands.