Sheridan County, MT
Hunting Land in Sheridan County, Montana
Sheridan County's economy runs on wheat and pulse crops, but its far northeastern corner also holds part of Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge -- a real, 31,660-acre federal refuge with its own hunting regulations that add a layer on top of standard Montana rules for anyone hunting or evaluating land near it.
This page covers what's specific to Sheridan County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.
A real federal refuge, not a generic prairie-pothole description
Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1935 and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, spans 31,660 acres across Sheridan and Roosevelt Counties in Montana's far northeastern corner -- a mix of roughly 13,010 acres of open water and marsh, 14,890 acres of native prairie, and about 3,760 acres of former cropland now maintained mostly as perennial grass. The refuge sits amid the same small-grain and pulse-crop agricultural landscape the rest of Sheridan County is built on, but functions as a distinct, federally managed unit with its own public-use rules rather than ordinary private or state land.
The refuge does allow hunting, but only in specific designated areas and only under refuge-specific regulations layered on top of standard Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks rules -- not in place of them. Upland game birds (pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, and gray partridge) are documented as huntable in the refuge's designated Area 2, and waterfowl hunting (ducks, geese, cranes, and swans) is available where water levels support it, though marsh conditions vary meaningfully year to year and affect how good a given season actually is. Pheasant populations are described as excellent when spring weather cooperates; sharp-tailed grouse are described as stable; gray partridge numbers are described as fluctuating significantly from year to year.
What this means if hunting access factors into a purchase near the refuge
If you're evaluating Sheridan County land specifically for its hunting value near Medicine Lake, treat the refuge's own current public-use regulations brochure and area maps as the authoritative source for exactly which zones are open, to what species, and under what refuge-specific conditions -- these can differ meaningfully from what a general Montana hunting-license guide would lead you to expect, and the refuge itself directs hunters to check with the refuge office rather than assume statewide rules apply unmodified. A parcel's proximity to refuge land can be a genuine amenity (it's a real, publicly accessible upland-bird and waterfowl destination, not an aspirational description), but it doesn't create any private hunting right on refuge land itself, and refuge boundaries and open/closed area designations should be confirmed independently of a listing's description before valuing a property on that basis.
It's also worth noting for context: Medicine Lake NWR's regulatory overlay is specific to the refuge boundary itself. Land elsewhere in Sheridan County -- the large majority of the county, given the refuge's roughly 31,660 acres against a county of over 1,600 square miles -- hunts under ordinary Montana FWP rules with no federal refuge layer involved, the same framework covered in the national hunting-land guide.
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Connect with a local land specialistSources
- Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (accessed 2026-09)
- Hunting at Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (accessed 2026-09)
- Medicine Lake Hunting and Fishing Brochure — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (accessed 2026-09)
- Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09