HD 121 covers the country south and east of Thompson Falls—the steep, north-facing flank of the Bitterroot Range that drains into the Clark Fork. Elevations climb fast, from about 2,400 feet on the river up to 7,500-plus feet on the high divide ridges that form the Idaho border. The drainages stack up like ribs: Prospect Creek, Vermilion River feeders, Graves Creek, Thompson River up north, all of them cut steep into ancient quartzite and metamorphic rock. The forest reads like a Pacific Northwest field guide—western larch turning the hillsides gold in October, western red cedar in the seeps, grand fir, hemlock in the deepest draws, lodgepole on the burned-over benches. Whitetail dominate the bottoms and mid-slope cutblocks; a small elk herd uses the upper basins; mule deer are on the dry south aspects when there even are dry south aspects in country this wet. Lolo National Forest and a patchwork of industrial timber tracts (Stimson, Weyerhaeuser-legacy, some now Hancock or Green Diamond) make up nearly all the land—private is mostly along the river bottom around Thompson Falls itself. MT-200 is the only paved road in or out; FR 56 (Thompson River Road) and Prospect Creek Road climb deep into the timber. Many of the timber-company tracts are open through MT FWP's walk-in or block management programs—check the regs because they shuffle annually. Thompson Falls has gas, a grocery store, motels, the county courthouse, and an excellent local bar; Plains is 25 minutes east. Cell service is mediocre in town and dead on the back roads. The country is wet and dark; you hunt by sign and sound more than sight, and most successful hunters either still-hunt the larch glades after a fresh skiff or post on a cut edge at first light. Grizzlies show up occasionally up high; mountain lion sign is constant. HD 121 (Flathead Lake / Mission Valley) has the most complex jurisdictional situation of any Montana HD — much of the valley lies within the Flathead Indian Reservation, and hunting regulations differ significantly between tribal and state jurisdiction. Non-tribal members must verify whether they are on tribal or state land and carry the appropriate licenses. The Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness on the east side is managed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes with separate permit requirements. General elk tags are available OTC for residents on state-jurisdiction land. Whitetail are abundant in the valley's cherry orchards and agricultural edges. The Mission Mountains rise dramatically from the valley floor, and elk inhabit the timbered benches at mid-elevation. Block Management is available on some valley-floor ranches. The jurisdictional complexity is the biggest challenge — study the maps, understand the tribal-state boundaries, and carry the right paperwork. Hunters who sort out the regulations find excellent whitetail hunting in the valley and good elk opportunity on the mountain fringes.