Any good Ideas on public land hunting in Montana for Deer and Elk?

Advice like this is tough to give. Are you more interested in deer or elk? Will you be hunting with a bow or rifle? Give me a little more info and I can point you in the right direction. You could also look up Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks website. I believe they have an interactive hunt planner.

Both Elk and Deer and I would prefer to use a rifle.

Elk are mainly located in the Western half of Montana. If you want to hunt Elk you should concentrate on that area. A decent bull is hard to find on public ground. A special permit is the best way to improve your odds. If you would be interested in shooting a cow there are several permits that are fairly easy to draw (let me know if thats the case and I'll give you some more info). The Missouri Breaks in Eastern Montana has a large elk population and some of the best bulls in the state, but rifle hunting for bull elk is by special permit only. Tags in that area are very tough to draw.

Mule deer are located all across the state, but the Eastern half has larger concetrations. The Northwest portion of Monatan probably has some of the best Whitetail deer.

In general access to private land is easier to obtain in the Eastern part of Montana. If you plan to hunt on public ground be prepared to run into a lot of other hunters. I would check into the block management program in the area you wish to hunt.