Wyoming Elk Hunting by Hunt Area
Wyoming elk hunting is organised by numbered hunt areas, and the first question about any of them is which kind of licence reaches it. Statewide the split is close to even between general-licence areas and limited-quota areas, which must be drawn for that area specifically. The country ranges from open sage basins and rolling prairie in the east to timbered mountain country and designated wilderness in the west.
On a general area a Wyoming resident simply buys a general elk licence over the counter: unlimited statewide, on sale from mid-July, no draw and no points. A nonresident cannot buy one — they must draw a Region general licence, valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that one region and nowhere else. Wyoming runs three elk regions: E, S and W.
Wyoming residents have no preference points for elk. Where a resident does have to draw — any limited-quota area — that draw is random, so there is no resident point cutoff anywhere in the state and nothing for a resident to build, bank or burn. For nonresidents points matter a great deal: 75% of each nonresident pool is awarded through the preference-point draw, top-down by points, and 25% at random. Nonresidents also choose between the Regular and Special pools — the same hunts at two price points, competing separately — and Wyoming takes the full licence fee upfront, refunding it if you are unsuccessful.
A region licence is a real fallback when a specific hunt area does not come through, but only for general areas. It is not valid in a limited-quota area, so for those there is no fallback: that area has to be drawn on its own.
The three elk regions
A nonresident hunting a general area draws one of these. Each page lists every general hunt area that licence reaches.
These are 103 of Wyoming’s 106 elk hunt areas. The rest are being added, so the counts below describe what is on the site today rather than the state as a whole.
General-licence hunt areas (50)
A resident buys a general elk licence over the counter for these; a nonresident draws a Region general licence that covers them.
- Hunt Area 2
- Hunt Area 3
- Hunt Area 6
- Hunt Area 9
- Hunt Area 10
- Hunt Area 12
- Hunt Area 13
- Hunt Area 15
- Hunt Area 21
- Hunt Area 28
- Hunt Area 36
- Hunt Area 37
- Hunt Area 56
- Hunt Area 59
- Hunt Area 60
- Hunt Area 67
- Hunt Area 68
- Hunt Area 69
- Hunt Area 70
- Hunt Area 71
- Hunt Area 73
- Hunt Area 78
- Hunt Area 80
- Hunt Area 81
- Hunt Area 82
- Hunt Area 83
- Hunt Area 84
- Hunt Area 85
- Hunt Area 86
- Hunt Area 87
- Hunt Area 89
- Hunt Area 90
- Hunt Area 91
- Hunt Area 92
- Hunt Area 94
- Hunt Area 96
- Hunt Area 97
- Hunt Area 98
- Hunt Area 102
- Hunt Area 103
- Hunt Area 104
- Hunt Area 105
- Hunt Area 106
- Hunt Area 107
- Hunt Area 110
- Hunt Area 116
- Hunt Area 126
- Hunt Area 127
- Hunt Area 128
- Hunt Area 129
Limited-quota hunt areas (53)
Each must be drawn for that hunt area specifically. A region licence does not reach these.
- Hunt Area 1
- Hunt Area 7
- Hunt Area 8
- Hunt Area 11
- Hunt Area 16
- Hunt Area 19
- Hunt Area 22
- Hunt Area 23
- Hunt Area 24
- Hunt Area 25
- Hunt Area 27
- Hunt Area 30
- Hunt Area 31
- Hunt Area 32
- Hunt Area 33
- Hunt Area 34
- Hunt Area 35
- Hunt Area 38
- Hunt Area 39
- Hunt Area 40
- Hunt Area 41
- Hunt Area 45
- Hunt Area 47
- Hunt Area 48
- Hunt Area 49
- Hunt Area 51
- Hunt Area 54
- Hunt Area 55
- Hunt Area 58
- Hunt Area 61
- Hunt Area 62
- Hunt Area 63
- Hunt Area 64
- Hunt Area 65
- Hunt Area 72
- Hunt Area 75
- Hunt Area 77
- Hunt Area 79
- Hunt Area 88
- Hunt Area 93
- Hunt Area 95
- Hunt Area 99
- Hunt Area 100
- Hunt Area 108
- Hunt Area 111
- Hunt Area 113
- Hunt Area 117
- Hunt Area 118
- Hunt Area 120
- Hunt Area 122
- Hunt Area 123
- Hunt Area 124
- Hunt Area 125
Sources
- Wyoming Game & Fish — Hunting & Trapping — licence types, general and limited-quota hunts, and season structure
- WGFD Hunt Planner — hunt-area boundaries, season dates and the unit descriptions
- WGFD — Draw results and odds — how the resident random draw and the nonresident preference-point draw work
- WGFD — Regulations — the legal limitations on each hunt, and the statewide licence rules
- USGS National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2021) and 3DEP elevation — land cover and terrain by elevation band
Licence types, seasons and boundaries change. Confirm every detail with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before applying or hunting.