Can a hunter use a general elk licence in hunt area 10?

Yes. A Wyoming resident can buy a general elk licence over the counter from mid-July with no draw and no preference points involved. A nonresident cannot buy a general licence: a nonresident must draw a Region S general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of region S, including hunt area 10. Nonresidents applying for the Region S general licence compete in a draw where three quarters of licences are awarded by preference points (top-down) and a quarter go to a random draw.

What percentage of hunt area 10 is public land?

About 29 percent, roughly 195 square miles of National Forest, BLM, and State Trust Land. The rest is private, primarily the lower prairie and agricultural ground. Public ownership does not guarantee access: roads, trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings all apply, and a hunter should verify current access before planning the hunt.

Does hunt area 10 require a nonresident to hire a guide?

No. The hunt area contains no designated wilderness, so a nonresident is not required to be accompanied by a licensed guide.

What are the main ways to access the roadless elk country in hunt area 10?

Six trailheads provide access into the National Forest backcountry: Rock Creek, Brooklyn Lake, North Laramie, Little Laramie, Trail Creek, and Deep Creek. The Sand Lake road and Fallen Pines road form the principal access routes through the hunt area running north to south. Interstate 80 and Wyoming Highway 130 are the main approach corridors from outside the area.

Can a hunter access the eastern mountains in hunt area 10?

Public access along the eastern front of the mountains is limited. The main public entry to elk country is on the Medicine Bow National Forest in the western and central portions of the hunt area, where trailheads and roads provide reliable access to the timbered and meadow habitat.

Wyoming Hunt Area 10 (Rock Creek) elk hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

29%

Elevation

7,000–12,000 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Elk region

Hunt area 10 spans 662 square miles from 7,000 to 12,000 feet, a landscape of contrasting country that requires different approaches. The lower elevations and foothills—roughly 70 percent of the area—are open prairie, grassland, and agricultural ground broken by sagebrush and aspen. The remaining mountainous terrain rises steeply into rolling, timbered country with deep valleys; above 10,000 feet the forest opens into alpine meadows. Terrain averages gentle at 4.1 degrees of slope, though the ground is rougher in patches. Most of the elk hunting happens on the Medicine Bow National Forest where public access is reliable, but the eastern front of the mountains offers little public entry.

Getting onto public land is straightforward where trailheads exist. The Sand Lake road and Fallen Pines road form the main north-south corridors through the hunt area; Rock Creek, Brooklyn Lake, North Laramie, Little Laramie, Trail Creek, and Deep Creek trailheads give access into roadless National Forest ground. Interstate 80 (exit 272) and Wyoming Highway 130 on the southern boundary are the main approach routes. About 29 percent of the area is public land a hunter can count on—roughly 195 square miles of National Forest, BLM, and State Trust Land. The balance is private, mostly the open prairie and agricultural lands at lower elevation. A hunter management area, Strouss Hill, is enrolled by agreement and requires printed permission to hunt. Private land along the Little Laramie River in particular sees regular pressure during deer seasons, and a hunter pursuing elk on private ground should secure access before applying for a licence.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 10 (Rock Creek) is a general-licence hunt area, and how a hunter gets a licence for it depends on where they live.

A Wyoming resident buys a general elk licence over the counter — unlimited statewide, on sale from mid-July. No draw, no application, no preference points.
A nonresident cannot buy one. They must draw a Region general licence — for this hunt area, elk region S, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region and nowhere else.

Wyoming residents have no preference points for elk — the resident elk draw is random, and no resident point cutoff exists for any hunt area in the state. For nonresidents points matter a great deal: Wyoming awards 75% of each nonresident pool through the preference-point draw, top-down by points, and the remaining 25% at random. Nonresidents also choose between the Regular and Special pools — the same hunts at two price points, competing separately.

Seasons (2026)

Type 7 · Cow or calf valid off national forest
Regular August 15 – January 31
Type Gen — general licence · Any elk
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – October 31
Type Gen — general licence · Antlerless elk
Regular November 1 – November 7
Type 6 · Cow or calf
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – December 31

The wording of each hunt is the Wyoming Game & Fish Department’s and is legally exact — a “cow or calf” hunt is not a elk hunt in general, and a hunt limited to part of the area is not valid across it. Confirm every hunt in the current regulations before applying.

Hunting each season

Type 7 — Cow or calf valid off national… (August–January)

Hunting for cow or calf off the National Forest runs the long span from August 15 through January 31. In August and early September, elk are still in summer patterns on higher ground, and the hunting is relatively cool—highs in the low 70s—though snow is rare. By mid-September the rut begins to build, and elk shift into active travel across the timber and meadows; temperatures drop into the 60s and remain dry. From late September through early October the rut peaks and elk concentrate, with highs in the 50s and the first real snowfall appearing. October through November sees the rut decline, elk move off the high ground toward winter range, and snow accumulates through the month—November averages 5.6 inches. December and January bring the deepest cold, with highs near freezing, 9.1 and 7.3 inches of snow respectively, and elk settled into their winter patterns. This licence is valid only off the National Forest, so a hunter must plan to work public National Forest ground or arrange private access where it exists.

Type Gen — Any elk (September–October)

General-licence any-elk hunting splits into archery and rifle phases, September 1–30 and October 15–31. Archery hunts during the first phase of the rut when elk are beginning to become active, bulls are in velvet or newly hardened, and the country is still warm with highs near 70 degrees. By the archery close and into the rifle season, the rut has peaked and begun its decline, and cooler weather—highs from the 50s into the 40s—brings the first substantial snow, averaging 2.6 inches in October. Elk are in active movement through the timber and meadows and moving toward lower ground. A general licence gives a resident unlimited over-the-counter purchase with no draw, while a nonresident must draw the Region S licence, valid across all general-hunt areas in region S.

Type Gen — Antlerless elk (November)

Antlerless-elk hunting runs November 1–7, a short window during the migration and early winter-range phase. Temperatures have already dropped sharply, with highs in the low 40s, and snow climbs toward 5.6 inches for the month as the season opens. Elk are moving off the high mountains toward winter ground, and the hunting can be fast but requires patience and route-finding in snow and cold. A general licence is required, purchased over the counter by residents or drawn by nonresidents as part of the Region S general pool.

Type 6 — Cow or calf (September–December)

Type 6 cow-or-calf hunting spans archery and rifle windows across four months: archery September 1–30, then regular season October 1–December 31. During September archery the rut is building from onset into its peak, elk are actively seeking each other across the timber, and the weather is mild with highs in the 60s. The regular season begins just as the rut peaks and carries through its entire decline into the winter-range phase; hunters face rapidly cooling temperatures from the 50s in October down to the low 30s in December, with snowfall accelerating from 2.6 inches in October to 9.1 inches by December. This licence allows hunting for cow or calf only across the full period, giving a long season for private-ground hunters and those with access to the National Forest throughout the autumn and winter.

Land and access

private land70%

Private

National Forest15%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM8%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land7%

Generally open to public hunting

About 29% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM and State Trust Land, roughly 195 square miles. Public ownership is not the same as easy entry: roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply.

State trust land counts toward the open figure above. Wyoming extends hunting on legally accessiblestate trust land to the public unless a parcel is specifically closed — the catch is the access itself, since crossing private ground to reach it still needs the landowner’s permission. Camping, fires and off-road vehicles are not allowed on it.

It also holds 1 Hunter Management Area. That is private ground enrolled for public access, not public land. A Hunter Management Area requires a printed permission slip from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before hunting it. Enrollment is renegotiated every year, so check current status before counting on either.

Where elk are mapped

Winter Range15%

used in winter

Summer Range13%

used in summer

Crucial Winter Range10%

the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it

Parturition Areas4%

spring birthing ground, months before any hunting season

Yearlong Range2%

the only layer that means year-round use

Each figure is the share of the hunt area that layer covers. It says where elk are mapped, not where inside the area they are, and not when they move.

Habitat and cover

Lower elevations

Sagebrush46%

Grass and meadow34%

Riparian11%

Other cover9%

Mid elevations

Grass and meadow60%

Sagebrush28%

Riparian8%

Other cover5%

Higher elevations

Conifer69%

Grass and meadow14%

Sagebrush9%

Aspen6%

Riparian1%

Shares are of each elevation band, not of the whole hunt area — they describe what grows up there, not how much of the area sits at that elevation.

Weather through the season

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Snowfall
January	33°F	12°F	7.3 in
February	35°F	13°F	8.5 in
March	44°F	20°F	7.1 in
April	51°F	25°F	4.5 in
May	61°F	34°F	0.2 in
June	73°F	42°F	0 in
July	80°F	48°F	0 in
August	78°F	47°F	0 in
September	69°F	39°F	0.1 in
October	56°F	29°F	2.6 in
November	42°F	20°F	5.6 in
December	33°F	12°F	9.1 in

Snowfall is the monthly total, not depth lying on the ground.

Common questions

Can a hunter use a general elk licence in hunt area 10?: Yes. A Wyoming resident can buy a general elk licence over the counter from mid-July with no draw and no preference points involved. A nonresident cannot buy a general licence: a nonresident must draw a Region S general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of region S, including hunt area 10. Nonresidents applying for the Region S general licence compete in a draw where three quarters of licences are awarded by preference points (top-down) and a quarter go to a random draw.
What percentage of hunt area 10 is public land?: About 29 percent, roughly 195 square miles of National Forest, BLM, and State Trust Land. The rest is private, primarily the lower prairie and agricultural ground. Public ownership does not guarantee access: roads, trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings all apply, and a hunter should verify current access before planning the hunt.
Does hunt area 10 require a nonresident to hire a guide?: No. The hunt area contains no designated wilderness, so a nonresident is not required to be accompanied by a licensed guide.
What are the main ways to access the roadless elk country in hunt area 10?: Six trailheads provide access into the National Forest backcountry: Rock Creek, Brooklyn Lake, North Laramie, Little Laramie, Trail Creek, and Deep Creek. The Sand Lake road and Fallen Pines road form the principal access routes through the hunt area running north to south. Interstate 80 and Wyoming Highway 130 are the main approach corridors from outside the area.
Can a hunter access the eastern mountains in hunt area 10?: Public access along the eastern front of the mountains is limited. The main public entry to elk country is on the Medicine Bow National Forest in the western and central portions of the hunt area, where trailheads and roads provide reliable access to the timbered and meadow habitat.

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

Seasons, licence types and boundaries change. Confirm every detail with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before applying or hunting.

All Wyoming elk hunt areas