Can a nonresident draw a general elk licence for this hunt area?

No. Nonresidents cannot buy a general elk licence. A nonresident wanting to hunt on a general licence here must draw a Region E general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region. The nonresident draw is not purely random: three quarters of the Region E general licences are allocated to a preference-point draw, awarded to those with the highest preference points first, and the remaining quarter goes to a random draw. Preference points matter significantly for nonresidents in this draw.

What is the access situation on public land in this hunt area?

Public land covers roughly 20 percent of the area and consists mainly of Black Hills National Forest, scattered State Trust Land, and BLM parcels. Elk numbers on the National Forest are low, and human activity tends to push animals onto private land. Hunters using the National Forest will need a detailed travel management map for the Bearlodge Ranger District to understand which roads are open to vehicles and where dispersed camping and elk retrieval are permitted. Planning a public-land hunt here is difficult; most successful hunters rely on private access.

Does this hunt area have walk-in access available?

Yes. Crook County Walk-In Area 4 and Crook County Walk-In Area 7 allow hunters to walk in during their posted open periods without permission or application. These enrollments are renegotiated annually, so their availability depends on landowner agreements remaining in place each season.

Which seasons allow hunters to take any legal elk here?

Two seasons allow any elk: Type Gen (general licence) runs archery September 1–30 and regular rifle October 15–November 20. Type 1 (any elk valid off national forest) runs archery September 1–30 and regular rifle October 15–December 31. Type 1 is restricted to national forest ground outside the regular rifle window, so hunters cannot take any elk on private land during the Type 1 regular season.

When does the archery season run here and what rut timing does it coincide with?

Archery opens September 1 and closes September 30 for both the Type Gen and Type 1 seasons. This window spans the rut's onset into its primary phase, when bulls are vocalizing and beginning to gather cows, making archery hunting most effective early in the month when elk are more vocal and visible. As the month progresses into peak rut, hunting can intensify but also becomes more unpredictable as bulls respond to calling and compete for cows.

Wyoming Hunt Area 116 (North Black Hills) elk hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

20%

Elevation

3,100–6,700 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Elk region

Hunt area 116 straddles the rolling Black Hills and their adjoining plains between 3,100 and 6,700 feet, with most ground near 4,100 feet and terrain graded uniformly gentle across its 2,297 square miles. The country is a patchwork of Ponderosa Pine forest, Aspen and Birch stands with openings, grassland and sagebrush that shifts with elevation and exposure. Elk here rely heavily on the transition zones where forest meets open ground—they use the timbered slopes for shelter and move into adjacent agricultural lands and their uplands to feed, particularly early and late in the seasons.

Public land makes up roughly 20 percent of the area, concentrated on the Black Hills National Forest and scattered State Trust Land and BLM parcels. The remaining 80 percent is private, and elk move freely between private and public ground as hunting pressure and weather shift them around. The National Forest holds pockets of elk, but human activity tends to push animals back onto private land where they are out of reach for most hunters. State Trust Land along the Belle Fourche River, though within the hunt area, remains legally closed to public hunting. A hunter planning to work the public ground will need detailed road maps for the Bearlodge Ranger District, as access varies by season and vehicle type, and dispersed camping and retrieval routes have specific restrictions. Walk-in access is available on two enrolled private areas in Crook County, though enrollment renegotiates annually and hunting there depends on those agreements holding.

Seasons here split by weapon and legal animal, giving hunters multiple entry points between August and January. The challenge of hunt area 116 lies not in the country itself but in ownership: most harvestable elk spend their time on private land, making success fundamentally tied to access. Nonresident hunters typically need outfitting or private permission to hunt effectively; resident hunters with access to private ground have a clearer path forward.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 116 (North Black Hills) 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 E, 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 Gen — general licence · Any elk
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – November 20
Type 1 · Any elk valid off national forest
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – December 31
Type 8 · Cow or calf valid on private land
Regular August 1 – January 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 Gen — Any elk (September–November)

Archery hunting from September 1–30 coincides with the rut's onset and primary phase, when bulls begin gathering cows and calling intensifies through the month. Early September offers cool mornings around 74°F and mild evenings around 44°F with no snow, which keeps the ground dry and allows hunters to move quietly and glass for bugling bulls. The regular rifle season from October 15–November 20 covers the rut's waning phase into post-rut recovery and migration, when bull activity drops and cow and calf groups reassemble; temperatures drop from around 58°F in mid-October to 45°F by late November, and snowfall increases from near zero in October to 3 inches by November, which can push elk and help hunters track them. Public land here remains difficult for both phases: the National Forest holds elk but few are accessible, and most success comes from the seasonal migration between private and public ground.

Type 1 — Any elk valid off national forest (September–December)

The archery window from September 1–30 spans rut onset through peak rut, with bulls bugles most responsive in the first two weeks when temperatures hover near 74°F by day and 44°F by night. The regular rifle season from October 15–December 31 extends deep into post-rut and into winter range, covering the period when bulls stop calling, temperatures fall from 58°F in October to 36°F by December, and snowfall climbs from 0.7 inches in October to 5.2 inches in December. This hunt is valid off national forest only, meaning hunters cannot legally take any elk on private land during the regular rifle window—they must hunt on National Forest ground despite low elk numbers and high human pressure there. The restriction makes this season a difficult choice for most hunters without strong access to the BHNF.

Type 8 — Cow or calf valid on private land (August–January)

This hunt spans August 1–January 31 and is limited to cow or calf—bulls cannot be taken—making it a management tool for population control on private land where most elk spend their time. The long season begins before the rut in August, when temperatures run warm near 84°F by day and 54°F at night and agricultural elk are accessible around feed and water; continues through the entire rut and post-rut into migration and early winter, ending when January snowfall totals 5.8 inches and daytime highs drop to 35°F. Because this hunt is valid on private land, hunters with permission to access private ground can pursue it year-round, making it the only season here that offers reliable opportunity to hunt where most elk actually are.

Land and access

private land79%

Private

National Forest7%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land7%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM6%

Generally open to public hunting

unclassified ownership1%

Ownership unclassified

About 20% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, State Trust Land and BLM, roughly 454 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.

This hunt area has 2 enrolled walk-in areas. That is private ground enrolled for public access, not public land. A Walk-In Area needs no permission slip — a hunter may walk in during the open period, subject to its posted rules. Enrollment is renegotiated every year, so check current status before counting on either.

Where elk are mapped

Yearlong Range39%

the only layer that means year-round use

Summer Range6%

used in summer

Winter Range2%

used in winter

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

Across the unit

Grass and meadow54%

Sagebrush19%

Conifer18%

Other cover9%

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	35°F	12°F	5.8 in
February	37°F	14°F	5.6 in
March	47°F	22°F	3.4 in
April	55°F	30°F	2.4 in
May	65°F	40°F	0 in
June	76°F	49°F	0 in
July	85°F	56°F	0 in
August	84°F	54°F	0 in
September	74°F	44°F	0 in
October	58°F	32°F	0.7 in
November	45°F	22°F	3 in
December	36°F	13°F	5.2 in

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

Common questions

Can a nonresident draw a general elk licence for this hunt area?: No. Nonresidents cannot buy a general elk licence. A nonresident wanting to hunt on a general licence here must draw a Region E general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region. The nonresident draw is not purely random: three quarters of the Region E general licences are allocated to a preference-point draw, awarded to those with the highest preference points first, and the remaining quarter goes to a random draw. Preference points matter significantly for nonresidents in this draw.
What is the access situation on public land in this hunt area?: Public land covers roughly 20 percent of the area and consists mainly of Black Hills National Forest, scattered State Trust Land, and BLM parcels. Elk numbers on the National Forest are low, and human activity tends to push animals onto private land. Hunters using the National Forest will need a detailed travel management map for the Bearlodge Ranger District to understand which roads are open to vehicles and where dispersed camping and elk retrieval are permitted. Planning a public-land hunt here is difficult; most successful hunters rely on private access.
Does this hunt area have walk-in access available?: Yes. Crook County Walk-In Area 4 and Crook County Walk-In Area 7 allow hunters to walk in during their posted open periods without permission or application. These enrollments are renegotiated annually, so their availability depends on landowner agreements remaining in place each season.
Which seasons allow hunters to take any legal elk here?: Two seasons allow any elk: Type Gen (general licence) runs archery September 1–30 and regular rifle October 15–November 20. Type 1 (any elk valid off national forest) runs archery September 1–30 and regular rifle October 15–December 31. Type 1 is restricted to national forest ground outside the regular rifle window, so hunters cannot take any elk on private land during the Type 1 regular season.
When does the archery season run here and what rut timing does it coincide with?: Archery opens September 1 and closes September 30 for both the Type Gen and Type 1 seasons. This window spans the rut's onset into its primary phase, when bulls are vocalizing and beginning to gather cows, making archery hunting most effective early in the month when elk are more vocal and visible. As the month progresses into peak rut, hunting can intensify but also becomes more unpredictable as bulls respond to calling and compete for cows.

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