Can a hunter take a general-licence elk in hunt area 128?

Yes. This is a general-licence hunt area open to holders of a valid general elk licence. Residents may buy a general licence over the counter with no draw or points involved. Nonresidents must draw a Region W general licence, which is valid across the general hunt areas in that region.

Do nonresident elk draws in Wyoming use preference points?

Yes, but only for nonresidents, and the draw is not purely random. Three quarters of the available licences are awarded to the preference-point draw, distributed top-down by points held, and one quarter go to a random draw open to all applicants in the pool. Wyoming residents have no elk preference points at all; the resident draw is entirely random.

When do the elk seasons run in hunt area 128?

A general-licence any-elk hunt runs September 1–30 for archery and October 1–7 for regular seasons, with the archery window overlapping the rut's onset and primary phases and the regular season spanning the late rut and early post-rut period. An antlerless-elk hunt follows October 8–14.

How much of hunt area 128 is public land that a hunter can count on?

Roughly 81% of the hunt area, or about 1,772 square miles, lies on BLM and State Trust Land. Private land comprises 19%. However, public ownership does not guarantee straightforward access; roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply.

What walk-in areas are available in hunt area 128?

Twelve walk-in areas are enrolled in the hunt area, including Natrona County Walk In Area 6, Fremont County Walk In Area 28, and Fremont County Walk In Area 31. Walk-in areas require no permission slip and may be hunted during their open periods, subject to posted rules. Enrollment is renegotiated annually.

Wyoming Hunt Area 128 (Muskrat) elk hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

81%

Elevation

4,800–8,000 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Elk region

Hunt area 128 is a large sagebrush prairie and rolling-hill country spanning 2,200 square miles at elevations from 4,800 to 8,000 feet. The terrain is predominantly gentle, with 90% of the ground sloping at 4 degrees or less. Lower and mid-elevation areas are heavily sagebrush—94% and 92% respectively—with some grass and meadow mixed in, while scattered riparian corridors follow the Sweetwater River and its tributaries. The landscape includes alkaline flats with saltbush and greasewood in drainage bottoms, which concentrate water and elk in dry conditions. Private lands along the river are dominated by irrigated hayfields, but most of the hunt area is public ground. Elk here are scattered and not abundant across the broader landscape; they concentrate in small groups along features like the Sweetwater Rocks and Beaver Rim and in the eastern portions of the area, where they can spill off the Rattlesnake Hills to the east during weather or hunting pressure. The country is remote—most hunters should expect limited or no cell coverage and carry extra fuel, water, food and spare tires. Road conditions can shift dramatically with weather: sandy areas often remain passable even with light precipitation, while the more common muddy roads can become nearly impassable when wet.

Access is rated good by the state, with 81% of the hunt area—roughly 1,772 square miles—on BLM and State Trust Land that hunters can generally count on. However, public ownership does not guarantee straightforward travel; roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings still apply, and the remote terrain and distance between elk pockets compound the challenge. Twelve walk-in areas are enrolled in the hunt area, including sites in Natrona and Fremont counties; these allow hunters to walk on private ground without a permission slip during their open periods. The Rattlesnake Mountain Hunter Management Area also lies within the hunt area; that ground requires a printed permission slip before hunting. Much of the private land lies along the river and its tributaries, where public access is limited outside the walk-in areas.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 128 (Muskrat) 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 W, 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 1 – October 7
Type Gen — general licence · Antlerless elk
Regular October 8 – October 14

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–October)

Early-season hunting here means pursuing elk as they transition into and through the rut's onset and primary phases in September and into early October. Archery runs September 1–30 and regular seasons October 1–7, so the first month catches the transition from pre-rut activity into the rut proper, when bulls begin moving and calling; the regular season continues into the rut's latter stages as bulls grow exhausted and elk movement becomes less predictable. Temperatures cool from September highs around 72°F to October highs near 57°F, with virtually no snow expected in September but up to about 1.1 inches possible in October, so early-season hunts are typically dry until late in the period. Access to the scattered elk pockets along the Sweetwater Rocks, Beaver Rim and the eastern end of the hunt area is limited by remote terrain and the distance between productive ground, and hunters should expect roads to be slow when wet. Any elk—bull or cow, spike or mature—may be taken under the general licence.

Type Gen — Antlerless elk (October)

The antlerless hunt runs October 8–14, spanning the late rut and early post-rut period when bulls are recovering and elk behavior grows less vocal and more dispersed. Temperatures range from around 57°F to 31°F, with occasional October snow, so conditions can shift quickly and roads may become difficult if precipitation falls. The same remote terrain and scattered elk pockets apply; hunters must navigate long distances between concentrations, and public access to the river bottoms where some elk spend time is limited outside the walk-in areas. Only cows and calves may be taken.

Land and access

BLM73%

Generally open to public hunting

private land19%

Private

State Trust Land8%

Generally open to public hunting

About 81% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM and State Trust Land, roughly 1,772 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 12 enrolled walk-in areas. It also holds 1 Hunter Management Area. Both are 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. 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 Range7%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range1%

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

Lower elevations

Sagebrush94%

Grass and meadow4%

Other cover2%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush92%

Grass and meadow4%

Riparian3%

Other cover1%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush95%

Conifer2%

Grass and meadow1%

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	32°F	11°F	2.9 in
February	35°F	13°F	3.8 in
March	46°F	22°F	2.4 in
April	54°F	29°F	1.7 in
May	65°F	38°F	0.1 in
June	76°F	46°F	0 in
July	85°F	53°F	0 in
August	83°F	52°F	0 in
September	72°F	43°F	0 in
October	57°F	31°F	1.1 in
November	42°F	20°F	3 in
December	31°F	11°F	4.3 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter take a general-licence elk in hunt area 128?: Yes. This is a general-licence hunt area open to holders of a valid general elk licence. Residents may buy a general licence over the counter with no draw or points involved. Nonresidents must draw a Region W general licence, which is valid across the general hunt areas in that region.
Do nonresident elk draws in Wyoming use preference points?: Yes, but only for nonresidents, and the draw is not purely random. Three quarters of the available licences are awarded to the preference-point draw, distributed top-down by points held, and one quarter go to a random draw open to all applicants in the pool. Wyoming residents have no elk preference points at all; the resident draw is entirely random.
When do the elk seasons run in hunt area 128?: A general-licence any-elk hunt runs September 1–30 for archery and October 1–7 for regular seasons, with the archery window overlapping the rut's onset and primary phases and the regular season spanning the late rut and early post-rut period. An antlerless-elk hunt follows October 8–14.
How much of hunt area 128 is public land that a hunter can count on?: Roughly 81% of the hunt area, or about 1,772 square miles, lies on BLM and State Trust Land. Private land comprises 19%. However, public ownership does not guarantee straightforward access; roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply.
What walk-in areas are available in hunt area 128?: Twelve walk-in areas are enrolled in the hunt area, including Natrona County Walk In Area 6, Fremont County Walk In Area 28, and Fremont County Walk In Area 31. Walk-in areas require no permission slip and may be hunted during their open periods, subject to posted rules. Enrollment is renegotiated annually.

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