Can a nonresident hunter draw a general licence for hunt area 13?

No. Nonresidents cannot buy a general elk licence; only Wyoming residents can purchase one over the counter. A nonresident wanting to hunt on a general licence must draw a Region S general licence, which is valid in all general-licence hunt areas of that region but nowhere outside it.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points for elk in hunt area 13?

No. Wyoming residents have no elk preference points at all, and when a resident must draw for elk, that draw is purely random with no points involved. Preference points are a nonresident concept only.

How much of hunt area 13 can a hunter count on being able to access?

Roughly 74 percent of the area — about 224 square miles — is public land (National Forest, BLM, and State Trust Land) that a hunter can generally depend on, though roads, trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings still constrain actual entry. The remaining 26 percent is private land.

Can a nonresident hunt alone in the Encampment River Canyon wilderness?

No. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide in designated wilderness. A nonresident hunting the canyon section must have that accompaniment or cannot legally hunt there.

When do the hunt area 13 seasons run?

Type Gen (any elk) runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 15–31. Type 6 (cow or calf) runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–December 31. Type 7 (cow or calf on private land only) runs August 15–January 31.

Wyoming Hunt Area 13 (Encampment River) elk hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

74%

Elevation

7,100–11,000 ft

Terrain

Moderate

Elk region

Hunt area 13 spans 304 square miles across the Sierra Madre herd unit at elevations from 7,100 to 11,000 feet, with typical ground around 8,500 feet. The terrain is moderate overall — half of it gentle, 42 percent moderate slope, and 8 percent steep — mixed between open sagebrush flats, narrow riparian corridors along the Encampment River and its canyons, and high-elevation conifer forests of spruce, fir, and lodgepole pine interspersed with aspen groves and brushy meadows. Lower slopes are dominated by sagebrush and mountain shrub; mid elevations transition to conifer with meadow parks; the highest ground is heavily forested. Recent large fires have burned roughly 25,000 acres across the area and are likely to draw elk to emerging herbaceous forage in the years ahead.

National Forest and BLM ground, along with scattered State Trust Land, make up about 74 percent of the hunt area and provide widespread public access, though roads, trailheads, and seasonal closures still govern where a hunter can actually get onto the ground. The Encampment River Canyon is managed by the BLM as a designated wilderness. Private land comprises 26 percent of the area, and elk seasonally shift between public-land summer grounds at higher elevations and lower-elevation ranges where private holdings become significant in the fall and winter. Hunters working the September rut can focus on public-land high country; those hunting later in the season should expect to depend on private-land access or to work public ground strategically as access patterns change.

The season splits across three licence types spanning late summer through early winter. Type Gen attracts nonresidents with a region-wide general licence and runs archery through the early rut peak, then regular season in the post-rut window. Type 6 cow-or-calf seasons follow a similar calendar — archery and regular — and overlap with Type Gen hunts. Type 7 is a private-land-only cow hunt that extends from August through January across the later seasons when winter conditions and range movements make private agreements the practical entry point.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 13 (Encampment River) 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 on private land
Regular August 15 – January 31
Type Gen — general licence · Any elk
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – October 31
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 on private land (August–January)

Type 7 cow-or-calf hunting on private land extends from mid-August through the end of January, spanning the season from late summer velvet through the deep winter range phase. August temperatures are mild — highs near 74°F — and September remains cool with highs around 66°F and minimal precipitation, conditions that favor foot work on lower-elevation ground. October brings the first serious snow, averaging 4.2 inches for the month, and temperatures drop sharply toward winter; by December and January, highs average 31–32°F and snowfall totals roughly 28 inches per month. This hunt is restricted to private land, so access depends entirely on landowner agreements rather than public-land entry points. The licence allows cows and calves only, making it a harvest-focused hunt that capitalizes on elk using private range, particularly through the winter months when animals range lower.

Type Gen — Any elk (September–October)

Hunters pursuing Type Gen any-elk hunts encounter two distinct windows: archery from September 1–30 catches the early rut and primary rut, while the regular season from October 15–31 falls in the post-rut recovery phase when bulls have finished their peak activity. Archery season occurs in cool conditions — highs around 66°F in September with little precipitation — that keep elk active in open country and transition zones; the primary rut typically peaks between mid- and late September. The regular season arrives with sharply colder weather and the first substantial snowfall of the year, averaging 4.2 inches in October, which can concentrate elk in timbered cover and deadfall refuges where thermals and shelter matter more than velvet or rut. This hunt reaches all public land throughout the area — roughly 74 percent of the ground — as well as private holdings, giving hunters multiple entry strategies depending on season and animal behavior.

Type 6 — Cow or calf (September–December)

Type 6 cow-or-calf hunting spans September through December with archery (September 1–30) opening during the rut onset and primary rut, then a longer regular season from October 1–December 31 that carries through the post-rut, migration, and early winter-range phases. September archery coincides with cool conditions favorable for glassing and moving — highs near 66°F with negligible snow — and the rut activity of that month concentrates bulls and can drive movement; the primary rut typically reaches its peak in mid- to late September. The regular season starts in early October when temperatures are cooling sharply and snowfall increases significantly (averaging 4.2 inches for the month), pushing elk into forested areas and heavy cover; December deepens the winter phase with snow accumulation near 28 inches and highs dropping to 31°F, when access to much public ground may depend on trailhead conditions and foot traffic becomes slower but can be rewarding in reliable winter habitat. This hunt is restricted to cows and calves, making it a harvesting season focused on female and young elk rather than bulls.

Land and access

National Forest60%

Generally open to public hunting

private land26%

Private

BLM10%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land4%

Generally open to public hunting

About 74% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM and State Trust Land, roughly 224 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 includes designated wilderness. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide in designated wilderness.

Where elk are mapped

Summer Range50%

used in summer

Winter Range29%

used in winter

Crucial Winter Range14%

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

Parturition Areas13%

spring birthing ground, months before any hunting season

Yearlong Range10%

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

Sagebrush67%

Other cover10%

Riparian7%

Grass and meadow7%

Conifer7%

Aspen3%

Mid elevations

Conifer47%

Grass and meadow23%

Sagebrush22%

Aspen5%

Riparian2%

Other cover1%

Higher elevations

Conifer81%

Grass and meadow11%

Sagebrush6%

Aspen2%

Other cover1%

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	12°F	27.9 in
February	34°F	12°F	24.9 in
March	43°F	19°F	20.1 in
April	49°F	24°F	12.7 in
May	58°F	33°F	1.4 in
June	69°F	40°F	0 in
July	76°F	46°F	0 in
August	74°F	45°F	0 in
September	66°F	38°F	0.2 in
October	53°F	28°F	4.2 in
November	40°F	19°F	19.1 in
December	31°F	11°F	27.9 in

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

Common questions

Can a nonresident hunter draw a general licence for hunt area 13?: No. Nonresidents cannot buy a general elk licence; only Wyoming residents can purchase one over the counter. A nonresident wanting to hunt on a general licence must draw a Region S general licence, which is valid in all general-licence hunt areas of that region but nowhere outside it.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points for elk in hunt area 13?: No. Wyoming residents have no elk preference points at all, and when a resident must draw for elk, that draw is purely random with no points involved. Preference points are a nonresident concept only.
How much of hunt area 13 can a hunter count on being able to access?: Roughly 74 percent of the area — about 224 square miles — is public land (National Forest, BLM, and State Trust Land) that a hunter can generally depend on, though roads, trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings still constrain actual entry. The remaining 26 percent is private land.
Can a nonresident hunt alone in the Encampment River Canyon wilderness?: No. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide in designated wilderness. A nonresident hunting the canyon section must have that accompaniment or cannot legally hunt there.
When do the hunt area 13 seasons run?: Type Gen (any elk) runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 15–31. Type 6 (cow or calf) runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–December 31. Type 7 (cow or calf on private land only) runs August 15–January 31.

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