Can a hunter with a region licence hunt elk in hunt area 45?

No. Hunt area 45 is a limited-quota area and requires a specific licence drawn for this area alone. A region licence is valid only in the general-licence areas of its region, never in a limited-quota hunt area.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw elk in hunt area 45?

No. Wyoming residents do not have preference points for elk at all. The resident elk draw for this area is random, with no points system and no point cutoff.

What do nonresidents need to know about preference points for hunt area 45?

Nonresidents applying for hunt area 45 compete in a draw where three quarters of licences are awarded by preference points (top-down by points held) and a quarter are random. Preference points matter significantly for nonresidents, though not all nonresidents will need them to draw a licence in any given year.

Can a nonresident hunt designated wilderness alone in hunt area 45?

No. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide when hunting designated wilderness in this hunt area.

What seasons are available for cow or calf hunting in hunt area 45?

Type 6 cow or calf hunting runs archery-only from September 1 to September 30, then again with regular rifle from December 1 to December 21. Type 7 cow or calf is valid only within one mile of irrigated land and runs September 1 to October 14.

Wyoming Hunt Area 45 (Paint Rock Creek) elk hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

86%

Elevation

3,900–13,200 ft

Terrain

Moderate

Hunt area 45 spans rolling hills and basin floor in its western reaches, transitioning to increasingly rugged terrain across foothill brush and into the high, timbered country of the Bighorn Mountains. Elevations run from 3,900 to 13,200 feet, with typical ground around 5,400 feet. Slopes average 10.6 degrees — about 59% gentle ground, 32% moderate, 7% steep and 1% rugged — so the area mixes terrain a foot hunter can cover with country that demands deliberate climbing. Sagebrush is the dominant cover at lower elevations, grading into mountain brush and curl-leaf mahogany on the foothills and giving way to timbered stands that thicken as elevation rises. The public land here — roughly 86% of the area — includes BLM holdings, National Forest, State Trust Land and State Wildlife Areas, but public ownership does not guarantee straightforward access. Roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all shape what ground a hunter can actually reach.

Hunt area 45 contains designated wilderness, which means a nonresident must be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide there. Access to public land is rated good overall, with widespread opportunity throughout most of the hunt area. Rugged terrain in the canyons, draws and thick timber patches of the mountains makes hunting tough, and elk hold tight in that broken country. In years when weather triggers migration down from higher elevations, the hunting can improve significantly. Otherwise elk scatter through the higher timbered zones and require the kind of foot work the slope breakdown suggests — patient climbing and careful travel through dense cover to find and move animals that have the terrain for escape.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 45 (Paint Rock Creek) is limited quota. A licence for it must be drawn for this hunt area specifically, by resident and nonresident alike. A region licence does not reach it — a region licence is valid only in the general-licence areas of its region, so there is no fallback for this hunt.

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 1 · Any elk
Regular October 15 – November 4
Type 4 · Antlerless elk
Regular October 15 – November 30
Type 5 · Antlerless elk
Regular October 1 – November 30
Type 6 · Cow or calf
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular December 1 – December 21
Type 7 · Cow or calf valid on or within one (1) mile of irrigated land
Regular September 1 – October 14
Type 9 · Any elk, archery only
Regular September 1 – September 30

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 9 — Any elk, archery only (September)

September archery-only hunting targets rut-onset and primary-rut elk over the month. Early September brings warm days (highs around 72 degrees) and cool nights, with little snow, making foot travel manageable and elk relatively mobile as their behaviour shifts with the rut. Mid- to late September conditions remain mild with no significant precipitation. Elk move upslope and into broken terrain, and the archery-only restriction means hunters work the high country and its thick timber on foot, where the rugged terrain and heavy cover slow the hunt but concentrate opportunity during the rut window.

Type 1 — Any elk (October–November)

Any-elk hunting opens mid-October through early November, spanning the late rut, post-rut recovery and migration transition. October weather cools to highs in the upper 50s with about 0.8 inches of snow, tightening elk movement as they begin dropping from high country toward lower ranges. By November highs fall to the mid-40s and snowfall increases to 3.3 inches, and migration pressure builds — if weather has accelerated the shift downslope, hunting can be very good on elk moving between high summer range and lower country. Where elk have not yet migrated in force, they remain scattered in the broken high terrain and dense timber of the mountains, requiring the kind of foot work the rugged canyons and draws demand.

Type 4 — Antlerless elk (October–November)

Antlerless hunting runs through mid-November, overlapping the late rut, post-rut recovery and migration transition. October holds highs around 58 degrees with light snow, but by November temperatures drop to the mid-40s and snowfall climbs to 3.3 inches, making ground conditions progressively harder and widening hunter access into lower country where antlerless elk concentrate. The timing works both for hunters pursuing scattered high-country animals and for those taking advantage of migration pressure if weather has pushed elk downslope.

Type 5 — Antlerless elk (October–November)

This antlerless hunt runs October through the end of November, catching late rut, post-rut recovery and migration transition as conditions cool and snow accumulates. October weather highs reach the upper 50s with about 0.8 inches of snow, then November turns significantly colder with highs in the mid-40s and 3.3 inches of monthly snowfall. Migration timing is critical — if weather has initiated movement down from high range, hunting can be very good, but elk that have not yet shifted remain dispersed in the rugged, timbered mountains where they hold in steep canyons and draws.

Type 6 — Cow or calf (September–December)

Cow or calf hunting combines an archery-only window from September 1 to September 30 with a regular-rifle window from December 1 to December 21. The September phase spans rut onset and primary rut in warm conditions (highs near 72 degrees, no snow), when archery hunters pursue elk moving upslope into high timber and broken terrain. The December phase falls in winter range with cold highs around 34 degrees and 5.5 inches of monthly snowfall, as elk settle into lower country and accessible ground. The split allows archers to hunt the rut in the high country and rifle hunters to pursue elk on winter range, where gentler terrain and snow can push animals into more predictable patterns.

Type 7 — Cow or calf valid on or within one… (September–October)

This cow-or-calf hunt is restricted to ground within one mile of irrigated land and runs September 1 through mid-October, spanning rut onset, primary rut and the onset of late rut. September weather is warm (highs near 72 degrees) with no snow, grading into early October with highs around 58 degrees and minimal precipitation. The irrigation-land restriction focuses hunting on lower-elevation country where irrigated fields are found, and the timing allows hunters to pursue rutting elk near those limited zones during the early, most active phases of rut behaviour.

Land and access

BLM43%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest36%

Generally open to public hunting

private land14%

Private

State Trust Land4%

Generally open to public hunting

State Wildlife Areas3%

Generally open to public hunting

About 86% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, National Forest, State Trust Land and State Wildlife Areas, roughly 668 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.

the Wyoming Game & Fish Department publishes 80% public land for this hunt area. That counts public ownership; the figure above counts ground a hunter can depend on getting onto. They answer different questions, so both are shown rather than blended.

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 Range33%

used in summer

Winter Range28%

used in winter

Crucial Winter Range9%

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

Yearlong Range8%

the only layer that means year-round use

Parturition Areas3%

spring birthing ground, months before any hunting season

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

Sagebrush50%

Grass and meadow32%

Other cover15%

Riparian3%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush58%

Grass and meadow24%

Conifer17%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush44%

Conifer44%

Grass and meadow10%

Other cover2%

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	34°F	11°F	5.3 in
February	37°F	13°F	5.2 in
March	48°F	23°F	2.3 in
April	56°F	30°F	1.4 in
May	65°F	39°F	0 in
June	76°F	47°F	0 in
July	85°F	54°F	0 in
August	83°F	52°F	0 in
September	72°F	43°F	0 in
October	58°F	32°F	0.8 in
November	44°F	20°F	3.3 in
December	34°F	11°F	5.5 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter with a region licence hunt elk in hunt area 45?: No. Hunt area 45 is a limited-quota area and requires a specific licence drawn for this area alone. A region licence is valid only in the general-licence areas of its region, never in a limited-quota hunt area.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw elk in hunt area 45?: No. Wyoming residents do not have preference points for elk at all. The resident elk draw for this area is random, with no points system and no point cutoff.
What do nonresidents need to know about preference points for hunt area 45?: Nonresidents applying for hunt area 45 compete in a draw where three quarters of licences are awarded by preference points (top-down by points held) and a quarter are random. Preference points matter significantly for nonresidents, though not all nonresidents will need them to draw a licence in any given year.
Can a nonresident hunt designated wilderness alone in hunt area 45?: No. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide when hunting designated wilderness in this hunt area.
What seasons are available for cow or calf hunting in hunt area 45?: Type 6 cow or calf hunting runs archery-only from September 1 to September 30, then again with regular rifle from December 1 to December 21. Type 7 cow or calf is valid only within one mile of irrigated land and runs September 1 to October 14.

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