Can a hunter in hunt area 51 use a general or region licence, or must the area be drawn?

Hunt area 51 is a limited-quota area drawn specifically by resident and nonresident applicants alike. A general or region licence is not valid here. Only a licence drawn for this hunt area will cover the ground.

How many preference points does a Wyoming resident need for elk in this hunt area?

Wyoming residents do not have elk preference points at all. The resident elk draw in this hunt area is random, with no point requirement or point cutoff. Nonresidents, by contrast, compete in a draw where three quarters of licences go to applicants ranked by preference points and a quarter go to a random draw.

How much of hunt area 51 is public land a hunter can access?

Approximately 98 percent of the hunt area is public land—roughly 636 square miles of National Forest and State Wildlife Areas. However, roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply. The publicly accessible ground is not evenly distributed, and much of it lies in designated wilderness where nonresidents must hire a licensed guide or hunt with a resident guide.

Is hunt area 51 wilderness, and does that matter for nonresidents?

The hunt area contains designated wilderness. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide when hunting in wilderness. A nonresident planning to hunt here independently should be aware that large portions of the ground are off-limits to solo hunting.

When do the different seasons open and close in hunt area 51?

Type 9 (any elk, archery only) runs September 1–30. Type 1 (any elk south and west of Clark's Fork River) runs October 1–November 5. Type 2 (any elk north and east of Clark's Fork River) runs October 1–November 5. Type 4 (antlerless elk) runs November 16–December 15.

Wyoming Hunt Area 51 (Sunlight-Crandall) elk hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

98%

Elevation

4,700–12,200 ft

Terrain

Rugged

Hunt area 51 is a mountainous region of steep drainages and high forest, with terrain rising from 4,700 feet to 12,200 feet and averaging around 8,400 feet. The country is rugged: nearly two-thirds of the ground slopes steeply or very steeply, with conifer forest and sagebrush in roughly equal shares across the elevation band. Significant burned areas from recent wildfires have opened the canopy and created new vegetation growth that can concentrate elk. Most of the terrain is foot country requiring persistence and the willingness to cover elevation gain without stock. Finding elk early in the season outside the wilderness is difficult, and much of the accessible ground lies in designated wilderness where nonresidents must be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide. The area draws mostly migratory elk from Yellowstone National Park, so the herd composition and density fluctuate with winter conditions and snow.

Nearly all of the hunt area—about 98 percent, or roughly 636 square miles—is public land enrolled in the National Forest and State Wildlife Areas. Private inholdings and access points still matter considerably; roads, trailheads and seasonal closures all constrain where a hunter can actually get on the ground. The small 2 percent of private land can fragment the public holdings. Access is rated good overall, but that reflects the extent of public ownership, not an absence of practical barriers to entry.

Type 9 (September, archery only) and the October–November seasons differ sharply. The September hunt catches elk as the rut begins, before the heaviest movement, with cooler mornings and moderate daytime temperatures but very little snow. October and November see elk in late-rut and post-rut phases, with substantial snowfall and plummeting temperatures that both help and hinder the hunt. The two October–November seasons divide the hunt area by the Clark's Fork River, splitting the ground and requiring hunters to know which bank and which licence type they hold. November's antlerless season follows into early winter conditions with heavy snow, when elk patterns shift toward winter range and some animals may be found lower and outside the wilderness.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 51 (Sunlight-Crandall) 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 south and west of the Clark's Fork River
Regular October 1 – November 5
Type 2 · Any elk north and east of the Clark's Fork River
Regular October 1 – November 5
Type 4 · Antlerless elk
Regular November 16 – December 15
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)

Archery hunting for any elk in September runs as the rut begins to come alive, with bulls still holding velvet but growing more vocal and active. Early-September mornings are cool around 37 degrees, with daytime highs near 62 degrees and almost no snow on the ground, making for pleasant hiking and good glassing conditions during the warm middle hours. As the month progresses into peak rut timing, bulls become more responsive to calls, though they remain difficult to locate in the vast wilderness and steep terrain. Access during September is the same as any season—roughly 98 percent of the ground is public, nearly all in National Forest, though finding elk outside the wilderness boundary remains a major obstacle without a guide or local knowledge.

Type 1 — Any elk south and west of the… (October–November)

Type 1 hunts any elk south and west of the Clark's Fork River during October 1–November 5, a period when bulls have finished rutting and are dispersing to recover from the peak. Early October is still relatively mild, with highs in the upper 40s and minimal snow, but the real challenge begins as November approaches: temperatures plummet toward the freezing mark, and snowfall jumps from a trace to over 14 inches by month's end. The snow can help push migratory elk onto available ground and make them easier to locate, but it also demands more physical fitness and puts real pressure on the hunter. The river boundary is legally exact and must be known before the hunt; nearly all the public land here is National Forest in the wilderness, where nonresidents must be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide.

Type 2 — Any elk north and east of the… (October–November)

Type 2 hunts any elk north and east of the Clark's Fork River during the same October 1–November 5 window, tracking the same rut phases and weather as Type 1 but on the opposite bank. Bulls are in late-rut and post-rut phases, moving less predictably than during the September peak and beginning to shift toward winter ground as November arrives. Early-season hunting is milder but harder on the legs; late-season snow, which can exceed 14 inches in November, both reveals elk and complicates travel through steep country. The public land here is overwhelmingly National Forest, and the boundary with Type 1 follows the river precisely—a detail that matters in the field when a wrong bank could make a kill illegal. Nonresidents hunting this side must also be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide if they venture into the wilderness.

Type 4 — Antlerless elk (November–December)

Antlerless hunting from November 16 through December 15 takes place as elk transition into winter range and patterns shift with deepening cold and snow. The November portion catches some animals still in migration; by December, with highs dropping to 28 degrees and monthly snowfall averaging over 20 inches, elk are settling into winter habitat. This season is the best opportunity to find animals outside the wilderness, as antlerless elk and later-season dispersal can bring them to lower elevations and more accessible ground. The antlerless limitation is legally exact—cows or calves only—and applies across all accessible ground.

Land and access

National Forest98%

Generally open to public hunting

private land2%

Private

About 98% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest and State Wildlife Areas, roughly 636 square miles. Public ownership is not the same as easy entry: roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply.

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 Range71%

used in summer

Winter Range28%

used in winter

Parturition Areas27%

spring birthing ground, months before any hunting season

Crucial Winter Range19%

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

Yearlong Range9%

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

Across the unit

Conifer46%

Sagebrush46%

Other cover5%

Grass and meadow2%

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	30°F	12°F	18.7 in
February	32°F	12°F	17 in
March	40°F	18°F	13.7 in
April	46°F	23°F	8.8 in
May	54°F	32°F	1.8 in
June	63°F	39°F	0 in
July	73°F	45°F	0 in
August	72°F	44°F	0 in
September	62°F	37°F	0.5 in
October	48°F	28°F	5.2 in
November	36°F	19°F	14.3 in
December	28°F	12°F	20.7 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter in hunt area 51 use a general or region licence, or must the area be drawn?: Hunt area 51 is a limited-quota area drawn specifically by resident and nonresident applicants alike. A general or region licence is not valid here. Only a licence drawn for this hunt area will cover the ground.
How many preference points does a Wyoming resident need for elk in this hunt area?: Wyoming residents do not have elk preference points at all. The resident elk draw in this hunt area is random, with no point requirement or point cutoff. Nonresidents, by contrast, compete in a draw where three quarters of licences go to applicants ranked by preference points and a quarter go to a random draw.
How much of hunt area 51 is public land a hunter can access?: Approximately 98 percent of the hunt area is public land—roughly 636 square miles of National Forest and State Wildlife Areas. However, roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply. The publicly accessible ground is not evenly distributed, and much of it lies in designated wilderness where nonresidents must hire a licensed guide or hunt with a resident guide.
Is hunt area 51 wilderness, and does that matter for nonresidents?: The hunt area contains designated wilderness. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide when hunting in wilderness. A nonresident planning to hunt here independently should be aware that large portions of the ground are off-limits to solo hunting.
When do the different seasons open and close in hunt area 51?: Type 9 (any elk, archery only) runs September 1–30. Type 1 (any elk south and west of Clark's Fork River) runs October 1–November 5. Type 2 (any elk north and east of Clark's Fork River) runs October 1–November 5. Type 4 (antlerless elk) runs November 16–December 15.

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