Can a hunter apply for a general or region licence to hunt area 58?

No. Hunt area 58 is limited-quota and must be drawn individually. A region licence is valid only in the general-licence areas of its region and does not cover this hunt area.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw elk here?

Wyoming residents do not have elk preference points at all. The resident draw for this area is random, with no points required or available. Nonresidents, by contrast, do compete on preference points — three quarters of nonresident licences are awarded by points (highest first), and one quarter by random draw.

What access does the Carter Mountain Hunter Management Area provide?

The Carter Mountain HMA is private ground that requires a printed permission slip from WGFD before hunting. Enrollment is renegotiated annually, so its availability is not guaranteed. When open, it provides access to a large block of private land for hunters pursuing antlerless elk.

How much of hunt area 58 can a hunter actually get onto?

Roughly 30% of the area is public ground (BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest), about 75 square miles. Access to these holdings is limited by roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings. Private land makes up 65% of the area; some is accessible through the Carter Mountain HMA or the Park County Walk In Area 9.

When does the rut occur in hunt area 58?

Archery (September 1–30) overlaps rut onset and the primary rut, when bulls are bugling and responsive. Regular rifle season spans October 1–November 30 for Type 1 (any elk) and continues through January 15 for Type 6 (cow or calf), carrying the hunt through the late rut, post-rut recovery, migration transition and into the winter range phases.

Wyoming Hunt Area 58 (Sage Creek) elk hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

30%

Elevation

4,800–11,200 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 58 spans mountainous country and rolling sagebrush terrain between 4,800 and 11,200 feet, with typical ground around 6,000 feet. The terrain is predominantly gentle — sloping at a mean of 8.9 degrees. Lower and middle elevations are sagebrush-dominated, with lower ground holding scattered riparian corridors and patches of grass; higher slopes carry increasing conifer cover mixed with sagebrush. The area is a patchwork of public and private land, with roughly 30% of the ground dependably open to hunters on BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest. Access to those public holdings is limited by roads, trailheads and seasonal closures, and private inholdings fragment movement across the area. The remaining 65% is private land, most of it enrolled under the Carter Mountain Hunter Management Area or accessible through the Park County Walk In Area 9.

Elk in hunt area 58 are largely non-migratory, though some shift occurs between this area and adjacent hunt areas to the north and west. The higher mountains, especially at the northern and western margins, hold elk through the season until severe weather forces them down; knowing where that pressure point falls is central to judging the hunt month by month. Much of the area's accessible private ground is concentrated in the Carter Mountain HMA, and permission there opens doors to antlerless hunting that public land alone cannot provide. Resident and nonresident hunters alike draw this area individually — a region licence does not reach it — and access to both public and private ground requires advance planning and local knowledge of ownership boundaries.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 58 (Sage 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
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – November 30
Type 6 · Cow or calf
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – January 15

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 1 — Any elk (September–November)

Archery and regular rifle hunting for any elk spans September through November, beginning as bulls enter the rut and continuing well past its peak. During September, mild temperatures (highs around 69°F) and sparse snowfall make for comfortable hiking, and bulls remain responsive throughout the month as they transition into and through their primary rut. October cools steadily (highs dropping to 55°F), with snowfall increasing to roughly 1.7 inches for the month; elk shift from higher ground as weather deteriorates in the northern and western mountains, moving toward accessible terrain. November brings colder conditions (highs around 43°F) and heavier snow (averaging 3.4 inches), completing a transition that pushes elk out of high country and into lower sagebrush and winter range. Access to public ground on BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest remains inconsistent throughout, limited by road and trailhead conditions; private ground requires pre-hunt scouting and knowledge of ownership patterns. This hunt allows any elk with no area restriction.

Type 6 — Cow or calf (September–January)

Archery and rifle hunting for cow or calf extends from September through mid-January, combining rut-season archery with extended rifle opportunity into winter range. September archery (highs ~69°F) encounters responsive bulls during the primary rut, though the legal animal is cow or calf only, requiring hunters to pass bulls and focus on females and young animals. Rifle hunting from October 1 through January 15 shifts to post-rut conditions and the migration transition into winter, with temperatures sliding from 55°F in October to 36°F by January and snowfall climbing from 1.7 inches in October to 3.1 inches in January. As weather intensifies through fall and winter, elk respond by concentrating on lower-elevation terrain accessible to hunters. The Carter Mountain Hunter Management Area becomes central to this season: its private ground holds much of the accessible antlerless opportunity, though a printed permission slip from WGFD is required before hunting there. Public land access remains variable and seasonal. This hunt is restricted to cow or calf, eliminating any legal bull harvest.

Land and access

private land65%

Private

BLM15%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land8%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest7%

Generally open to public hunting

unclassified ownership5%

Ownership unclassified

About 30% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest, roughly 75 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 1 enrolled walk-in area. 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

Winter Range49%

used in winter

Crucial Winter Range49%

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

Parturition Areas9%

spring birthing ground, months before any hunting season

Yearlong Range5%

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

Sagebrush71%

Other cover24%

Grass and meadow4%

Riparian1%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush94%

Other cover3%

Grass and meadow1%

Conifer1%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush67%

Conifer31%

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	36°F	16°F	3.1 in
February	37°F	15°F	4.9 in
March	46°F	22°F	2.3 in
April	52°F	28°F	2 in
May	61°F	37°F	0 in
June	71°F	44°F	0 in
July	81°F	51°F	0 in
August	79°F	49°F	0 in
September	69°F	42°F	0.1 in
October	55°F	32°F	1.7 in
November	43°F	22°F	3.4 in
December	35°F	15°F	3.7 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter apply for a general or region licence to hunt area 58?: No. Hunt area 58 is limited-quota and must be drawn individually. A region licence is valid only in the general-licence areas of its region and does not cover this hunt area.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw elk here?: Wyoming residents do not have elk preference points at all. The resident draw for this area is random, with no points required or available. Nonresidents, by contrast, do compete on preference points — three quarters of nonresident licences are awarded by points (highest first), and one quarter by random draw.
What access does the Carter Mountain Hunter Management Area provide?: The Carter Mountain HMA is private ground that requires a printed permission slip from WGFD before hunting. Enrollment is renegotiated annually, so its availability is not guaranteed. When open, it provides access to a large block of private land for hunters pursuing antlerless elk.
How much of hunt area 58 can a hunter actually get onto?: Roughly 30% of the area is public ground (BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest), about 75 square miles. Access to these holdings is limited by roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings. Private land makes up 65% of the area; some is accessible through the Carter Mountain HMA or the Park County Walk In Area 9.
When does the rut occur in hunt area 58?: Archery (September 1–30) overlaps rut onset and the primary rut, when bulls are bugling and responsive. Regular rifle season spans October 1–November 30 for Type 1 (any elk) and continues through January 15 for Type 6 (cow or calf), carrying the hunt through the late rut, post-rut recovery, migration transition and into the winter range phases.

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