Wyoming elk Region E — eastern Wyoming
Region E is the open east: the Black Hills on the South Dakota line, the Rawhide and Iron Mountain country north of Cheyenne, and the plains and breaks between them. It is the lowest of the three regions, running from around 3,100 feet to 9,000 feet, and the elk here live in smaller pockets of timber and rough ground rather than across continuous high country.
It is also the hardest region for public access. Dependable public ground runs from about a tenth to a third of each hunt area, so a hunter planning a Region E trip is planning around private land — permission, walk-in enrollment, or the National Forest blocks in the Black Hills.
What a Region E licence is — and is not
A Region E general licence is what a nonresident draws to hunt Wyoming’s general-licence elk areas in this part of the state. It is valid across the 6 hunt areas listed below, each subject to its own season dates and limitations.
It is not valid in the limited-quota hunt areas that sit inside the same country. Those must be drawn for that area specifically, and no region licence reaches them — so a region licence is a fallback only when the hunt a reader wants is in a general area.
A Wyoming resident does not use a region licence at all: residents buy a general elk licence over the counter, unlimited statewide, on sale from mid-July. Residents also have no elk preference points — where a resident must draw, that draw is random. Points are a nonresident concept here, and for nonresidents three quarters of each pool is awarded by preference points and the remaining quarter at random.
The 6 general hunt areas in Region E
| Hunt area | Herd | Size | Open public land | Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 · Fortification | Fortification | 393 sq mi | 33% | Moderate |
| 3 · Rawhide | Rawhide | 5,299 sq mi | 10% | Gentle |
| 6 · Iron Mountain | Iron Mountain | 2,176 sq mi | 15% | Gentle |
| 116 · North Black Hills | Black Hills | 2,297 sq mi | 20% | Gentle |
| 126 · Lost Springs | — | 5,496 sq mi | 21% | Gentle |
| 129 · Non-Herd Unit | — | 7,755 sq mi | 19% | Gentle |
“Open public land” is the share of each hunt area a hunter can generally count on — BLM, National Forest, State Trust Land and State Wildlife Areas. Public ownership is not the same as easy entry: roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply.
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
Region boundaries, licence types and seasons change. Confirm every detail with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before applying or hunting.