Wyoming elk Region S — southern Wyoming
Region S covers the Snowy Range and Sierra Madre south and west of Laramie, the Baggs country, and the eastern end of the Uintas. Ground runs from about 6,000 feet to 12,000 feet, with the timbered high country holding elk through the early seasons and the sage and aspen benches below it carrying them later.
Public access is the middle of the three: roughly a quarter to three quarters of each hunt area is ground a hunter can count on, and the National Forest blocks on the Snowy Range and Sierra Madre are large and genuinely walkable.
What a Region S licence is — and is not
A Region S 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 11 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 11 general hunt areas in Region S
| Hunt area | Herd | Size | Open public land | Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 · South Snowy Range | Snowy Range | 409 sq mi | 62% | Gentle |
| 10 · Rock Creek | Snowy Range | 662 sq mi | 29% | Gentle |
| 12 · Kennaday Peak | Snowy Range | 446 sq mi | 60% | Gentle |
| 13 · Encampment River | Sierra Madre | 304 sq mi | 74% | Moderate |
| 15 · Spring Creek | Sierra Madre | 503 sq mi | 62% | Gentle |
| 21 · Baggs | Sierra Madre | 1,002 sq mi | 76% | Gentle |
| 105 · Carter Lease | West Green River | 1,699 sq mi | 52% | Gentle |
| 106 · Unita | Uinta | 732 sq mi | 25% | Gentle |
| 107 · Hickey Mountain | Uinta | 1,526 sq mi | 73% | Gentle |
| 110 · Upper Platte River | Snowy Range | 457 sq mi | 73% | Moderate |
| 130 · Bolten Rim | Sierra Madre | 268 sq mi | — | — |
“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. Areas without a link are inside the licence but do not have a guide written yet.
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.