Unit 091 (Pilot Range and the Leppy Hills)
Nevada Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 091 is a small unit on the Pilot Range, about 280 square miles in Elko County and Utah's Box Elder County. Debbs Canyon, Bettridge Canyon and Patterson Pass have produced most of the Nevada-side elk harvest. A reciprocal agreement with Utah lets tagholders hunt both states around Pilot Mountain.
Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 091
Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Nevada Unit 091 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.
Free accounts get one report a year with the top spot unlocked. ProHunt Pro includes unlimited reports, all three spots, the full camp plan, and GPX/KML downloads for onX and Google Earth. Prefer to see one first? Open the builder and pick any unit.
Elk Hunting in Unit 091
Unit 091 is a small unit on the Pilot Range, about 280 square miles in Elko County and Utah's Box Elder County. Debbs Canyon, Bettridge Canyon and Patterson Pass have produced most of the Nevada-side elk harvest. A reciprocal agreement with Utah lets tagholders hunt both states around Pilot Mountain.
Where to Find Elk in Unit 091: Debbs Canyon, Bettridge Canyon and Patterson Pass
Debbs Canyon, Bettridge Canyon and Patterson Pass
On the Nevada side, NDOW says Debbs Canyon, Bettridge Canyon and Patterson Pass have traditionally produced most of Unit 091's elk harvest. Those three are the place to start. The biologist also notes that harvest has come from a variety of areas, so don't treat them as the only places elk can be.
Water in August and September, and the burns
In August and September elk here are generally tied to water. Sources range from perennial streams to small springs, plus artificial water developments on the south end. NDOW's advice is to start with a map showing water, roads and terrain and build your plan from it.
Fire matters too. Areas that have burned in recent years tend to draw elk, because the recovering burns offer new, tender forage. Weather can reshuffle everything. Summer thunderstorms and snowstorms are fairly common in September, and NDOW says they can quickly change how elk move and where they're found. If a storm rolls through mid-hunt, go back to the water and the burns and look again rather than sitting on a spot that held elk the week before.
The ground NDOW draws for this tag
A elk tag for this group is good in unit 091, about 278 square miles measured on NDOW's own boundary, in Elko County. The named ranges inside the line are Pilot Range and Leppy Hills. The highest named points are Pilot Peak (10,697 ft) and Leppy Peak (6,700 ft), and the lowest named ground sits near 4,295 feet. We don't print a land-status split for Nevada groups, because the figures we held didn't come from BLM's surface-management data; check BLM's current map for private parcels before you cross a fence or a cattle guard. GNIS names 7 springs inside it, Small Spring, Miners Spring, Salt Spring and Parson Springs among them.
Unit 091 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 4,469–8,586 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,153 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 278 sq mi inside the boundary.
Water on the ground
- 3 tanks
- 4 springs
- 15 stream segments
- 1 lakes
Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Pilot Range (10,697 ft), Leppy Hills (6,700 ft)
Holding ground: Miners Canyon (5,708 ft), Regulator Canyon (5,213 ft), Patterson Gulch (5,023 ft), Willow Spring, Salt Spring
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Elk in Unit 091: Pilot Mountain access and the Utah agreement
Elk Success Rates
Antlered, any legal weapon: 4 of 9 hunters afield (44%); Antlerless, any legal weapon: 5 of 6 hunters afield (83%); Antlerless, any legal weapon: 4 of 4 hunters afield (100%); Antlered, archery: 2 of 4 hunters afield (50%). Figures are NDOW's own, from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.
Elk Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — Early Season bull/buck only (resident) | 10 | 600 | 1.7% | — |
| Rifle — Early Season antlerless (resident) | 6 | 99 | 5.1% | — |
| Rifle — Mid Season antlerless (resident) | 5 | 101 | 5.0% | — |
| Archery — Early Season bull/buck only (resident) | 4 | 5 | 80.0% | — |
Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.
Open in Draw Odds EngineFrom NDOW's 2025 Big Game Hunt Data. Demand is NDOW's count of tags awarded plus first-choice applicants who did not draw; its draw rate is tags over demand.
- Antlered, any legal weapon — Residents: 600 demand for 10 tags, a 1.7% draw rate.
- Antlerless, any legal weapon — Residents: 99 demand for 6 tags, a 5.1% draw rate.
- Antlerless, any legal weapon — Residents: 101 demand for 5 tags, a 5.0% draw rate.
- Antlered, archery — Residents: 5 demand for 4 tags, a 80.0% draw rate.
NDOW's hunt data publishes no points-required figure, so none is given here.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Which units does a Nevada elk tag for 091 cover?
What was hunter success for elk on units 091 in 2025?
How hard is the elk draw for units 091?
Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro
Unlock advanced tactics, the Tag-to-Trail Planner, AI hunt strategy assistant, and personalized camp and trip execution plans.
Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-25.
- Hunt Information Sheet — Elk, 091 — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Access, Recommended hunting areas, Biologist comments · accessed 2026-10-25
- 2025 Nevada Big Game Hunt Data — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Seasons, quotas and tags issued, Demand and draw rate by residency, Hunters afield, successful hunters and hunter success, Days hunted · accessed 2026-10-25
- NDOW Hunt Unit Boundaries — unit groups (ArcGIS) — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Units 091, 278 square miles · accessed 2026-10-25
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the group — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Pilot Range, Leppy Hills, Pilot Peak 10,697 ft, Leppy Peak 6,700 ft · accessed 2026-10-25