Unit 001 (Black Hills)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 1, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Black Hills, covers about 101 square miles in Crook County. It belongs to WGFD's Black Hills elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 58%, with 169 hunters taking 98 elk at about 18 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 86% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 001
Elk Hunt Area 1, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Black Hills, covers about 101 square miles in Crook County. It belongs to WGFD's Black Hills elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 58%, with 169 hunters taking 98 elk at about 18 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 86% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 1
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 1 "Black Hills". It runs to about 101 square miles, entirely in Crook County. WGFD reports these elk as the Black Hills herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 116 and 117. The boundary and the harvest figures are WGFD's. The read of the country inside them is ours, and it says so where it starts.
Where elk hunt area 1 begins and ends
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 1 corner by corner. It starts where the north boundary of the Black Hills National Forest crosses the Wyoming-South Dakota state line. On the way round it follows U.S.F.S. Road 807 and U.S.F.S. Road 863. Read it as the legal edge of your license rather than as a hint about animals. The full text is in Section 9 of that chapter, with this year's season dates and license limitations in Section 2.
Not the same ground as the other hunt area 1s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 1 also belongs to its deer, antelope, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat hunt areas 1. Only the deer and antelope areas share a county with this one. A license is good only in the hunt area of its own species, so this page is about the elk area, and the cards at the foot of the page link the others.
Ground WGFD opens: Crook 1
WGFD also lists one Walk-In Area covering about 830 acres open for elk: Crook 1. WGFD's 2026 regulations open Access Yes land only for the species and dates listed for each area, with each area's own rules on WGFD's site and no motorized travel unless WGFD says otherwise.
High ground inside the line: Cement Ridge, Bald Mountain and Bull Hill
Named high points inside elk hunt area 1 include Cement Ridge at 6,618 feet, Bald Mountain at 6,342 feet, Bull Hill at 6,305 feet, Mineral Hill at 6,294 feet and Lytle Hill at 5,786 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk on low, open country live on distance and visibility, so they see you first.
Holding ground: Wagon Canyon, Roena Gulch and Pole Cabin Gulch
Below them sit Wagon Canyon at 5,482 feet, Roena Gulch at 5,462 feet, Pole Cabin Gulch at 5,425 feet, Cummins Gulch at 5,414 feet and Spottedtail Gulch at 5,365 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Water: Guidinger Spring, Balm of Gilead Spring and Quail Spring
Named water inside the line includes Guidinger Spring, Balm of Gilead Spring, Quail Spring, Thompson Spring, Boundary Spring and Rattlesnake Spring Number 3. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit 001 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 1
The lay of it
- 3,990–6,466 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,515 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 100.3 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 32%
Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 4 tanks
- 1 stream segments
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: Cement Ridge (6,618 ft), Bald Mountain (6,342 ft), Bull Hill (6,305 ft), Lytle Hill (5,786 ft)
Holding ground: Riflepit Canyon (5,758 ft), Wagon Canyon (5,482 ft), Pole Cabin Gulch (5,425 ft), Walk-In Area Crook 1, Guidinger 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 Elk Hunt Area 1
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 58% elk success in elk hunt area 1: 98 animals taken by 169 active hunters over 1,767 days of hunting, or 18 days per animal. By residency, residents 58% (80 taken by 138) and nonresidents 58.1% (18 taken by 31).
These are WGFD's own estimates from its hunter survey, for this hunt area and season only — not a statewide average. One season isn't a trend, so check the current report before you read one into it.
Elk Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (resident) | 83 | 975 | 8.5% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 375 | 0.3% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 63 | 100 | 63.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 2 | 13 | 15.4% | — |
Data from 2026 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 EngineWyoming Game and Fish's 2026 demand report for elk in elk hunt area 1, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 975 first-choice applicants for 83 licenses, 8.5% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 375 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 0.3% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 100 first-choice applicants for 63 licenses, 63% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), nonresidents: 13 first-choice applicants for 2 licenses, 15.4% drawn
Wyoming residents draw elk licenses without preference points; nonresidents draw part of their quota on points, highest balance first (Chapter 44, Section 19), and the nonresident figures above are from WGFD's random draw. WGFD publishes no preference-point level at which a hunt draws, so none is given here. Every figure was checked against WGFD's demand-report PDFs on 2026-08-10.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Wyoming elk hunt area 1?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 1?
Is elk hunt area 1 the same ground as deer hunt area 1?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-25.
- Chapter 7 — Elk Hunting Seasons (2026) — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Name and legal boundary of elk hunt area 1, Season dates, license types and limitations by hunt area · accessed 2026-10-25
- Elk 2025 Harvest Report — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: Hunters, harvest, percent success and days per animal for elk in elk hunt area 1, The same by license type and residency · accessed 2026-10-25
- WGFD draw results and odds — demand reports 2021-2026 — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: First-choice applicants, licenses and percent drawn, by license type, residency and year · accessed 2026-08-10
- Chapter 44 — Regulation for Issuance of Licenses, Permits, Stamps, Tags, Preference Points and Competitive Raffle Chances — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Which licenses are drawn on preference points (Section 19), When preference points are deleted · accessed 2026-10-25
- Chapter 2 — General Hunting Regulation (2026) — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Mandatory CWD sample submission (Section 17) · accessed 2026-10-25
- 2026 Antelope, Deer and Elk Hunting Regulations — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Access Yes Walk-In and Hunter Management Area rules · accessed 2026-10-25
- WGFD ArcGIS feature services — hunt areas by species, CWD sampling areas, WHMAs, Public Access Areas, Hunter Management Areas, Walk-In Hunting Areas — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: Mapped outline of the hunt area, Herd unit and square miles, 2026 CWD mandatory and priority sampling areas, WHMAs, Public Access Areas, Hunter Management Areas and Walk-In Areas inside the area · accessed 2026-10-25
- TIGERweb State_County — Wyoming county boundaries (used only to measure which counties a hunt area lies in) — U.S. Census Bureau · supports: Which counties the hunt area lies in, and in what share · accessed 2026-10-25