Unit 011 (Medicine Bow River)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 11, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Medicine Bow River, covers about 692 square miles in Carbon and Albany counties. It belongs to WGFD's Snowy Range elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 53.9%, with 729 hunters taking 393 elk at about 15.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 25% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 011
Elk Hunt Area 11, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Medicine Bow River, covers about 692 square miles in Carbon and Albany counties. It belongs to WGFD's Snowy Range elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 53.9%, with 729 hunters taking 393 elk at about 15.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 25% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 11
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 11 "Medicine Bow River". It runs to about 692 square miles, in Carbon (81%) and Albany (19%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Snowy Range herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 8, 9, 10, 12, 110 and 125. What WGFD publishes for the area is its boundary and its harvest; where the elk stand inside it is our reading of the ground, and the two are kept apart below.
The line: Rock Creek, Deep Creek and Sheep Lake
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 11 corner by corner. It starts where Interstate Highway 80 crosses Rock Creek at Arlington. On the way round it follows Interstate Highway 80, U.S.F.S. Road 103, U.S.F.S. Road 100 and U.S.F.S. Road 101, and Rock Creek, Deep Creek, Sheep Lake and Laramie River. 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 11s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 11 also belongs to its deer, antelope and moose hunt areas 11. None of them shares 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: Wick Brothers/Beumee
WGFD administers the Wick Brothers/Beumee Wildlife Habitat Management Area (23,408 acres) inside or across the line. Public Access Areas such as East Allen Lake (2 acres) and Diamond Lake (4 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
High ground inside the line: Medicine Bow Peak, Browns Peak and Windy Hill
Named high points inside elk hunt area 11 include Medicine Bow Peak at 11,985 feet, Browns Peak at 11,717 feet, Windy Hill at 10,579 feet, Pine Butte at 10,519 feet and Lookout Mountain at 10,250 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk want timber to bed in and open ground to feed on, within a short walk of each other.
Holding ground: Big Draw, Upper Foote Creek Flats and Simpson Gap
Below them sit Big Draw at 7,614 feet, Upper Foote Creek Flats at 7,491 feet, Simpson Gap at 7,122 feet, Jackson Draw at 7,091 feet and Frank Draw at 7,076 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Water: Sulphur Springs, Upper Fourmile Spring and Jacks Spring
Named water inside the line includes Sulphur Springs, Upper Fourmile Spring, Jacks Spring, Rolling Springs, Cronberg Spring and Barrel Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit 011 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 11
The lay of it
- 6,790–10,223 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,610 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 691.5 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
- 594 tanks
- 123 stream segments
- 39 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: Medicine Bow Peak (11,985 ft), Browns Peak (11,717 ft), Windy Hill (10,579 ft), Pine Butte (10,519 ft)
Holding ground: Johnson Park (10,411 ft), Sawmill Park (8,877 ft), White Rock Canyon (8,081 ft), Wick Brothers/Beumee WHMA
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 11
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 53.9% elk success in elk hunt area 11: 393 animals taken by 729 active hunters over 6,000 days of hunting, or 15.3 days per animal. By residency, residents 51.9% (303 taken by 584) and nonresidents 62.1% (90 taken by 145).
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) | 112 | 789 | 14.2% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 2 | 124 | 1.6% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 either sex (resident) | 82 | 167 | 49.1% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 either sex (nonresident) | 2 | 41 | 4.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 84 | 66 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 3 | 16 | 18.8% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (resident) | 62 | 150 | 41.3% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 52 | 1.9% | — |
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 11, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 789 first-choice applicants for 112 licenses, 14.2% drawn
- Type 2, residents: 167 first-choice applicants for 82 licenses, 49.1% drawn
- Type 9, residents: 150 first-choice applicants for 62 licenses, 41.3% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 124 first-choice applicants for 2 licenses, 1.6% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 66 first-choice applicants for 84 licenses, 100% 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. There are 3 more type-and-residency rows for this area in 2026. 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 11?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 11?
Is elk hunt area 11 the same ground as deer hunt area 11?
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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 11, 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 11, 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
- 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, 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