Unit 025 (South Pass)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 25, which Wyoming Game and Fish names South Pass, covers about 1,213 square miles in Fremont and Sweetwater counties. It belongs to WGFD's South Wind River elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 58.3%, with 429 hunters taking 250 elk at about 10.5 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 77% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 025
Elk Hunt Area 25, which Wyoming Game and Fish names South Pass, covers about 1,213 square miles in Fremont and Sweetwater counties. It belongs to WGFD's South Wind River elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 58.3%, with 429 hunters taking 250 elk at about 10.5 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 77% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 25
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 25 "South Pass". It runs to about 1,213 square miles, in Fremont (91%) and Sweetwater (9%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the South Wind River herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 27, 28 and 99. 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.
The line: Wind River, Bison Basin and Red Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 25 corner by corner. It starts where U.S. Highway 287 crosses the south boundary of the Wind River Reservation. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 287, Wyoming Highway 135, Fremont County Road 281 and B.L.M. Road 3221, and Wind River, Bison Basin, Red Creek and Sweetwater River. It is the description your license is good inside, so it is worth reading once in full before you go. 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 25s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 25 also belongs to its deer, antelope and moose hunt areas 25. 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: Fremont 17 and Fremont 27
WGFD also lists 3 Walk-In Areas covering about 6,614 acres open for elk, among them Fremont 17, Fremont 27 and Fremont 2. 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. Public Access Areas such as Luckey Pond (17 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
High ground inside the line: Roundtop Mountain, Peabody Ridge and Antelope Hills
Named high points inside elk hunt area 25 include Roundtop Mountain at 8,734 feet, Peabody Ridge at 8,704 feet, Antelope Hills at 7,667 feet, Saint Marys Peak at 7,567 feet and Dilabaugh Buttes at 7,488 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: Promise Gulch, Omera Meadow and Cutler Gulch
Below them sit Promise Gulch at 7,881 feet, Omera Meadow at 7,872 feet, Cutler Gulch at 7,854 feet, Buckeye Gulch at 7,818 feet and Tabor Gulch at 7,810 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Water: Big Spring, Critnan Springs and Commissary Spring
Named water inside the line includes Big Spring, Critnan Springs, Commissary Spring, Dilabaugh Spring, Omera Spring and Jackson Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit 025 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 25
The lay of it
- 5,378–8,243 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,696 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 1,211.8 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- BLM — 15%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 17%
Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 31 tanks
- 4 springs
- 141 stream segments
- 13 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: Roundtop Mountain (8,734 ft), Antelope Hills (7,667 ft), Saint Marys Peak (7,567 ft), Dilabaugh Buttes (7,488 ft)
Holding ground: Cole Gulch (8,045 ft), Little Hermit Gulch (7,910 ft), Tabor Gulch (7,810 ft), Walk-In Area Fremont 17, Walk-In Area Fremont 27
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 25
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 58.3% elk success in elk hunt area 25: 250 animals taken by 429 active hunters over 2,622 days of hunting, or 10.5 days per animal. By residency, residents 55.9% (205 taken by 367) and nonresidents 72.6% (45 taken by 62).
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) | 140 | 971 | 14.4% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 4 | 189 | 2.1% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 84 | 57 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 4 | 8 | 50.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 5 antlerless (resident) | 63 | 22 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 5 antlerless (nonresident) | 2 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
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 25, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 971 first-choice applicants for 140 licenses, 14.4% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 189 first-choice applicants for 4 licenses, 2.1% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 57 first-choice applicants for 84 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 5 (antlerless elk), residents: 22 first-choice applicants for 63 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), nonresidents: 8 first-choice applicants for 4 licenses, 50% 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 25?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 25?
Is elk hunt area 25 the same ground as deer hunt area 25?
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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 25, 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 25, 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
- 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, 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