Unit 027 (Upper Sweetwater)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 27, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Upper Sweetwater, covers about 118 square miles in Fremont County. It belongs to WGFD's South Wind River elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 35.1%, with 134 hunters taking 47 elk at about 18.5 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 93% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 027
Elk Hunt Area 27, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Upper Sweetwater, covers about 118 square miles in Fremont County. It belongs to WGFD's South Wind River elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 35.1%, with 134 hunters taking 47 elk at about 18.5 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 93% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 27
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 27 "Upper Sweetwater". It runs to about 118 square miles, entirely in Fremont County. WGFD reports these elk as the South Wind River herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 25, 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: Sweetwater River, Popo Agie River and Granite Peak
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 27 corner by corner. It starts where Wyoming Highway 28 crosses the Sweetwater River. On the way round it follows Wyoming Highway 28, and Sweetwater River, Popo Agie River, Granite Peak and Willow Creek. 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 27s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 27 also belongs to its deer, antelope and moose hunt areas 27. 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.
Wilderness inside the line: Bridger Wilderness
About 6% of elk hunt area 27 lies in the Bridger Wilderness. WGFD's 2026 regulations print the rule that matters there: no nonresident may hunt big game in a designated wilderness area unless accompanied by a licensed professional guide or a resident guide, with at least one guide for every two nonresident hunters. Inside the wilderness there are no roads, so every animal there comes out on your back or on a horse.
High ground inside the line: West Atlantic Peak, Roaring Fork Mountain and Sweetwater Needles
Named high points inside elk hunt area 27 include West Atlantic Peak at 12,394 feet, Roaring Fork Mountain at 12,394 feet, Sweetwater Needles at 10,503 feet, Pabst Peak at 10,220 feet and Rennecker Peak at 10,025 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: Burnt Meadow and Palmer Draw
Below them sit Burnt Meadow at 8,266 feet and Palmer Draw at 7,563 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Reading the land status
Federal land — BLM, Forest Service and Park Service — covers about 93% of elk hunt area 27 in our read of the federal land-status layer; state trust land isn't counted in that figure. Our ownership read for this hunt area is approximate — it comes out as National Forest 60%, Private / Other 32% and State Trust 8%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. The hunt area runs from 7,800 feet to 11,365 feet, averaging 8,828 — enough relief to separate summer range from winter range.
Unit 027 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 27
The lay of it
- 7,800–11,365 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 8,828 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 117.8 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
- 3 tanks
- 1 springs
- 51 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: West Atlantic Peak (12,394 ft), Sweetwater Needles (10,503 ft), Pabst Peak (10,220 ft), Wildcat Butte (9,598 ft)
Holding ground: Palmer Draw (7,563 ft)
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 27
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 35.1% elk success in elk hunt area 27: 47 animals taken by 134 active hunters over 869 days of hunting, or 18.5 days per animal. By residency, residents 31% (35 taken by 113) and nonresidents 57.1% (12 taken by 21).
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 4 antlerless (resident) | 63 | 82 | 76.8% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 3 | 10 | 30.0% | — |
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 27, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 82 first-choice applicants for 63 licenses, 76.8% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), nonresidents: 10 first-choice applicants for 3 licenses, 30% 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 27?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 27?
Is elk hunt area 27 the same ground as deer hunt area 27?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 27?
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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 27, 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 27, 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: Nonresident guide requirement in designated wilderness · 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 · 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