Unit 030 (Aspen Mountain)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 30, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Aspen Mountain, covers about 552 square miles in Sweetwater County. It belongs to WGFD's South Rock Springs elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 69.4%, with 147 hunters taking 102 elk at about 9.7 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 55% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 030
Elk Hunt Area 30, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Aspen Mountain, covers about 552 square miles in Sweetwater County. It belongs to WGFD's South Rock Springs elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 69.4%, with 147 hunters taking 102 elk at about 9.7 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 55% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 30
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 30 "Aspen Mountain". It runs to about 552 square miles, entirely in Sweetwater County. WGFD reports these elk as the South Rock Springs herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 31 and 32. 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: Green River, Rock Springs and Mud Springs
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 30 corner by corner. It starts where Interstate Highway 80 crosses the Green River. On the way round it follows Interstate Highway 80, Wyoming Highway 430, Sweetwater County Road 32 and Sweetwater County Road 27, and Green River, Rock Springs, Mud Springs and Aspen Mountain. 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 30s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 30 also belongs to its deer, antelope and moose hunt areas 30. Only the moose area 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.
High ground inside the line: Quaking Asp Mountain, Mellor Mountain and Lion Bluffs
Named high points inside elk hunt area 30 include Quaking Asp Mountain at 8,668 feet, Mellor Mountain at 8,553 feet, Lion Bluffs at 8,390 feet, Table at 7,719 feet and Antelope Butte at 7,717 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: Tommy James Basin, Coal Mine Canyon and East Draw
Below them sit Tommy James Basin at 7,212 feet, Coal Mine Canyon at 7,155 feet, East Draw at 7,153 feet, Dorrence Recreation Park at 7,143 feet and Titsworth Gap at 7,131 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Water: Gap Spring, Maggie Springs and Poison Spring
Named water inside the line includes Gap Spring, Maggie Springs, Poison Spring, Circle Springs, South Spring and Mullen Camp Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Reading the land status
Federal land — BLM, Forest Service and Park Service — covers about 55% of elk hunt area 30 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 6,279 feet to 8,172 feet, averaging 6,972 — not much relief, so the animals move laterally rather than up and down.
Unit 030 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 30
The lay of it
- 6,279–8,172 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,972 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 551.4 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
- 37 stream segments
- 9 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: Quaking Asp Mountain (8,668 ft), Mellor Mountain (8,553 ft), Antelope Butte (7,717 ft), Chimney Rock (7,671 ft)
Holding ground: Circle (7,344 ft), Dolly Meadow (7,313 ft), Tommy James Basin (7,212 ft), Gap Spring, Maggie Springs
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 30
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 69.4% elk success in elk hunt area 30: 102 animals taken by 147 active hunters over 993 days of hunting, or 9.7 days per animal. By residency, residents 67.8% (78 taken by 115) and nonresidents 75% (24 taken by 32).
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) | 25 | 638 | 3.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 69 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 63 | 167 | 37.7% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 2 | 25 | 8.0% | — |
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 30, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 638 first-choice applicants for 25 licenses, 3.9% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 167 first-choice applicants for 63 licenses, 37.7% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 69 first-choice applicants for 0 licenses, 0% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), nonresidents: 25 first-choice applicants for 2 licenses, 8% 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 30?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 30?
Is elk hunt area 30 the same ground as deer hunt area 30?
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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 30, 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 30, 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 · 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