Unit 033 (Middle Fork)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 33, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Middle Fork, covers about 625 square miles in Johnson, Natrona and Washakie counties. It belongs to WGFD's South Bighorn elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 29.9%, with 402 hunters taking 120 elk at about 30.6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 39% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 033
Elk Hunt Area 33, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Middle Fork, covers about 625 square miles in Johnson, Natrona and Washakie counties. It belongs to WGFD's South Bighorn elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 29.9%, with 402 hunters taking 120 elk at about 30.6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 39% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 33
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 33 "Middle Fork". It runs to about 625 square miles, in Johnson (56%), Natrona (41%) and Washakie (3%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the South Bighorn herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 34, 47, 48, 49 and 120. 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.
Where elk hunt area 33 begins and ends
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 33 corner by corner. It starts at the Kaycee interchange on Interstate Highway 25. On the way round it follows Interstate Highway 25, Natrona County Road 115, Natrona County Road 114 and Natrona County Road 113, and Barnum 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 33s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 33 also belongs to its deer and moose hunt areas 33. Only the deer 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.
Ground WGFD opens: Ed O. Taylor and Ellis
WGFD administers 2 Wildlife Habitat Management Areas inside or across the line, including Ed O. Taylor (10,211 acres) and Ellis (3,836 acres). WGFD also lists 2 Walk-In Areas covering about 3,492 acres open for elk, among them Johnson 10 and Natrona 16. 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 Blue Creek (1 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
High ground inside the line: Wide Divide Ridge, Horse Pasture Ridge and Cow Spring Butte
Named high points inside elk hunt area 33 include Wide Divide Ridge at 6,694 feet, Horse Pasture Ridge at 6,579 feet, Cow Spring Butte at 6,506 feet, The Island at 6,381 feet and Roughlock Hill at 6,368 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: Dry Vee Slope, Little Dry Vee Slope and Poker Creek Slope
Below them sit Dry Vee Slope at 6,565 feet, Little Dry Vee Slope at 6,439 feet, Poker Creek Slope at 6,375 feet, Hole-in-the-Wall Slope at 6,313 feet and North River Slope at 6,260 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Unit 033 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 33
The lay of it
- 4,802–7,394 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,708 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 624.5 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- Private / Other — 100%
Roughly 0% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 28 tanks
- 18 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: Horse Pasture Ridge (6,579 ft), Cow Spring Butte (6,506 ft), The Island (6,381 ft), Roughlock Hill (6,368 ft)
Holding ground: Bachaus Pasture (7,091 ft), Ghent Parks (6,995 ft), Taylor Slope (6,982 ft), Ed O. Taylor WHMA, Ellis 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 33
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 29.9% elk success in elk hunt area 33: 120 animals taken by 402 active hunters over 3,677 days of hunting, or 30.6 days per animal. By residency, residents 27.4% (81 taken by 296) and nonresidents 36.8% (39 taken by 106).
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) | 163 | 146 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 4 | 56 | 7.1% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 89 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 4 | 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 33, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 146 first-choice applicants for 163 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 56 first-choice applicants for 4 licenses, 7.1% 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 33?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 33?
Is elk hunt area 33 the same ground as deer hunt area 33?
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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 33, 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 33, 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