Unit 034 (Upper Powder River)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 34, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Upper Powder River, covers about 826 square miles in Johnson County. It belongs to WGFD's South Bighorn elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 37.1%, with 1,267 hunters taking 470 elk at about 30.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 29% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 034
Elk Hunt Area 34, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Upper Powder River, covers about 826 square miles in Johnson County. It belongs to WGFD's South Bighorn elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 37.1%, with 1,267 hunters taking 470 elk at about 30.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 29% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 34
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 34 "Upper Powder River". It runs to about 826 square miles, almost all of it in Johnson County. WGFD reports these elk as the South Bighorn herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 33, 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.
The line: Barnum Mountain, Canyon Creek and Crazy Woman Canyon
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 34 corner by corner. It starts at the junction of the Trabing Road (Johnson County Road 13) and Interstate Highway 25. On the way round it follows Johnson County Road 13, Interstate Highway 25, Wyoming Highway 191 and Wyoming Highway 190, and Barnum Mountain, Canyon Creek and Crazy Woman Canyon. That is a legal description, not a habitat map, and it is the text a warden reads you against. 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 34s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 34 also belongs to its deer, antelope and moose hunt areas 34. 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.
Ground WGFD opens: Johnson 10
WGFD also lists one Walk-In Area covering about 14 acres open for elk: Johnson 10. 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 Beartrap Creek/Pheasant (79 acres) and Dull Knife Reservoir (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: Hazelton Pyramid, Hesse Mountain and Hazelton Peak
Named high points inside elk hunt area 34 include Hazelton Pyramid at 10,500 feet, Hesse Mountain at 10,362 feet, Hazelton Peak at 10,232 feet, Tabletop at 8,500 feet and Gardner Mountain at 8,419 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: Bull Camp Park, Beartrap Meadows and Larramandy Draw
Below them sit Bull Camp Park at 7,811 feet, Beartrap Meadows at 7,622 feet, Larramandy Draw at 7,601 feet, Snowdrift Draw at 7,228 feet and Wolf Den Draw at 7,133 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Water: Charlie Brown Spring, Curutchet Spring and Dancehall Spring
Named water inside the line includes Charlie Brown Spring, Curutchet Spring, Dancehall Spring, Fishers Spring, Hammond Spring and Middle Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit 034 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 34
The lay of it
- 4,810–9,116 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,609 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 825 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
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: Hazelton Pyramid (10,500 ft), Hesse Mountain (10,362 ft), Gardner Mountain (8,419 ft), Specimen Hill (7,722 ft)
Holding ground: Powder River Pass (9,657 ft), Canyon Park (8,855 ft), Pole Patch (8,131 ft), Walk-In Area Johnson 10
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 34
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 37.1% elk success in elk hunt area 34: 470 animals taken by 1,267 active hunters over 14,236 days of hunting, or 30.3 days per animal. By residency, residents 37.1% (324 taken by 874) and nonresidents 37.2% (146 taken by 393).
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) | 652 | 582 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 17 | 166 | 10.2% | — |
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 34, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 582 first-choice applicants for 652 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 166 first-choice applicants for 17 licenses, 10.2% 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 34?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 34?
Is elk hunt area 34 the same ground as deer hunt area 34?
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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 34, 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 34, 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