Unit 035 (Hunter Mesa)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 35, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Hunter Mesa, covers about 251 square miles in Johnson County. It belongs to WGFD's North Bighorn elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 26.5%, with 540 hunters taking 143 elk at about 37.6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 64% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 035
Elk Hunt Area 35, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Hunter Mesa, covers about 251 square miles in Johnson County. It belongs to WGFD's North Bighorn elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 26.5%, with 540 hunters taking 143 elk at about 37.6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 64% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 35
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 35 "Hunter Mesa". It runs to about 251 square miles, entirely in Johnson County. WGFD reports these elk as the North Bighorn herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40. WGFD prints the line and counts the harvest. It doesn't say where inside the line the elk live, so that part is our read of the ground, labelled as such.
The line: French Creek, Crazy Woman Canyon and Bighorn Mountain
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 35 corner by corner. It starts where U.S. Highway 87 business loop crosses French Creek. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 87, Wyoming Highway 196, Johnson County Road 14 and U.S. Highway 16, and French Creek, Crazy Woman Canyon, Bighorn Mountain and Powder River Pass. 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 35s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 35 also belongs to its deer and moose hunt areas 35. 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: Cloud Peak Wilderness
About 18% of elk hunt area 35 lies in the Cloud Peak 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: Mather Peaks, Bighorn Peak and Sheep Mountain
Named high points inside elk hunt area 35 include Mather Peaks at 12,419 feet, Bighorn Peak at 12,316 feet, Sheep Mountain at 9,607 feet, Hunter Mesa at 8,094 feet and Sisters Hill at 7,713 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: Circle Park, Schoolhouse Park and Elgin Park
Below them sit Circle Park at 8,000 feet, Schoolhouse Park at 7,675 feet, Elgin Park at 7,598 feet, Cull Watt Park at 7,166 feet and Hay Gulch at 6,635 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Water: Mosier Springs, Cow Camp Spring and Fox Cabin Spring
Named water inside the line includes Mosier Springs, Cow Camp Spring, Fox Cabin Spring, Hospital Hill Springs and East Long Park Spring Number 2. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit 035 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 35
The lay of it
- 5,099–10,561 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,854 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 250.6 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
- 250 tanks
- 19 springs
- 105 stream segments
- 12 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: Mather Peaks (12,419 ft), Bighorn Peak (12,316 ft), Sheep Mountain (9,607 ft), Hunter Mesa (8,094 ft)
Holding ground: Medicine Cabin Park (9,606 ft), Slab Park (8,224 ft), Lynx Park (8,034 ft), Mosier Springs, Cow Camp Spring
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 35
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 26.5% elk success in elk hunt area 35: 143 animals taken by 540 active hunters over 5,376 days of hunting, or 37.6 days per animal. By residency, residents 25.4% (104 taken by 409) and nonresidents 29.8% (39 taken by 131).
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) | 122 | 476 | 25.6% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 3 | 66 | 4.5% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 147 | 82 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 6 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (resident) | 61 | 212 | 28.8% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 48 | 2.1% | — |
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 35, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 476 first-choice applicants for 122 licenses, 25.6% drawn
- Type 9, residents: 212 first-choice applicants for 61 licenses, 28.8% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 82 first-choice applicants for 147 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 66 first-choice applicants for 3 licenses, 4.5% drawn
- Type 9, nonresidents: 48 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 2.1% 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 35?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 35?
Is elk hunt area 35 the same ground as deer hunt area 35?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 35?
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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 35, 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 35, 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
- Chapter 2 — General Hunting Regulation (2026) — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Mandatory CWD sample submission (Section 17) · 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, 2026 CWD mandatory and priority sampling areas · 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