Unit 036 (Rock Creek)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 36, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Rock Creek, covers about 209 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 17.7%, with 820 hunters taking 145 elk at about 40.8 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 53% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 036
Elk Hunt Area 36, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Rock Creek, covers about 209 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 17.7%, with 820 hunters taking 145 elk at about 40.8 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 53% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 36
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 36 "Rock Creek". It runs to about 209 square miles, entirely in Johnson County. WGFD reports these elk as the North Bighorn herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 35, 37, 38, 39 and 40. 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: Piney Creek, French Creek and North Fork
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 36 corner by corner. It starts where Interstate Highway 90 crosses Piney Creek. On the way round it follows Interstate Highway 90 and Interstate Highway 25, and Piney Creek, French Creek, North Fork and Clear 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 36s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 36 also belongs to its deer and moose hunt areas 36. 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.
Ground WGFD opens: Bud Love and Johnson 11
WGFD administers the Bud Love Wildlife Habitat Management Area (7,888 acres) inside or across the line. WGFD also lists one Walk-In Area covering about 644 acres open for elk: Johnson 11. 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.
Wilderness inside the line: Cloud Peak Wilderness
About 10% of elk hunt area 36 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: Bomber Mountain, Ant Hill and Stone Mountain
Named high points inside elk hunt area 36 include Bomber Mountain at 12,829 feet, Ant Hill at 10,950 feet, Stone Mountain at 7,432 feet, Sullivant Hill at 5,367 feet and Pilot Knob at 4,820 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: Red Canyon, Mowry Basin and Leach Draw
Below them sit Red Canyon at 5,587 feet, Mowry Basin at 5,274 feet, Leach Draw at 4,932 feet, Bear Gulch at 4,900 feet and West Draw at 4,866 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Unit 036 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 36
The lay of it
- 4,827–10,711 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,963 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 208.3 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
- 88 tanks
- 62 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: Bomber Mountain (12,829 ft), Ant Hill (10,950 ft), Stone Mountain (7,432 ft)
Holding ground: Florence Pass (10,919 ft), Florence Canyon (9,627 ft), Triangle Park (8,795 ft), Bud Love WHMA, Walk-In Area Johnson 11
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 36
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 17.7% elk success in elk hunt area 36: 145 animals taken by 820 active hunters over 5,918 days of hunting, or 40.8 days per animal. By residency, residents 16.1% (94 taken by 584) and nonresidents 21.6% (51 taken by 236).
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) | 268 | 12 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 11 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (resident) | 63 | 13 | 100.0% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 14 | 7.1% | — |
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 36, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 9, nonresidents: 14 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 7.1% drawn
- Type 9, residents: 13 first-choice applicants for 63 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 12 first-choice applicants for 268 licenses, 100% 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 36?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 36?
Is elk hunt area 36 the same ground as deer hunt area 36?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 36?
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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 36, 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 36, 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, 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, 2026 CWD mandatory and priority sampling areas, 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