Unit 039 (Deer Creek)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 39, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Deer Creek, covers about 230 square miles in Big Horn County. It belongs to WGFD's North Bighorn elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 45.9%, with 503 hunters taking 231 elk at about 17.2 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 87% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 039
Elk Hunt Area 39, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Deer Creek, covers about 230 square miles in Big Horn County. It belongs to WGFD's North Bighorn elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 45.9%, with 503 hunters taking 231 elk at about 17.2 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 87% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 39
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 39 "Deer Creek". It runs to about 230 square miles, entirely in Big Horn County. WGFD reports these elk as the North Bighorn herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 35, 36, 37, 38 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: Bighorn River, Sheep Mountain and Devils Canyon
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 39 corner by corner. It starts where U.S. Highway 14A crosses the Bighorn River. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 14A, U.S.F.S. Road 11 and U.S.F.S. Road 14, and Bighorn River, Sheep Mountain and Devils 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 39s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 39 also belongs to its deer hunt area 39. None of it 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: Medicine Mountain, Duncum Mountain and Sheep Mountain
Named high points inside elk hunt area 39 include Medicine Mountain at 9,954 feet, Duncum Mountain at 9,827 feet, Sheep Mountain at 9,790 feet, Cone Mountain at 9,454 feet and Mexican Hill at 8,233 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: Cottonwood Canyon, Simmons Canyon and Petes Canyon
Below them sit Cottonwood Canyon at 5,308 feet, Simmons Canyon at 4,825 feet, Petes Canyon at 4,376 feet, John Blue Canyon at 3,648 feet and Wyoming Gulch at 8,996 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Water: Harmon Springs, Roundup Spring and Little Spring
Named water inside the line includes Harmon Springs, Roundup Spring, Little Spring, School Section Spring, Red Seep and Richs 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 87% of elk hunt area 39 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 Private / Other 100%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. The hunt area runs from 3,978 feet to 9,546 feet, averaging 6,611 — that is a lot of vertical to cover, and it means the season you draw decides which half of the hunt area you hunt.
Unit 039 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 39
The lay of it
- 3,978–9,546 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,611 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 229.6 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
- 3 tanks
- 7 springs
- 7 stream segments
- 2 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: Medicine Mountain (9,954 ft), Duncum Mountain (9,827 ft), Sheep Mountain (9,790 ft), Mexican Hill (8,233 ft)
Holding ground: Wyoming Gulch (8,996 ft), Five Springs Basin (8,845 ft), Cookstove Basin (7,320 ft), Harmon Springs, Little 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 39
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 45.9% elk success in elk hunt area 39: 231 animals taken by 503 active hunters over 3,973 days of hunting, or 17.2 days per animal. By residency, residents 45.6% (190 taken by 417) and nonresidents 47.7% (41 taken by 86).
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) | 143 | 479 | 29.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 4 | 158 | 2.5% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 126 | 140 | 90.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 5 | 20 | 25.0% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (resident) | 84 | 257 | 32.7% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (nonresident) | 2 | 82 | 2.4% | — |
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 39, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 479 first-choice applicants for 143 licenses, 29.9% drawn
- Type 9, residents: 257 first-choice applicants for 84 licenses, 32.7% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 158 first-choice applicants for 4 licenses, 2.5% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 140 first-choice applicants for 126 licenses, 90% drawn
- Type 9, nonresidents: 82 first-choice applicants for 2 licenses, 2.4% 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. There are 1 more type-and-residency rows for this area in 2026. 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 39?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 39?
Is elk hunt area 39 the same ground as deer hunt area 39?
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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 39, 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 39, 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
- 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