Unit 040 (Horse Creek)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 40, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Horse Creek, covers about 462 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 29.7%, with 441 hunters taking 131 elk at about 30.6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 81% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 040
Elk Hunt Area 40, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Horse Creek, covers about 462 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 29.7%, with 441 hunters taking 131 elk at about 30.6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 81% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 40
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 40 "Horse Creek". It runs to about 462 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 39. 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, Hunt Mountain and Granite Pass
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 40 corner by corner. It starts on the Bighorn River in the town of Greybull. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 14A, U.S.F.S. Road 10 and U.S. Highway 14, and Bighorn River, Hunt Mountain and Granite Pass. 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 40s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 40 also belongs to its deer and moose hunt areas 40. 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: Yellowtail and Yellowtail
WGFD administers the Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area (19,203 acres) inside or across the line. Its Access Yes program enrolls a Hunter Management Area here that list elk among their species — Yellowtail (19,487 acres). 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.
High ground inside the line: Hunt Mountain, Bald Mountain and Cedar Mountain
Named high points inside elk hunt area 40 include Hunt Mountain at 10,154 feet, Bald Mountain at 10,042 feet, Cedar Mountain at 9,812 feet, Copmans Tomb at 9,134 feet and Horse Creek Mesa at 8,526 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: Fenton Draw, Davis Draw and Rainbow Canyon
Below them sit Fenton Draw at 4,842 feet, Davis Draw at 4,773 feet, Rainbow Canyon at 4,493 feet, Amber Gulch at 4,399 feet and Triple Draw at 4,322 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Water: Three Springs, Wolf Springs and Deer Spring
Named water inside the line includes Three Springs, Wolf Springs, Deer Spring, Sheep Mountain Springs, Bull Springs and Barrel Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit 040 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 40
The lay of it
- 3,748–9,832 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,854 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 461.6 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
- 18 tanks
- 25 springs
- 28 stream segments
- 7 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: Hunt Mountain (10,154 ft), Bald Mountain (10,042 ft), Cedar Mountain (9,812 ft), Copmans Tomb (9,134 ft)
Holding ground: Granite Pass (9,036 ft), Long Park (8,565 ft), Torry Gulch (8,315 ft), Three Springs, Wolf Springs
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 40
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 29.7% elk success in elk hunt area 40: 131 animals taken by 441 active hunters over 4,015 days of hunting, or 30.6 days per animal. By residency, residents 29.3% (106 taken by 362) and nonresidents 31.6% (25 taken by 79).
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) | 147 | 404 | 36.4% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 3 | 131 | 2.3% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 105 | 70 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 5 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 5 antlerless (resident) | 118 | 71 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 5 antlerless (nonresident) | 4 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (resident) | 63 | 99 | 63.6% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 34 | 2.9% | — |
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 40, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 404 first-choice applicants for 147 licenses, 36.4% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 131 first-choice applicants for 3 licenses, 2.3% drawn
- Type 9, residents: 99 first-choice applicants for 63 licenses, 63.6% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 70 first-choice applicants for 105 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 9, nonresidents: 34 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 2.9% 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 40?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 40?
Is elk hunt area 40 the same ground as deer hunt area 40?
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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 40, 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 40, 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: 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