Unit 045 (Paint Rock Creek)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 45, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Paint Rock Creek, covers about 777 square miles in Big Horn, Washakie and Johnson counties. It belongs to WGFD's Medicine Lodge elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 34.8%, with 903 hunters taking 314 elk at about 21.5 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 79% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 045
Elk Hunt Area 45, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Paint Rock Creek, covers about 777 square miles in Big Horn, Washakie and Johnson counties. It belongs to WGFD's Medicine Lodge elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 34.8%, with 903 hunters taking 314 elk at about 21.5 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 79% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 45
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 45 "Paint Rock Creek". It runs to about 777 square miles, in Big Horn (51%), Washakie (45%) and Johnson (4%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Medicine Lodge herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt area 41. 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: Bighorn River, Cold Springs and Medicine Lodge Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 45 corner by corner. It starts where U.S. Highway 16 crosses the Bighorn River in the town of Worland. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 16, Wyoming Highway 31, U.S.F.S. Road 344 and U.S.F.S. Road 25, and Bighorn River, Cold Springs, Medicine Lodge Creek and Paint Rock Creek. 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 45s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 45 also belongs to its antelope and moose hunt areas 45. 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: Renner
WGFD administers the Renner Wildlife Habitat Management Area (15,509 acres) inside or across the line. Public Access Areas such as Carter/Billy Miles (4,909 acres) and Wigwam Rearing Station (962 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
Wilderness inside the line: Cloud Peak Wilderness
About 12% of elk hunt area 45 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: Cloud Peak, Mount Woolsey and Darton Peak
Named high points inside elk hunt area 45 include Cloud Peak at 13,151 feet, Mount Woolsey at 12,908 feet, Darton Peak at 12,264 feet, Loaf Mountain at 11,699 feet and Elk Mountain at 11,298 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: Bellyache Flats, High Park and Deer Park
Below them sit Bellyache Flats at 8,999 feet, High Park at 8,955 feet, Deer Park at 8,899 feet, Sitting Bull Park at 8,693 feet and Island Park at 8,536 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Unit 045 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 45
The lay of it
- 4,170–10,875 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,483 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 774.3 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
- 368 tanks
- 3 springs
- 343 stream segments
- 42 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: Cloud Peak (13,151 ft), Loaf Mountain (11,699 ft), Elk Mountain (11,298 ft)
Holding ground: Geneva Pass (10,264 ft), Elk Park (10,118 ft), Long Park (9,462 ft), Renner WHMA
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 45
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 34.8% elk success in elk hunt area 45: 314 animals taken by 903 active hunters over 6,753 days of hunting, or 21.5 days per animal. By residency, residents 32.2% (239 taken by 742) and nonresidents 46.6% (75 taken by 161).
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) | 237 | 914 | 25.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 7 | 203 | 3.4% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 210 | 94 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 9 | 17 | 52.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 5 antlerless (resident) | 168 | 118 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 5 antlerless (nonresident) | 7 | 22 | 31.8% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (resident) | 142 | 369 | 38.5% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (nonresident) | 4 | 103 | 3.9% | — |
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 45, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 914 first-choice applicants for 237 licenses, 25.9% drawn
- Type 9, residents: 369 first-choice applicants for 142 licenses, 38.5% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 203 first-choice applicants for 7 licenses, 3.4% drawn
- Type 5 (antlerless elk), residents: 118 first-choice applicants for 168 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 9, nonresidents: 103 first-choice applicants for 4 licenses, 3.9% 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. There are 3 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 45?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 45?
Is elk hunt area 45 the same ground as antelope hunt area 45?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 45?
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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 45, 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 45, 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: 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, 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