Unit 059 (Boulder Basin)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 59, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Boulder Basin, covers about 393 square miles in Park County. It belongs to WGFD's Cody elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 50.7%, with 605 hunters taking 307 elk at about 13.8 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 90% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 059
Elk Hunt Area 59, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Boulder Basin, covers about 393 square miles in Park County. It belongs to WGFD's Cody elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 50.7%, with 605 hunters taking 307 elk at about 13.8 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 90% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 59
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 59 "Boulder Basin". It runs to about 393 square miles, entirely in Park County. WGFD reports these elk as the Cody herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 55, 56, 58, 60, 61 and 66. 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: South Fork, Shoshone River and Belknap Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 defines elk hunt area 59 as all of the south and east drainage of the South Fork of the Shoshone River, west of the west fork and mainstream of Belknap Creek; down to the South Fork of the Shoshone River; all of the north and west drainage of the South Fork of the Shoshone River, above the drainage of Ishawooa Creek. 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 59s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 59 also belongs to its deer and antelope hunt areas 59. 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: Public Access Areas
Public Access Areas such as South Fork Shoshone River-Twin Creek Trailhead (123 acres) and South Fork Shoshone River-Houlihan/Bobcat (75 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
Wilderness inside the line: Washakie Wilderness
About 75% of elk hunt area 59 lies in the Washakie 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: Red Tops, Needle Mountain and Crater Mountain
Named high points inside elk hunt area 59 include Red Tops at 12,157 feet, Needle Mountain at 12,107 feet, Crater Mountain at 12,008 feet, Lost Ranger Top at 11,929 feet and Hardluck Mountain at 11,765 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: Bliss Creek Meadows, Pierpont Pass and Hidden Basin
Below them sit Bliss Creek Meadows at 8,152 feet, Pierpont Pass at 10,303 feet, Hidden Basin at 9,730 feet, Shoshone Pass at 9,655 feet and Boulder Basin at 8,799 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Unit 059 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 59
The lay of it
- 6,501–11,022 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 9,322 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 392.2 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
- 16 tanks
- 118 stream segments
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: Red Tops (12,157 ft), Needle Mountain (12,107 ft), Crater Mountain (12,008 ft), Hardluck Mountain (11,765 ft)
Holding ground: Pierpont Pass (10,303 ft), Shoshone Pass (9,655 ft), Boulder Basin (8,799 ft)
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 59
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 50.7% elk success in elk hunt area 59: 307 animals taken by 605 active hunters over 4,248 days of hunting, or 13.8 days per animal. By residency, residents 49.1% (223 taken by 454) and nonresidents 55.6% (84 taken by 151).
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) | 8 | 249 | 3.2% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 32 | 0.0% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (resident) | 21 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 4 | 0.0% | — |
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 59, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 249 first-choice applicants for 8 licenses, 3.2% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 32 first-choice applicants for 0 licenses, 0% drawn
- Type 9, nonresidents: 4 first-choice applicants for 0 licenses, 0% 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 59?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 59?
Is elk hunt area 59 the same ground as deer hunt area 59?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 59?
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Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
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 59, 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 59, 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