Unit 063 (Wood River-Gooseberry Creek)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 63, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Wood River-Gooseberry Creek, covers about 366 square miles in Park and Hot Springs counties. It belongs to WGFD's Gooseberry elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 51.7%, with 538 hunters taking 278 elk at about 14.4 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 62% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 063
Elk Hunt Area 63, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Wood River-Gooseberry Creek, covers about 366 square miles in Park and Hot Springs counties. It belongs to WGFD's Gooseberry elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 51.7%, with 538 hunters taking 278 elk at about 14.4 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 62% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 63
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 63 "Wood River-Gooseberry Creek". It runs to about 366 square miles, in Park (61%) and Hot Springs (39%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Gooseberry herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 62 and 64. 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: Wood River, Greybull River and Gooseberry Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 defines elk hunt area 63 as all of the south and east drainage of the Wood River; all of the south and east drainage of the Greybull River located east of the mouth of the Wood River; all of the drainage of Gooseberry Creek located west of Wyoming Highway 120. 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 63s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 63 also belongs to its antelope hunt area 63. 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.
Ground WGFD opens: Absaroka Front
Its Access Yes program enrolls a Hunter Management Area here that list elk among their species — Absaroka Front (112,869 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.
Wilderness inside the line: Washakie Wilderness
About 16% of elk hunt area 63 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: County Peak, Spar Mountain and Dundee Mountain
Named high points inside elk hunt area 63 include County Peak at 12,108 feet, Spar Mountain at 12,040 feet, Dundee Mountain at 11,917 feet, Standard Peak at 11,861 feet and Twin Peaks at 11,825 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: Surveyor Park, The Meadows and Bill Dickie Draw
Below them sit Surveyor Park at 8,449 feet, The Meadows at 8,256 feet, Bill Dickie Draw at 6,700 feet, Red Canyon at 6,335 feet and Little Buffalo Basin at 5,873 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Unit 063 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 63
The lay of it
- 5,737–10,859 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,600 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 365.8 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
- 15 stream segments
- 1 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: Spar Mountain (12,040 ft), Dundee Mountain (11,917 ft), Standard Peak (11,861 ft)
Holding ground: Coal Chute Pass (11,171 ft), McGregor Park (9,191 ft), Smuggler Gulch (8,777 ft), Absaroka Front Hunter Management Area
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 63
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 51.7% elk success in elk hunt area 63: 278 animals taken by 538 active hunters over 3,996 days of hunting, or 14.4 days per animal. By residency, residents 47.2% (207 taken by 439) and nonresidents 71.7% (71 taken by 99).
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) | 134 | 632 | 21.2% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 2 | 215 | 0.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 either sex (resident) | 27 | 90 | 30.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 10 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (resident) | 55 | 226 | 24.3% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 102 | 1.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 84 | 18 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 3 | 3 | 100.0% | — |
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 63, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 632 first-choice applicants for 134 licenses, 21.2% drawn
- Type 3 (any elk), residents: 226 first-choice applicants for 55 licenses, 24.3% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 215 first-choice applicants for 2 licenses, 0.9% drawn
- Type 3 (any elk), nonresidents: 102 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 1% drawn
- Type 2 (any elk), residents: 90 first-choice applicants for 27 licenses, 30% 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 63?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 63?
Is elk hunt area 63 the same ground as antelope hunt area 63?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 63?
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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 63, 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 63, 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, 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, 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