Unit 082 (Crystal Peak)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 82, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Crystal Peak, covers about 234 square miles in Teton and Sublette counties. It belongs to WGFD's Jackson elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 46.2%, with 318 hunters taking 147 elk at about 11.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 98% of it. Elk hunters here also need WGFD's Elk Special Management Permit. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 082
Elk Hunt Area 82, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Crystal Peak, covers about 234 square miles in Teton and Sublette counties. It belongs to WGFD's Jackson elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 46.2%, with 318 hunters taking 147 elk at about 11.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 98% of it. Elk hunters here also need WGFD's Elk Special Management Permit. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 82
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 82 "Crystal Peak". It runs to about 234 square miles, in Teton (94%) and Sublette (6%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Jackson herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 70, 71, 72, 75, 77, 78, 79 and 80 and 2 more. 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: Gros Ventre River, Kinky Creek and Green River
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 82 corner by corner. It starts where the Gros Ventre River crosses the National Elk Refuge boundary near the town of Kelly. On the way round it follows U.S.F.S. Road 620, and Gros Ventre River, Kinky Creek, Green River and Hoback River. 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 82s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 82 also belongs to its deer and antelope hunt areas 82. 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: Patrol Cabin
WGFD administers the Patrol Cabin Wildlife Habitat Management Area (160 acres) inside or across the line.
Wilderness inside the line: Gros Ventre Wilderness
About 88% of elk hunt area 82 lies in the Gros Ventre 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: Doubletop Peak, Darwin Peak and Black Peak
Named high points inside elk hunt area 82 include Doubletop Peak at 11,663 feet, Darwin Peak at 11,634 feet, Black Peak at 11,618 feet, Triangle Peak at 11,478 feet and Crystal Peak at 10,950 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: Little Grizzly Basin, Upper Slide and Yellowjacket Flat
Below them sit Little Grizzly Basin at 8,584 feet, Upper Slide at 7,694 feet, Yellowjacket Flat at 7,393 feet, Packsaddle Pass at 10,136 feet and Hidden Basin at 9,769 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Unit 082 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 82
The lay of it
- 7,240–10,599 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 9,053 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 233.9 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
- 72 tanks
- 116 stream segments
- 12 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: Doubletop Peak (11,663 ft), Darwin Peak (11,634 ft), Black Peak (11,618 ft), Crystal Peak (10,950 ft)
Holding ground: Packsaddle Pass (10,136 ft), Hidden Basin (9,769 ft), Grizzly Basin (9,751 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 82
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 46.2% elk success in elk hunt area 82: 147 animals taken by 318 active hunters over 1,661 days of hunting, or 11.3 days per animal. By residency, residents 43.2% (111 taken by 257) and nonresidents 59% (36 taken by 61).
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 4 antlerless (resident) | 34 | 35 | 97.1% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 1 | 0 | 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 82, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 35 first-choice applicants for 34 licenses, 97.1% 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 82?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 82?
Is elk hunt area 82 the same ground as deer hunt area 82?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 82?
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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 82, Season dates, license types and limitations by hunt area, Elk Special Management Permit areas (Section 7) · 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 82, 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: 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, 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