Unit 087 (Raspberry Ridge)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 87, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Raspberry Ridge, covers about 115 square miles in Sublette County. It belongs to WGFD's Upper Green River elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 26.8%, with 492 hunters taking 132 elk at about 26.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 91% 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 087
Elk Hunt Area 87, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Raspberry Ridge, covers about 115 square miles in Sublette County. It belongs to WGFD's Upper Green River elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 26.8%, with 492 hunters taking 132 elk at about 26.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 91% 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 87
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 87 "Raspberry Ridge". It runs to about 115 square miles, entirely in Sublette County. WGFD reports these elk as the Upper Green River herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 93, 95 and 96. 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: Green River, Hoback River and Dell Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 87 corner by corner. It starts where U.S. Highway 191 crosses the divide between the Green River and the Hoback River on the Hoback Rim. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 191, and Green River, Hoback River, Dell Creek and Shoal 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 87s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 87 also belongs to its deer and antelope hunt areas 87. Only the antelope area 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.
Wilderness inside the line: Gros Ventre Wilderness
About 12% of elk hunt area 87 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: The Sawtooth, Hodges Peak and Eagle Peak
Named high points inside elk hunt area 87 include The Sawtooth at 11,230 feet, Hodges Peak at 11,165 feet, Eagle Peak at 10,930 feet, East Rim at 8,887 feet and Raspberry Ridge at 8,063 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: Rim Draw, Beaver Dam Draw and Elbow Draw
Below them sit Rim Draw at 7,659 feet, Beaver Dam Draw at 7,651 feet, Elbow Draw at 7,493 feet, Jack Creek Basin at 7,144 feet and Parody Draw at 6,776 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Unit 087 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 87
The lay of it
- 6,648–11,069 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,842 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 115 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
- 2 tanks
- 11 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: The Sawtooth (11,230 ft), Hodges Peak (11,165 ft), East Rim (8,887 ft), Raspberry Ridge (8,063 ft)
Holding ground: The Elbow (11,178 ft), Tin Can Park (8,168 ft), Rocky Draw (7,942 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 87
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 26.8% elk success in elk hunt area 87: 132 animals taken by 492 active hunters over 3,467 days of hunting, or 26.3 days per animal. By residency, residents 28.6% (104 taken by 364) and nonresidents 21.9% (28 taken by 128).
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 antlered (resident) | 8 | 26 | 30.8% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (nonresident) | 0 | 19 | 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 87, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (antlered elk), residents: 26 first-choice applicants for 8 licenses, 30.8% drawn
- Type 1 (antlered elk), nonresidents: 19 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 87?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 87?
Is elk hunt area 87 the same ground as deer hunt area 87?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 87?
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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 87, 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 87, 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 · 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