Unit 098 (Boulder)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 98, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Boulder, covers about 1,931 square miles in Sublette, Sweetwater and Lincoln counties. It belongs to WGFD's Pinedale elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 36%, with 1,089 hunters taking 392 elk at about 21 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 84% 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 098
Elk Hunt Area 98, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Boulder, covers about 1,931 square miles in Sublette, Sweetwater and Lincoln counties. It belongs to WGFD's Pinedale elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 36%, with 1,089 hunters taking 392 elk at about 21 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 84% 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 98
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 98 "Boulder". It runs to about 1,931 square miles, in Sublette (65%), Sweetwater (31%) and Lincoln (4%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Pinedale herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt area 97. 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, New Fork River and Boulder Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 98 corner by corner. It starts where U.S. Highway 28 crosses the Green River. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 28, Wyoming Highway 351, Sweetwater County Road 28 and U.S. Highway 191, and Green River, New Fork River, Boulder Creek and Middle Fork. 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 98s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 98 also belongs to its deer and antelope hunt areas 98. Their lines overlap this area in places and depart from it in others. 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: Chimney Butte and Chimey Butte
Its Access Yes program enrolls 2 Hunter Management Areas here that list elk among their species — Chimney Butte (11,341 acres) and Chimey Butte (1,569 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. Public Access Areas such as East Fork River-Richie's Vible and Boulder Rearing Station (449 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
Wilderness inside the line: Bridger Wilderness
About 8% of elk hunt area 98 lies in the Bridger 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: Raid Peak, Nylon Peak and Mount Geikie
Named high points inside elk hunt area 98 include Raid Peak at 12,509 feet, Nylon Peak at 12,347 feet, Mount Geikie at 12,344 feet, Pylon Peak at 12,326 feet and Bair Peak at 12,290 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.
Unit 098 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 98
The lay of it
- 6,471–9,919 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,231 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 1,928.3 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- BLM — 15%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 17%
Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 353 tanks
- 193 stream segments
- 114 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: Raid Peak (12,509 ft), Nylon Peak (12,347 ft), Mount Geikie (12,344 ft), Pylon Peak (12,326 ft)
Holding ground: Bonneville Basin (10,297 ft), Fish Creek Park (9,805 ft), Irish Canyon (8,536 ft), Chimney Butte Hunter Management Area, Chimey Butte 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 98
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 36% elk success in elk hunt area 98: 392 animals taken by 1,089 active hunters over 8,219 days of hunting, or 21 days per animal. By residency, residents 35% (331 taken by 947) and nonresidents 43% (61 taken by 142).
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) | 294 | 338 | 87.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 8 | 109 | 7.3% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 107 | 3 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 5 | 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 98, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 338 first-choice applicants for 294 licenses, 87% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 109 first-choice applicants for 8 licenses, 7.3% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 3 first-choice applicants for 107 licenses, 100% 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 98?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 98?
Is elk hunt area 98 the same ground as deer hunt area 98?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 98?
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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 98, 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 98, 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, 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, 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