Unit 117 (South Black Hills)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 117, which Wyoming Game and Fish names South Black Hills, covers about 873 square miles in Weston and Crook counties. It belongs to WGFD's Black Hills elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 46.9%, with 1,417 hunters taking 664 elk at about 26.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 13% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 117
Elk Hunt Area 117, which Wyoming Game and Fish names South Black Hills, covers about 873 square miles in Weston and Crook counties. It belongs to WGFD's Black Hills elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 46.9%, with 1,417 hunters taking 664 elk at about 26.3 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 13% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 117
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 117 "South Black Hills". It runs to about 873 square miles, in Weston (65%) and Crook (35%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Black Hills herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 1 and 116. 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: Sand Creek and Deer Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 117 corner by corner. It starts where Interstate Highway 90 crosses the Wyoming-South Dakota state line. On the way round it follows Interstate Highway 90, U.S.F.S. Road 863, U.S.F.S. Road 807 and U.S. Highway 16, and Sand Creek and Deer 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 117s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 117 also belongs to its deer and antelope hunt areas 117. 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: Sand Creek and Weston 7
WGFD administers the Sand Creek Wildlife Habitat Management Area (289 acres) inside or across the line. WGFD also lists 3 Walk-In Areas covering about 27,969 acres open for elk, among them Weston 7, Crook 5 and Weston 10. 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.
High ground inside the line: Sweetwater Mountain, Mount Pisgah and Inyan Kara Mountain
Named high points inside elk hunt area 117 include Sweetwater Mountain at 6,434 feet, Mount Pisgah at 6,401 feet, Inyan Kara Mountain at 6,341 feet, Northwestern Table at 6,131 feet and Duling Hill at 6,002 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk on low, open country live on distance and visibility, so they see you first.
Holding ground: Stanton Draw, Lost Canyon and Dry Draw
Below them sit Stanton Draw at 5,725 feet, Lost Canyon at 5,633 feet, Dry Draw at 5,607 feet, Bear Canyon at 5,477 feet and Parmlee Canyon at 5,370 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Water: Stotts Spring, Boardinghouse Spring and Home Ranch Spring
Named water inside the line includes Stotts Spring, Boardinghouse Spring, Home Ranch Spring, Fish Canyon Spring, Den Spring and Hain Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit 117 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 4,405–5,976 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,040 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 757 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
- 21 tanks
- 19 stream segments
- 3 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: Inyan Kara Mountain (6,341 ft), Duling Hill (6,002 ft), Elkhorn Divide (5,944 ft), Hooker Peak (5,823 ft)
Holding ground: Melquist Gulch (5,960 ft), Stots Canyon (5,161 ft), Adams Canyon (4,953 ft), Walk-In Area Crook 5, Walk-In Area Weston 7
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 117
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 46.9% elk success in elk hunt area 117: 664 animals taken by 1,417 active hunters over 17,469 days of hunting, or 26.3 days per animal. By residency, residents 48% (478 taken by 995) and nonresidents 44.1% (186 taken by 422).
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) | 335 | 526 | 63.7% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 8 | 219 | 3.7% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 antlered (resident) | 208 | 86 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 antlered (nonresident) | 6 | 52 | 11.5% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 3 antlerless (resident) | 294 | 7 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 3 antlerless (nonresident) | 13 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 89 | 13 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 3 | 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 117, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 526 first-choice applicants for 335 licenses, 63.7% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 219 first-choice applicants for 8 licenses, 3.7% drawn
- Type 3 (spike or antlerless), residents: 7 first-choice applicants for 294 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 117?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 117?
Is elk hunt area 117 the same ground as deer hunt area 117?
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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 117, 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 117, 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: 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