Unit 118 (Shamrock Hills)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 118, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Shamrock Hills, covers about 1,093 square miles in Sweetwater and Carbon counties. It belongs to WGFD's Shamrock elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 63.6%, with 176 hunters taking 112 elk at about 9.4 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 66% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 118
Elk Hunt Area 118, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Shamrock Hills, covers about 1,093 square miles in Sweetwater and Carbon counties. It belongs to WGFD's Shamrock elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 63.6%, with 176 hunters taking 112 elk at about 9.4 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 66% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 118
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 118 "Shamrock Hills". It runs to about 1,093 square miles, in Sweetwater (76%) and Carbon (24%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Shamrock herd unit, and no other hunt area shares it. 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.
Where elk hunt area 118 begins and ends
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 118 corner by corner. It starts at the junction of U.S. Highway 287 and Interstate Highway 80 at the city of Rawlins. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 287, Interstate Highway 80, Sweetwater County Road 23 and Sweetwater County Road 22. 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 118s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 118 also belongs to its deer hunt area 118. 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: Chain Lakes
WGFD administers the Chain Lakes Wildlife Habitat Management Area (62,387 acres) inside or across the line.
High ground inside the line: Lost Soldier Divide, Cherokee Peak and Rawlins Peak
Named high points inside elk hunt area 118 include Lost Soldier Divide at 7,858 feet, Cherokee Peak at 7,822 feet, Rawlins Peak at 7,799 feet, Twin Buttes at 7,651 feet and Bull Springs Rim at 7,349 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: Mahoney Draw, Buck Draw and Rocky Draw
Below them sit Mahoney Draw at 6,619 feet, Buck Draw at 6,572 feet, Rocky Draw at 6,549 feet, Chain Lakes Flat at 6,536 feet and Mud Lake Flats at 6,532 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Water: Antelope Spring, Mud Springs and Willow Spring
Named water inside the line includes Antelope Spring, Mud Springs, Willow Spring, Buck Spring, Cold Springs and Chicken Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Reading the land status
Federal land — BLM, Forest Service and Park Service — covers about 66% of elk hunt area 118 in our read of the federal land-status layer; state trust land isn't counted in that figure. Our ownership read for this hunt area is approximate — it comes out as Private / Other 100%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. The hunt area runs from 6,537 feet to 7,396 feet, averaging 6,816 — not much relief, so the animals move laterally rather than up and down.
Unit 118 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 6,537–7,396 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,816 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 1,092.6 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.
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
- 54 tanks
- 1 springs
- 11 stream segments
- 2 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: Lost Soldier Divide (7,858 ft), Twin Buttes (7,651 ft), Bull Springs Rim (7,349 ft), Ninemile Hill (7,294 ft)
Holding ground: Creston Draw (6,640 ft), Separation Flats (6,623 ft), Stratton Draw (6,621 ft), Chain Lakes WHMA, Antelope Spring
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 118
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 63.6% elk success in elk hunt area 118: 112 animals taken by 176 active hunters over 1,053 days of hunting, or 9.4 days per animal. By residency, residents 63.7% (93 taken by 146) and nonresidents 63.3% (19 taken by 30).
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) | 55 | 240 | 22.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (nonresident) | 1 | 16 | 6.3% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 41 | 2 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 2 | 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 118, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (antlered elk), residents: 240 first-choice applicants for 55 licenses, 22.9% drawn
- Type 1 (antlered elk), nonresidents: 16 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 6.3% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 2 first-choice applicants for 41 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 118?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 118?
Is elk hunt area 118 the same ground as deer hunt area 118?
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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 118, 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 118, 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
- 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