Unit 122 (Pine Ridge)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 122, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Pine Ridge, covers about 1,275 square miles in Converse and Natrona counties. It belongs to WGFD's Pine Ridge elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 73.5%, with 392 hunters taking 288 elk at about 6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 15% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 122
Elk Hunt Area 122, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Pine Ridge, covers about 1,275 square miles in Converse and Natrona counties. It belongs to WGFD's Pine Ridge elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 73.5%, with 392 hunters taking 288 elk at about 6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 15% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 122
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 122 "Pine Ridge". It runs to about 1,275 square miles, in Converse (56%) and Natrona (40%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Pine Ridge herd unit, and no other hunt area shares it. 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.
Where elk hunt area 122 begins and ends
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 122 corner by corner. It starts at the intersection of Interstate Highway 25 and Wyoming Highway 259. On the way round it follows Interstate Highway 25, Wyoming Highway 259, U.S. Highway 387 and Wyoming Highway 95, and North Platte 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 122s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 122 also belongs to its deer hunt area 122. 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: Public Access Areas
Public Access Areas such as North Platte River-Big Muddy Bridge (1 acres) and Ogalalla Ranch (4,310 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
High ground inside the line: Pine Ridge, Gumbo Hill and Sage Creek Divide
Named high points inside elk hunt area 122 include Pine Ridge at 6,307 feet, Gumbo Hill at 6,132 feet, Sage Creek Divide at 6,046 feet, Blizzard Heights at 5,901 feet and Red Butte at 5,874 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: Snake Charmer Draw, Derrick Draw and Coyote Smith Draw
Below them sit Snake Charmer Draw at 5,525 feet, Derrick Draw at 5,517 feet, Coyote Smith Draw at 5,508 feet, Wallace Draw at 5,498 feet and Deep Draw at 5,494 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Water: Sand Springs and Mud Spring
Named water inside the line includes Sand Springs and Mud 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 15% of elk hunt area 122 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 5,038 feet to 6,209 feet, averaging 5,562 — not much relief, so the animals move laterally rather than up and down.
Unit 122 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 5,038–6,209 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,562 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 1,273.9 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
- 69 tanks
- 177 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: Gumbo Hill (6,132 ft), Twentymile Hill (5,839 ft), Turner Divide (5,809 ft), Castle Rock (5,305 ft)
Holding ground: Marsh Draw (5,460 ft), Coopers Draw (5,412 ft), Pine Gulch (5,325 ft), Sand Springs
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 122
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 73.5% elk success in elk hunt area 122: 288 animals taken by 392 active hunters over 1,739 days of hunting, or 6 days per animal. By residency, residents 74.7% (130 taken by 174) and nonresidents 72.5% (158 taken by 218).
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) | 120 | 67 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 3 | 44 | 6.8% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 antlered (resident) | 126 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 antlered (nonresident) | 5 | 38 | 13.2% | — |
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 122, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 67 first-choice applicants for 120 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 44 first-choice applicants for 3 licenses, 6.8% drawn
- Type 2, nonresidents: 38 first-choice applicants for 5 licenses, 13.2% 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 122?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 122?
Is elk hunt area 122 the same ground as deer hunt area 122?
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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 122, 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 122, 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