Unit 123 (Black Thunder)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 123, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Black Thunder, covers about 692 square miles in Campbell and Weston counties. It belongs to WGFD's Rochelle Hills elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 61%, with 436 hunters taking 266 elk at about 10.7 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 24% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 123
Elk Hunt Area 123, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Black Thunder, covers about 692 square miles in Campbell and Weston counties. It belongs to WGFD's Rochelle Hills elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 61%, with 436 hunters taking 266 elk at about 10.7 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 24% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 123
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 123 "Black Thunder". It runs to about 692 square miles, in Campbell (59%) and Weston (41%) counties. WGFD reports these elk as the Rochelle Hills herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt area 113. 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: Belle Fourche River, Four Horse Creek and Spring Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 walks the line around elk hunt area 123 corner by corner. It starts where the Hilight Road crosses the Belle Fourche River. On the way round it follows Wyoming Highway 116 and Wyoming Highway 450, and Belle Fourche River, Four Horse Creek, Spring Creek and Raven Creek. 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 123s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 123 also belongs to its deer hunt area 123. 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.
High ground inside the line: Four Points, H A Divide and Two Top
Named high points inside elk hunt area 123 include Four Points at 5,137 feet, H A Divide at 5,118 feet, Two Top at 5,019 feet, Mount Logan at 4,956 feet and Neil Butte at 4,955 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: Wildcat Draw, Darlington Draw and Hells Canyon
Below them sit Wildcat Draw at 4,359 feet, Darlington Draw at 4,300 feet, Hells Canyon at 4,853 feet, Murphy Draw at 4,737 feet and Williams Draw at 4,688 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Reading the land status
Federal land — BLM, Forest Service and Park Service — covers about 24% of elk hunt area 123 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 National Forest 60%, Private / Other 32% and State Trust 8%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. The hunt area runs from 4,392 feet to 5,046 feet, averaging 4,671 — not much relief, so the animals move laterally rather than up and down.
Unit 123 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 4,392–5,046 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,671 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 625.9 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
- 48 tanks
- 19 stream segments
- 4 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: H A Divide (5,118 ft), Yellow Hammer Buttes (4,813 ft)
Holding ground: Williams Draw (4,688 ft), Rough Draw (4,390 ft), Mexican Draw (4,374 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 123
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 61% elk success in elk hunt area 123: 266 animals taken by 436 active hunters over 2,850 days of hunting, or 10.7 days per animal. By residency, residents 59.3% (176 taken by 297) and nonresidents 64.7% (90 taken by 139).
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) | 112 | 212 | 52.8% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 2 | 102 | 2.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 antlered (resident) | 35 | 122 | 28.7% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 antlered (nonresident) | 0 | 45 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (resident) | 84 | 18 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 4 antlerless (nonresident) | 4 | 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 123, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 212 first-choice applicants for 112 licenses, 52.8% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 102 first-choice applicants for 2 licenses, 2% drawn
- Type 4 (antlerless elk), residents: 18 first-choice applicants for 84 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 123?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 123?
Is elk hunt area 123 the same ground as deer hunt area 123?
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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 123, 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 123, 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 · 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