Nevada Elk — Unit 079

Huebner

Nevada Unit 079 covers 149,706 acres and lies 24 miles north-west of West Wendover and 35 miles east of Wells. 57% of it is public land, mostly BLM (57%). In 2025, 728 people hunted elk here and took 361 — 50% of them killed something. The 2025 draw put up 15 nonresident tags here for 134 first-choice applicants.

Nonresident tags (2025):71 Applicants:1,503 Hunter success (2025):50% Public land:57% Size:149,706 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Unit 079, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

8 licenses on offer · 71 tags · 1,503 applicants in the 2025 draw

Chances are from the 2025 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 4211-076.077.079.081-0801 Elk antlerless | NR | Archery | 076, 077, 079, 081 10 tags · 9 applicants
    17% Long shot 27% as 2nd choice
  • 4251-076.077.079.081-1106 Elk antlered | NR | Any Legal Weapon | 076, 077, 079, 081 Early 8 tags · 639 applicants
    <1% Point builder <1% as 2nd choice
  • 4251-076.077.079.081-1121 Elk antlered | NR | Any Legal Weapon | 076, 077, 079, 081 Late 9 tags · 334 applicants
    <1% Point builder <1% as 2nd choice
  • 4256-076.077.079.081-1022 Elk antlered | NR | Muzzleloader | 076, 077, 079, 081 3 tags · 41 applicants
    <1% Point builder <1% as 2nd choice
  • 4261-076.077.079.081-0825 Elk antlered | NR | Archery | 076, 077, 079, 081 5 tags · 223 applicants
    <1% Point builder <1% as 2nd choice
  • 4276-076.077.079.081-0917 Elk antlerless | NR | Muzzleloader | 076, 077, 079, 081 6 tags · 12 applicants
    3% Point builder 17% as 2nd choice
  • 4281-076.077.079.081-1001 Elk antlerless | NR | Any Legal Weapon | 076, 077, 079, 081 Early 15 tags · 134 applicants
    <1% Point builder 2% as 2nd choice
  • 4281-076.077.079.081-1205 Elk antlerless | NR | Any Legal Weapon | 076, 077, 079, 081 Late 15 tags · 111 applicants
    <1% Point builder <1% as 2nd choice
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2025 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
Nevada lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2025 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.
10 hunts not offered in 2025 are hidden — show discontinued hunts.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Per application $173 $173 $673

Application window: opens Mar 23, closes May 13, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Other licenses valid in Unit 079

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2025 draw.

The country

West Wendover Ely Winnemucca Lovelock Caliente
Unit 079 within Nevada
075 077 078 091 107 West Wendover Wells
Unit 079 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

How the hunting has gone

What Nevada Department of Wildlife publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Nevada Department of Wildlife publishes these per hunt rather than per unit; the rows below add its own figures together, since a hunter holds one tag for the species in a season. Nevada Department of Wildlife reports this unit inside the group 076, 077, 079, 081, so the figures below cover the whole group, not Unit 079 alone.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 728 361 50%
2024 501 301 60%
2023 371 219 59%
2022 331 219 66%
2021 334 211 63%

Boundary: NDOW Game Management Units

Harvest: 2025 Elk Harvest by Unit Group

Harvest: 2024 Elk Harvest by Unit Group

Harvest: 2023 Elk Harvest by Unit Group

How we compute draw odds · All Nevada elk hunts