Wyoming Elk 38-9 — Hunt Area 38, Type 9

Any elk, archery only · Tongue

Hunt Area 38 within Wyoming

What you may take: Any elk, archery only
Weapon: Archery; Archery gear only — no rifle season on this license.
Where: Hunt Area 38 — Tongue; 79% public of 361,030 acres
Season (2026): Archery Sep 1–30, 2026
Nonresident tags (2026): 18; for 432 first-choice applicants
Hunter success here (2025): 36%; of everyone who hunted the area

Showing nonresident results (Regular class). Switch to resident · Regular Special Landowner

Odds by point level — 2026 draw

Prior-draw probability for a first-choice nonresident applicant. 18 tags, 432 first-choice applicants, drew out at 15 points. Source: 2026 Demand Report · p. 10.

Points	Your chance	Applicants	Drawn
0–14	1% same chance at every one of these levels	413 counted in one band: just under 15 points	0
15	100%	15	15
16	100%	4	4
17–18	100% same chance at every one of these levels	—	—

Points pass + random pass, from published pools. A dash means Wyoming Game and Fish Department did not publish a count for that level — it prints exact counts around the cut and folds the rest into a band. How we compute these.

What it costs (2026 nonresident fees)

Cash to apply

$707

Out of pocket if unsuccessful

$15

Total if drawn

$800.50

Refunded if unsuccessful

$692

At the 2026 odds, expected cost per hunt-year ranges from $800.50 (enough points to draw) to $1,817.99 (lowest published odds).

Nonresident big game application fee (per species applied for) · paid at application $15 source

Nonresident archery license (required to hunt archery-only seasons/types) · paid if drawn $72 source

Conservation stamp (annual; required with any hunting license) · paid if drawn $21.50 source

Nonresident elk license (regular), includes fishing privileges · paid at application, refundable $692 source

Nonresident elk preference point · only for a point bought without applying — an unsuccessful applicant gets the point free $52 source

Not applying this year? A point-only purchase costs $52 (Jul 1 – Nov 2, expected) and keeps you moving toward the 15-point cut.

Next application window: opens Jan 2, closes Feb 2, 2027 (expected) · results ~May 21. Last cycle's schedule rolled forward — confirm when the agency publishes.

Point creep & years to draw

Drew out at 12 → 13 → 14 → 15 → 15 points (2022–2026): +0.8 points/yr (range +0.0 to +1.5). Projecting that pace forward:

Your points now	Years until a sure thing
0	60 yrs (15–∞)
2	52 yrs (13–∞)
4	44 yrs (11–∞)
6	36 yrs (9–∞)
8	28 yrs (7–∞)
10	20 yrs (5–∞)
12	12 yrs (3–∞)
14	4 yrs (1–∞)

A projection of the last five draws' median creep (capped at 2 points/yr), not a forecast. Random-pass odds still apply every year you're below the cut.

Seasons (2026)

Split 1: Sep 1–30, 2026 Any elk, archery only p. 6

How this tag has hunted

Across every license type in Hunt Area 38, Wyoming Game and Fish Department counted 1,125 hunters and 407 elk taken in 2025 — 36% of them killed something. Full Hunt Area 38 profile: maps, public land, five years of harvest →

Hunters holding this license type (2025) — the rest of the area's hunters held something else:

What they hunted	Hunters	Harvest	Success	Days per animal
Type 9	244	95	39%	28.7

Wyoming's figures are estimates from a voluntary post-season survey of license holders, extrapolated to every license issued — not a count of animals checked in. Source: Elk 2025 Harvest Report Elk 2024 Harvest Report

As a lower choice

2nd choice

Tags left after higher choices ÷ applicants at this choice — 0.0 tags left after higher choices. Points do not help a lower choice.

3rd choice

Tags left after higher choices ÷ applicants at this choice — 0.0 tags left after higher choices. Points do not help a lower choice.

Year by year

The regular draw for nonresidents, one row per year. Wyoming runs a second, random pass after the points pass; it is shown beside the year it belongs to.

Year	Tags	Applicants	Applicants per tag	Points needed	Random pass	Source
2026	18	432	24.0	15	6 tagsfrom 569 applications	2026 Demand Report · p. 10
2025	18	348	19.3	15	6 tagsfrom 453 applications	2025 Demand Report · p. 10
2024	18	398	22.1	14	6 tagsfrom 516 applications	2024 Demand Report · p. 9
2023	18	364	20.2	13	6 tagsfrom 436 applications	2023 Demand Report · p. 8
2022	18	344	19.1	12	6 tagsfrom 457 applications	2022 Demand Report · p. 8
2021	18	345	19.2	12	6 tagsfrom 440 applications	2021 Demand Report · p. 8

Other licenses valid in Hunt Area 38

Type 1 — Any elk Any legal weapon Type 4 — Antlerless elk Any legal weapon Type 6 — Cow or calf valid off national forest and off the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission’s Amsden Creek and Kerns Wi… Any legal weapon

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How to read these numbers

Every percentage on this page is a prior-draw probability: the chance an applicant with that many points would have drawn in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results. It is not a forecast — quotas, applicant numbers, and point creep change every year. Every figure links to the agency document it came from. Where a state does not publish a number, we show a dash, never a zero. Hunts with fewer than five tags show counts instead of percentages. Fees show the fee year used. Read the methodology for the engine details.

Not an application service

This page is informational only. Draw rules, quotas, fees, and deadlines are set by the state agency and change by commission action — confirm everything on the agency's own site before you apply, and apply through the agency, not here. We disclaim all liability for reliance on this page.