Wyoming Elk · Hunt Area 1 Black Hills

Wyoming Hunt Area 1 covers 64,348 acres and lies 13 miles east of Sundance and 31 miles north-east of Upton. 89% of it is public land, mostly national forest (86%) and state land (3%). In 2025, 169 people hunted elk here and took 98, a 58% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 1-1, put up 7 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 381 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 17 points.

NR Tags, 2026
57

6 licenses

Applicants
489

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
58%

2025, all licenses

Public Land
89%

86% Forest Service

Size
101 mi²

64,348 acres

Sundance Upton 1
58%hunter success 2025 · 169 hunters, 98 elk

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

Best Bets at 0 Points

Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.

Every License in Hunt Area 1

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
1-1 Regular <1% 17 ▲6
Special 1% 15 ▲4
Landowner 100% 0
1-4 Regular 15% 2 ▲2
Special 100% (small sample) 0
Landowner 100% —

First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.

Draw results: WGFD 2026 Demand Report; WGFD 2026 Demand Report; WGFD 2026 Demand Report, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Regular $728.50 ($707 to apply) · Special $1,986.50 ($1,965 to apply) · Landowner $36.50 ($15 to apply). Open Jan 2 – Feb 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

Year Hunters Elk Success
2025 169 98 58%
2024 163 93 57%
2025 by LicenseHuntersElkSuccess
Type 1 97 65 67%
Type 4 72 33 46%

2025 split: archery 28 (29%), firearm 70 (71%) · residents 80 from 138 hunters, nonresidents 18 from 31 hunters

What Wyoming Game and Fish Department publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. 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: WGFD 2025 Elk Harvest Report; WGFD 2024 Elk Harvest Report; WGFD 2023 Elk Harvest Report.

The Ground

National Forest 55,292 ac 86%
Private 7,075 ac 11%
State land 1,981 ac 3%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office 2026 BLM WY Surface Management Agency.

▸ Sources 12
  1. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  4. WGFD 2026 License Fee List fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. WGFD 2026 Game and Fish Commission Chapter 44 fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. WGFD 2025 Elk Harvest Report harvest, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. WGFD 2024 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. WGFD 2023 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. WGFD 2022 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. WGFD 2021 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  11. WGFD 2026 Elk Hunt Areas boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  12. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office 2026 BLM WY Surface Management Agency land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026

About These Numbers

Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Wyoming Game and Fish Department's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.

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Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

We don't take applications: check Wyoming Game and Fish Department's site and apply there.

Prior-draw odds from Wyoming Game and Fish Department's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Wyoming elk hunts