Wyoming Elk · Hunt Area 16 Shirley Mountain
Wyoming Hunt Area 16 spans 1,125,082 acres, centered 20 miles north of Hanna. 55% of it is public land, mostly BLM (45%) and state land (7%). In 2025, 990 people hunted elk here and took 562, a 57% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 16-1, put up 14 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 602 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 18 points.
13 licenses
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
45% BLM
1,125,082 acres
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.
- Success
- 69%
- Season
- Oct 1–31
- Tags / Apps
- 14 / 602
- If Drawn
- $728.50
- Success
- 69%
- Season
- Oct 1–31
- Tags / Apps
- 10 / 126
- If Drawn
- $1,986.50
- Success
- 69%
- Season
- Nov 1–30
- Tags / Apps
- 12 / 430
- If Drawn
- $728.50
- Success
- 57%
- Season
- Dec 1 – Jan 31
- Tags / Apps
- 32 / 70
- If Drawn
- $324.50
Every License in Hunt Area 16
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-1 Regular | Any elk | <1% | 18 ▲4 | |
| 16-1 Special | Any elk | 2% | 17 ▲3 | |
| 16-1 Landowner | Any elk | 100% | 0 | |
| 16-2 Regular | Any elk | <1% | 18 ▲5 | |
| 16-2 Special | Any elk | 2% | 18 ▲3 | |
| 16-2 Landowner | Any elk | 100% | — | |
| 16-4 Regular · private | Antlerless elk valid on private land | 60% | 0 | |
| 16-4 Special · private | Antlerless elk valid on private land | 100% | 0 | |
| 16-4 Landowner · private | Antlerless elk valid on private land | 100% | — | |
| 16-6 Reduced price · private | Cow or calf valid on private land | 23% | — | |
| 16-6 Landowner reduced price · private | Cow or calf valid on private land | 100% | — | |
| 16-7 Reduced price | Cow or calf | 46% | — | |
| 16-7 Landowner reduced price | Cow or calf | 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 and 2 more, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Regular $728.50 ($707 to apply) · Special $1,986.50 ($1,965 to apply) · Reduced price $324.50 ($303 to apply) · Landowner $36.50 ($15 to apply) · Landowner reduced price $36.50 ($15 to apply). Open Jan 2 – Feb 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 990 | 562 | 57% |
| 2024 | 1,023 | 562 | 55% |
| 2023 | 859 | 680 | 79% |
| 2022 | 846 | 471 | 56% |
| 2021 | 827 | 501 | 61% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type 1 | 248 | 170 | 69% |
| Type 2 | 102 | 70 | 69% |
| Type 4 | 277 | 148 | 53% |
| Type 6 | 263 | 92 | 35% |
| Type 7 | 143 | 82 | 57% |
2025 split: archery 30 (5%), firearm 532 (95%) · residents 461 from 807 hunters, nonresidents 101 from 183 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
| Private | 509,771 ac | 45% |
| BLM | 504,319 ac | 45% |
| State land | 74,684 ac | 7% |
| Other public | 18,456 ac | 2% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 15,651 ac | 1% |
| County or city land | 1,770 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 432 ac | <1% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office 2026 BLM WY Surface Management Agency.
▸ Sources 14
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- WGFD 2026 License Fee List fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Game and Fish Commission Chapter 44 fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2025 Elk Harvest Report harvest, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2024 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2023 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2022 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2021 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Elk Hunt Areas boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- 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.
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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 · All Wyoming elk hunts