Wyoming Elk · Hunt Area 2 Fortification

Wyoming Hunt Area 2 covers 251,318 acres and lies 24 miles west of Gillette and 37 miles east of Buffalo. 33% of it is public land, mostly BLM (27%) and state land (5%). In 2025, 442 people hunted elk here and took 224, a 51% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 2-6, put up 32 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 17 first-choice applicants.

NR Tags, 2026
64

2 licenses

Applicants
17

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
51%

2025, all licenses

Public Land
33%

28% BLM

Size
393 mi²

251,318 acres

Gillette Buffalo 2
51%hunter success 2025 · 442 hunters, 224 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 2

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
2-6 Reduced price 100% —
Landowner reduced price 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. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: 2-1, 2-4.

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

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Reduced price $324.50 ($303 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 442 224 51%
2024 412 185 45%
2025 by LicenseHuntersElkSuccess
Type 6 158 68 43%
Type GEN 302 156 52%

2025 split: archery 42 (19%), firearm 182 (81%) · residents 121 from 237 hunters, nonresidents 103 from 205 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 168,984 ac 67%
BLM 69,015 ac 27%
State land 13,286 ac 5%
Other public 31 ac <1%

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

▸ Sources 10
  1. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  3. WGFD 2026 License Fee List fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. WGFD 2025 Elk Harvest Report harvest, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. WGFD 2024 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. WGFD 2023 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. WGFD 2022 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. WGFD 2021 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. WGFD 2026 Elk Hunt Areas boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. 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