Wyoming Elk — Hunt Area 27

Upper Sweetwater

Wyoming Hunt Area 27 covers 75,480 acres and lies 25 miles south-west of Lander and 46 miles south-west of Riverton. 94% of it is public land, mostly national forest (57%) and BLM (33%). In 2025, 134 people hunted elk here and took 47 — 35% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 9 nonresident tags here for 19 first-choice applicants.

Nonresident tags (2026):22 Applicants:19 Hunter success (2025):35% Public land:94% Size:75,480 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunt Area 27, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level

27-4 Antlerless elk 9 tags · 19 applicants · needed 0 pts · Regular

36% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
27-4 Antlerless elk 4 tags · 0 applicants · Special

100% No first-choice applicants
27-4 Antlerless elk 9 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner

100% No first-choice applicants

Hunt	Your odds (0 pts)	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	License	Season
27-4 ↗ Antlerless elk	36% Long shot	0%	0 steady since 2021	9 / 19	Regular	Oct 1 – Nov 20, 2026
27-4 ↗ Antlerless elk	100% No first-choice applicants	—	—	4 / 0	Special	Oct 1 – Nov 20, 2026
27-4 ↗ Antlerless elk	100% No first-choice applicants	—	—	9 / 0	Landowner	Oct 1 – Nov 20, 2026

What these columns mean

Your odds: the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 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: Wyoming 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 2026 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.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License	Up front	Gone if you miss	If you draw
Regular license	$707	$15	$728.50
Special license	$1,965	$15	$1,986.50
Landowner license	$15	$15	$36.50

Application window: opens Jan 2, closes Feb 2, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Hunt Area 27 within Wyoming

Hunt Area 27 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.

Who owns the ground

National Forest 43,154 ac · 57%
BLM 24,894 ac · 33%
Private 4,670 ac · 6%
State land 2,688 ac · 4%
Other public 72 ac · 0%

Source: BLM WY Surface Management Agency (land ownership / SMA)

Nearby areas

How the hunting has gone

What Wyoming Game and Fish Department publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. 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.