Wyoming Elk — Hunt Area 3

Rawhide

Wyoming Hunt Area 3 covers 3,391,637 acres and lies 20 miles south-west of Torrington. 12% of it is public land, mostly state land (8%) and military (2%). In 2025, 613 people hunted elk here and took 253 — 41% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 1,600 nonresident tags here for 9 first-choice applicants.

Nonresident tags (2026):3,200 Applicants:9 Hunter success (2025):41% Public land:12% Size:3,391,637 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Hunt Area 3, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 3,200 tags · 9 applicants in the 2026 draw

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
  • 3-8 Cow or calf 1,600 tags · 9 applicants · Reduced price
    100% Undersubscribed 100% as 2nd choice
  • 3-8 Cow or calf 1,600 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner reduced price
    100% No first-choice applicants
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.
1 hunt not offered in 2026 is hidden — show discontinued hunts.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Reduced price license $303 $15 $324.50
Landowner reduced price license $15 $15 $36.50

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

Other licenses valid in Hunt Area 3

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.

The country

Wheatland Cheyenne Lusk Hanna Evansville
Hunt Area 3 within Wyoming
10 108 11 110 111 113 118 12 120 122 124 125 126 128 13 130 15 16 19 21 22 23 24 33 47 48 6 7 8 9 Wheatland Cheyenne Lusk Glenrock Hanna
Hunt Area 3 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

  • Private 2,974,299 ac · 88%
  • State land 273,545 ac · 8%
  • Department of Defense 71,683 ac · 2%
  • BLM 45,660 ac · 1%
  • Other public 14,813 ac · 0%
  • County or city land 9,440 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 1,096 ac · 0%
  • National Park Service 830 ac · 0%

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

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.

Season Hunters Harvest Success Days per animal
2025 613 253 41% 18.7
2024 641 254 40% 27.5
2023 421 195 46% 11.1
2022 323 154 48% 14.6
2021 355 135 38% 16.9

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Archery 9 · 4%
  • Firearm 244 · 96%

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Resident 164 taken · 488 hunters
  • Nonresident 89 taken · 125 hunters

Boundary: Elk Hunt Areas (Wyoming Game and Fish Department)

Harvest: Elk 2025 Harvest Report

Harvest: Elk 2024 Harvest Report

Harvest: Elk 2023 Harvest Report

How we compute draw odds · All Wyoming elk hunts