Wyoming Elk · Hunt Area 38 Tongue
Wyoming Hunt Area 38 covers 361,030 acres and lies 15 miles west of Dayton and 29 miles west of Sheridan. 79% of it is public land, mostly national forest (74%) and state land (5%). In 2025, 1,125 people hunted elk here and took 407, a 36% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 38-9, put up 24 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 432 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 15 points.
11 licenses
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
74% Forest Service
361,030 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
- 33%
- Season
- Oct 10–31
- Tags / Apps
- 26 / 117
- If Drawn
- $1,986.50
- Success
- 37%
- Season
- Oct 1 – Nov 15
- Tags / Apps
- 36 / 1
- If Drawn
- $1,986.50
- Success
- 49%
- Season
- Sep 15 – Dec 31
- Tags / Apps
- 16 / 37
- If Drawn
- $324.50
- Success
- 39%
- Season
- Sep 1–30
- Tags / Apps
- 16 / 156
- If Drawn
- $1,986.50
Every License in Hunt Area 38
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38-1 Regular | Any elk | 3% | 12 ▲4 | |
| 38-1 Special | Any elk | 6% | 11 ▲4 | |
| 38-1 Landowner | Any elk | 100% | — | |
| 38-4 Regular | Antlerless elk | 36% | 0 ▲1 | |
| 38-4 Special | Antlerless elk | 100% | 0 | |
| 38-4 Landowner | Antlerless elk | 100% | — | |
| 38-6 Reduced price | Cow or calf valid off national forest and off the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission’s… | 43% | — | |
| 38-6 Landowner reduced price | Cow or calf valid off national forest and off the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission’s… | 100% | — | |
| 38-9 Regular | Any elk, archery only | 1% | 15 ▲3 | |
| 38-9 Special | Any elk, archery only | 3% | 14 ▲3 | |
| 38-9 Landowner | Any elk, archery only | 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 | 1,125 | 407 | 36% |
| 2024 | 606 | 324 | 54% |
| 2023 | 1,089 | 504 | 46% |
| 2022 | 1,103 | 522 | 47% |
| 2021 | 1,052 | 365 | 35% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type 1 | 354 | 115 | 33% |
| Type 4 | 490 | 179 | 37% |
| Type 6 | 37 | 18 | 49% |
| Type 9 | 244 | 95 | 39% |
2025 split: archery 95 (23%), firearm 312 (77%) · residents 285 from 937 hunters, nonresidents 122 from 188 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 | 267,183 ac | 74% |
| Private | 75,544 ac | 21% |
| State land | 16,464 ac | 5% |
| BLM | 910 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 693 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 168 ac | <1% |
| Other public | 66 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. How we compute these.
Report an error on this page
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