Wyoming Elk · Hunt Area 40 Horse Creek
Wyoming Hunt Area 40 covers 296,068 acres and lies 14 miles north-east of Greybull and 27 miles south-east of Lovell. 83% of it is public land, mostly BLM (50%) and national forest (29%). In 2025, 441 people hunted elk here and took 131, a 30% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 40-1, put up 14 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 142 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 10 points.
11 licenses
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
50% BLM
296,068 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
- 34%
- Season
- Oct 15 – Nov 4
- Tags / Apps
- 14 / 142
- If Drawn
- $728.50
- Success
- 34%
- Season
- Oct 15 – Nov 4
- Tags / Apps
- 10 / 52
- If Drawn
- $1,986.50
- Success
- 27%
- Season
- Oct 15 – Nov 30
- Tags / Apps
- 20 / 14
- If Drawn
- $728.50
- Success
- 20%
- Season
- Sep 1 – Nov 4
- Tags / Apps
- 20 / 55
- If Drawn
- $324.50
Every License in Hunt Area 40
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40-1 Regular | Any elk | 2% | 10 ▲3 | |
| 40-1 Special | Any elk | 5% | 9 ▲3 | |
| 40-1 Landowner | Any elk | 100% | 0 | |
| 40-4 Regular | Antlerless elk | 100% | 0 | |
| 40-4 Special | Antlerless elk | 100% | — | |
| 40-4 Landowner | Antlerless elk | 100% | — | |
| 40-6 Reduced price | Cow or calf valid off national forest | 36% | — | |
| 40-6 Landowner reduced price | Cow or calf valid off national forest | 100% | — | |
| 40-9 Regular | Any elk, archery only | 3% | 12 ▲3 | |
| 40-9 Special | Any elk, archery only | 11% (small sample) | 7 ▲2 | |
| 40-9 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. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: 40-5.
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 | 441 | 131 | 30% |
| 2024 | 493 | 151 | 31% |
| 2023 | 531 | 274 | 52% |
| 2022 | 588 | 206 | 35% |
| 2021 | 574 | 217 | 38% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type 1 | 173 | 59 | 34% |
| Type 4 | 114 | 31 | 27% |
| Type 6 | 108 | 22 | 20% |
| Type 9 | 74 | 19 | 26% |
2025 split: archery 19 (15%), firearm 112 (85%) · residents 106 from 362 hunters, nonresidents 25 from 79 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
| BLM | 149,047 ac | 50% |
| National Forest | 85,695 ac | 29% |
| Private | 49,331 ac | 17% |
| State land | 8,686 ac | 3% |
| National Park Service | 2,300 ac | <1% |
| Other public | 976 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 25 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 2 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.
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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 · Methodology · All Wyoming elk hunts