Wyoming Elk · Hunt Area 49 Otter Creek

Wyoming Hunt Area 49 covers 792,270 acres and lies 24 miles south-east of Worland and 36 miles north-east of Thermopolis. 69% of it is public land, mostly BLM (61%) and state land (8%). In 2025, 824 people hunted elk here and took 400, a 49% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 49-1, put up 21 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 103 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 10 points.

NR Tags, 2026
386

10 licenses

Applicants
242

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
49%

2025, all licenses

Public Land
69%

61% BLM

Size
1,238 mi²

792,270 acres

Worland Thermopolis 49
49%hunter success 2025 · 824 hunters, 400 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 49

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
49-1 Regular 6% 10 ▲1
Special 8% 7 ▼1
Landowner 100% 0
49-4 Regular 100% 0
Special 100% —
Landowner 100% —
49-6 Reduced price 100% —
Landowner reduced price 100% —
49-7 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.

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 824 400 49%
2024 1,020 373 37%
2023 843 366 43%
2022 967 324 34%
2021 995 355 36%
2025 by LicenseHuntersElkSuccess
Type 1 317 142 45%
Type 4 102 47 46%
Type 6 248 73 29%
Type 7 235 138 59%

2025 split: archery 27 (7%), firearm 373 (93%) · residents 247 from 467 hunters, nonresidents 153 from 357 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 482,416 ac 61%
Private 244,758 ac 31%
State land 61,969 ac 8%
Bureau of Reclamation 1,548 ac <1%
County or city land 1,095 ac <1%
Other public 410 ac <1%
National Forest 72 ac <1%

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

▸ Sources 14
  1. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  4. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  6. WGFD 2026 License Fee List fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. WGFD 2026 Game and Fish Commission Chapter 44 fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. WGFD 2025 Elk Harvest Report harvest, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. WGFD 2024 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. WGFD 2023 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  11. WGFD 2022 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  12. WGFD 2021 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  13. WGFD 2026 Elk Hunt Areas boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  14. 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