Wyoming Elk · Hunt Area 63 Wood River-Gooseberry Creek

Wyoming Hunt Area 63 covers 234,399 acres and lies 40 miles south of Cody. 70% of it is public land, mostly national forest (36%) and BLM (27%). In 2025, 538 people hunted elk here and took 278, a 52% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 63-1, put up 9 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 222 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 17 points.

PointsYour Wyoming preference pointsYour points

NR Tags, 2026

185

14 licenses

Applicants

614

first choice, NR

Hunter Success

52%

2025, all licenses

Public Land

70%

36% Forest Service

Size

366 mi²

234,399 acres

Thermopolis 59 61 62 64 66 67 63

52%

hunter success · 2025

538 hunters, 278 elk

52%hunter success 2025 · 538 hunters, 278 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.

Success: 49%
Season: Oct 1 – Dec 21
Tags / Apps: 15 / 15
If Drawn: $728.50

63-6

Reduced price · cow

37%

Cow or calf valid off national forest north of Gooseberry Creek

Success: 41%
Season: Aug 15 – Oct 31
Tags / Apps: 32 / 86
If Drawn: $324.50

Every License in Hunt Area 63

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it

	What	Season			Tags / Apps
63-1 Regular	Any elk	Oct 1–21	<1%	17 ▲3	9 / 222	54%
63-1 Special	Any elk	Oct 1–21	1%	16 ▲3	7 / 96	54%
63-1 Landowner	Any elk	Oct 1–21	100%	0	32 / 16	54%
63-2 Regular	Any elk valid within the Washakie Wilderness	Oct 1–21	0% (small sample)	17 ▲5	3 / 13	72%
63-2 Special	Any elk valid within the Washakie Wilderness	Oct 1–21	0% (small sample)	10 ▼2	3 / 16	72%
63-2 Landowner	Any elk valid within the Washakie Wilderness	Oct 1–21	100%	—	6 / 0	72%
63-3 Regular	Any elk	Nov 1–15	<1%	15 ▲1	6 / 108	57%
63-3 Special	Any elk	Nov 1–15	3% (small sample)	14 ▲1	5 / 41	57%
63-3 Landowner	Any elk	Nov 1–15	100%	0	12 / 1	57%
63-4 Regular	Antlerless elk	Oct 1 – Dec 21	100%	0	15 / 15	49%
63-4 Special	Antlerless elk	Oct 1 – Dec 21	100%	—	7 / 0	49%
63-4 Landowner	Antlerless elk	Oct 1 – Dec 21	100%	—	16 / 0	49%
63-6 Reduced price	Cow or calf valid off national forest north of Gooseberry Creek	Aug 15 – Oct 31	37%	—	32 / 86	41%
63-6 Landowner reduced price	Cow or calf valid off national forest north of Gooseberry Creek	Aug 15 – Oct 31	100%	—	32 / 0	41%

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	Days/Animal
2025	538	278	52%	14.4
2024	556	264	48%	14.2
2023	416	212	51%	14.6
2022	422	191	45%	15.9
2021	375	177	47%	14.6

2025 by License	Hunters	Elk	Success
Type 1	189	102	54%
Type 2	36	26	72%
Type 3	67	38	57%
Type 4	92	45	49%
Type 5	33	2	6%
Type 6	157	65	41%

2025 split: archery 15 (5%), firearm 263 (95%) · residents 207 from 439 hunters, nonresidents 71 from 99 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	84,335 ac	36%
Private	69,917 ac	30%
BLM	62,187 ac	27%
State land	17,804 ac	8%
County or city land	154 ac	<1%

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

Next Door

▸ 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