Wyoming Elk — Hunt Area 81
Spread Creek
Wyoming Hunt Area 81 covers 224,619 acres and lies 28 miles north-east of Jackson and 51 miles north-east of Alpine. 99% of it is public land, mostly national forest (99%). In 2025, 531 people hunted elk here and took 147 — 28% of them killed something.
Your chance of drawing here
Wyoming Game and Fish Department has not offered an elk license in Hunt Area 81 in any draw we hold. It has a page because the agency still publishes harvest for it — the Wyoming elk hunts that are on offer are drawn elsewhere.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest 222,195 ac · 99%
- Private 1,781 ac · 1%
- Other public 407 ac · 0%
- National Park Service 226 ac · 0%
- State land 7 ac · 0%
- National Wildlife Refuge 0 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 | 531 | 147 | 28% | 20.6 |
| 2024 | 343 | 84 | 25% | 24.7 |
| 2023 | 424 | 156 | 37% | 16.9 |
| 2022 | 466 | 137 | 29% | 25.5 |
| 2021 | 456 | 127 | 28% | 22.5 |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Archery 20 · 14%
- Firearm 127 · 86%
Residents vs nonresidents (2025)
- Resident 89 taken · 373 hunters
- Nonresident 58 taken · 158 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