Wyoming Unit 111 Elk Hunting Guide

Wyoming Unit 111 sits among the state's more talked-about elk units on hunter forums, and for good reason — it delivers consistent harvest numbers across a variety of residency and tag types. For hunters researching Wyoming Unit 111 elk hunting opportunities, this unit spans 588,540 acres with 62% public land, giving DIY hunters real room to work without leaning entirely on private ground. Elevations run from 5,343 to 8,915 feet, a spread that offers everything from lower sagebrush benches to higher timbered country as the season progresses.

This is a unit that shows up repeatedly in online hunter discussions asking for scouting help, which tells its own story — plenty of hunters draw this tag and go in looking for guidance because it's not a unit they've hunted before. That's a good sign for interest and opportunity, but it also means hunters need real data, not forum guesswork, before committing scouting time and travel budget to it.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 111 Worth Applying For?

Based on data compiled by HuntPilot, Unit 111 is a legitimate consideration for elk hunters who prioritize harvest opportunity and reasonably accessible public land over chasing a slam-dunk trophy unit. The harvest trend over the past four years is a strong point in its favor. In 2023, hunters posted a 45% success rate, the high mark in the recent stretch, and even as hunter numbers climbed sharply from 196 hunters in 2022 to 428 hunters in 2025, success held in a respectable 36-39% range for 2024 and 2025. That's a meaningful signal: as more hunters piled into this unit, success rates didn't collapse, which suggests a herd and habitat base that can absorb increased pressure without falling apart.

The wildlife survey data adds context but requires a careful read. Across three of the four survey years from 2021-2024, the average bull:cow ratio came in at 56:100. That's a solid, believable ratio for a Wyoming elk herd — not inflated, not alarming — and it points to a herd structure capable of producing mature bulls without over-relying on young age classes. Hunters should treat this as the more reliable long-term indicator rather than fixating on any single-year spike, since small survey sample sizes can distort year-over-year swings in ratios like this.

Trophy potential in the counties overlapping Unit 111 is best described as moderate. There's a documented trophy history in the area, but it isn't the kind of unit that regularly produces headline bulls. Hunters going in should set realistic expectations: solid, mature bulls are attainable, but this isn't a unit to bank on for an elite once-in-a-lifetime score. That said, moderate trophy potential paired with rising success rates and substantial public acreage is a combination worth taking seriously, especially for hunters who value a good chance at filling a tag over a low-odds trophy chase.

Where Unit 111 falls short of an easy "yes" recommendation is in the growing hunter pressure. More than doubling the hunter count from 2022 to 2025 while success rates trended slightly downward (45% in 2023 to 39% in 2025) suggests the unit is absorbing more pressure than it once did. Hunters should factor this into expectations — the unit is still productive, but it's clearly becoming a more popular draw, which typically means more competition for the same public ground and less solitude in prime spots.

Harvest Success Rates

• 2025: 428 hunters, 165 harvested, 39% success
• 2024: 391 hunters, 141 harvested, 36% success
• 2023: 311 hunters, 140 harvested, 45% success
• 2022: 196 hunters, 75 harvested, 38% success

The four-year trend line tells a story of growing popularity. Hunter numbers more than doubled between 2022 and 2025, and while success rates dipped somewhat as pressure increased, they never dropped into discouraging territory. A 36-39% success rate in the two most recent years is still a respectable outcome for elk hunting anywhere in the West, and the 45% mark posted in 2023 shows this unit is fully capable of delivering strong results in a favorable year. Hunters should expect a unit where putting in the scouting time and being willing to cover ground on public land translates into a real, statistically-supported chance of punching a tag.

Trophy Quality

Trophy production in the counties overlapping Unit 111 reflects moderate trophy potential. There is a documented history of trophy-class bulls coming from this general area, but it isn't a unit defined by exceptional or elite trophy output. Hunters should remember that trophy records are logged at the county level, not unit-exact, so any historical trophy animals attributed to these counties could have come from Unit 111 or from neighboring units sharing the same county boundaries.

Practically speaking, this means hunters chasing a genuine record-class bull should treat Unit 111 as a longshot for that specific goal, while hunters focused on taking a mature, respectable bull — and enjoying good odds of filling a tag in the process — will find this unit's overall package more compelling. The bull:cow ratio data reinforces this: a herd running around 56 bulls per 100 cows on average has enough mature bulls in the population to support solid hunting without the unit being known as a trophy factory.

Herd Health & Population Trends

The available survey data spans four years (2021-2024), with three of those years contributing to an average bull:cow ratio of 56:100. That ratio sits within a normal, healthy range for a Wyoming elk herd and suggests reasonable bull survival and age structure rather than a herd skewed heavily toward cows or young bulls. Because this figure is an average across multiple survey years rather than a single-year snapshot, it carries more weight than any one year's number would on its own — hunters should lean on this multi-year average as the more trustworthy indicator of herd condition rather than chasing any outlier survey year.

Combined with the harvest trend showing rising hunter participation without a collapse in success, the picture that emerges is a herd that's stable enough to handle increased hunting pressure while still producing tagged bulls at a consistent clip year after year.

Access & Terrain

Unit 111 offers 62% public land across its 588,540 acres, which gives DIY hunters a legitimate base of accessible ground to hunt without needing to secure private land permission for the majority of the unit. With 38% of the unit in private hands, hunters will still need to be diligent about boundaries and access points, but the majority-public composition here means this unit qualifies as workable for hunters willing to do their own boot-leather scouting.

Elevation in the unit ranges from 5,343 feet up to 8,915 feet, a spread of nearly 3,600 vertical feet. That range gives hunters options depending on time of year and animal movement — lower elevations offer more open sage and grassland-type terrain typical of Wyoming's lower benches, while the upper end of the elevation band moves into higher, more timbered country. Notably, Unit 111 carries 0% wilderness designation, which means nonresident hunters are not subject to Wyoming's outfitter-required wilderness access law here — this unit is fully open to unguided nonresident DIY hunts from an access-law standpoint.

Given the size of the unit and the elevation spread, hunters planning scouting trips should expect to cover meaningful ground to identify where elk are concentrated at any given time. Hunters short on scouting time — a common theme in online discussions about this unit — should lean on mapping tools like HuntPilot's public land and terrain overlays to identify likely public-access pockets and elevation bands before setting boots on the ground, rather than relying on secondhand tips from forum posts about specific spots that may not hold consistently.

How to Apply

Wyoming's elk application system requires hunters to plan ahead, and the dates differ by residency and tag type.

Nonresident hunters should note that Wyoming's point system for elk does not carry the same mechanics as deer or pronghorn applications — the point fee listed above applies to the elk preference point structure specific to nonresident applicants, and a successful draw will consume accumulated points, requiring hunters to rebuild from zero on subsequent applications. Alternatively, check HuntPilot's Wyoming state page (/states/wy) for the latest published application calendar.

Application dates and fees change every draw cycle. For the current deadlines, fees, and draw odds, see HuntPilot's Wyoming page at /states/wy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Wyoming Unit 111? Unit 111 spans elevations from 5,343 to 8,915 feet across 588,540 total acres, offering a mix of lower-elevation terrain and higher country as elevation increases. With 62% of the unit in public ownership, hunters have substantial room to explore different elevation bands and terrain types without being confined to private land. The unit carries 0% wilderness designation, meaning access is generally more straightforward than in Wyoming's wilderness-heavy units.

What is harvest success like in Unit 111? Recent success rates have run between 36% and 45% over the past four years (2022-2025), even as hunter participation has more than doubled. In 2025, 428 hunters harvested 165 elk for a 39% success rate, while 2023 posted the strongest recent year at 45% success among 311 hunters.

How big are the elk in Unit 111? Trophy potential in the counties overlapping Unit 111 is moderate — there's a documented trophy history in the area, but it isn't known as an elite trophy-producing unit. The average bull:cow ratio of 56:100 recorded across recent survey years suggests a healthy herd structure capable of producing mature bulls, making this a realistic unit for a solid, respectable bull rather than a guaranteed shot at a record-class animal.

Is Wyoming Unit 111 worth applying for? For hunters prioritizing harvest opportunity and public land access, yes — the harvest trend is consistent, the herd ratio data looks healthy, and public land covers a majority of the unit's acreage. Hunters chasing an elite trophy bull specifically should temper expectations given the moderate trophy history, but for filling a tag on a mature bull, the data supports this as a solid option.

Does Unit 111 require a guide for nonresident hunters? No. Because Unit 111 has 0% wilderness designation, Wyoming's law requiring nonresidents to hire a licensed outfitter in wilderness areas does not apply here. Nonresident hunters are free to hunt this unit unguided, provided they've successfully drawn a tag through the appropriate residency and tag-type application.