Wyoming Unit 27 Moose Hunting Guide

Wyoming Unit 27 moose hunting offers one of the more consistent limited-quota opportunities in the state, with a small but dedicated group of hunters pursuing bulls across nearly half a million acres of mixed-elevation terrain in western Wyoming. This is not a unit where hunters wander in on a general license — every moose hunt here runs through Wyoming's draw system, making it a destination tag that requires patience, points, and planning.

Spanning elevations from 6,551 to 9,773 feet across 468,248 total acres, Unit 27 sits in classic Wyoming moose country — a mix of lower sagebrush benches and higher timbered drainages that moose use seasonally. With only 25% of the unit in public ownership, access deserves serious attention before hunters commit points to this area, a point we'll dig into below.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 27 Worth Applying For?

The headline number for Unit 27 is harvest success, and it's about as good as moose hunting gets. Over the past four seasons of data tracked by HuntPilot, hunter success has been perfect:

• 2025: 16 hunters, 16 harvested — 100% success
• 2024: 14 hunters, 14 harvested — 100% success
• 2023: 15 hunters, 15 harvested — 100% success
• 2022: 16 hunters, 16 harvested — 100% success

Four consecutive years at 100% success is a remarkable track record for any big game unit, and it tells hunters something important: if you draw a tag in Unit 27, you are very likely to fill it. This isn't a unit where hunters burn a once-in-a-lifetime moose tag and come home empty-handed. The sample sizes are modest — in the 14-to-16-hunter range each year — but the consistency across four straight seasons removes any doubt that 2025's number was a fluke.

That said, "worth applying for" depends heavily on what a hunter is chasing. The counties overlapping Unit 27 carry a moderate history of trophy records, meaning there is a credible trophy pedigree here, but it's not among the handful of units that consistently produce elite bulls. Hunters drawing this tag should expect a very good chance at punching their tag on a solid, representative Shiras bull — not necessarily a chase for a record-class animal. Combined with the access realities (more below), Unit 27 is best understood as a high-probability, moderate-trophy-potential unit rather than a trophy-at-all-costs destination.

The tag quota trend is also worth flagging. Type 1 tags dropped from 15 in 2025 to 12 in 2026 — a 20% cut. That's a meaningful reduction in available tags and suggests the herd or habitat conditions may be prompting more conservative management. Hunters with points built up for this unit should watch future quota announcements closely, since a shrinking tag pool generally means increased draw competition even without a surge in applicants.

Harvest Success Rates

Unit 27's harvest data is as strong a selling point as exists in Wyoming moose hunting. Across the four most recent seasons on record, hunters have gone a combined 61-for-61 — every single hunter who drew a tag and hunted the unit harvested a bull. That's a 100% success rate in 2025, 2024, 2023, and 2022 alike.

A few practical takeaways from this:

• Low hunter density keeps pressure manageable. With only 14 to 16 hunters afield in a given year across more than 468,000 acres, competition between tag holders for the same bulls is minimal.
• Success this consistent usually reflects a healthy, huntable population paired with hunters who are prepared. Wyoming moose tags are hard-earned draw tags, and most who draw them have been waiting years and come prepared to hunt hard.
• Don't mistake "100% success" for "easy." A perfect harvest rate over a small number of tags doesn't mean the moose are standing in the open. It means persistent, well-scouted hunters in this unit have historically figured out where the animals are and converted opportunities when they arise.

HuntPilot's data shows this success rate has held steady for four years running, which is the kind of track record that should give confidence to any hunter fortunate enough to draw a Unit 27 tag.

Trophy Quality

Trophy data for the counties overlapping Unit 27 points to a moderate history of record-book production. This means hunters shouldn't expect Unit 27 to be mentioned in the same breath as Wyoming's top-tier trophy moose units, but there is a real trophy foundation here — bulls capable of qualifying for record consideration have come from this area historically.

For most hunters who draw Unit 27, the realistic expectation should be a mature, representative Shiras bull rather than a chase for an exceptional or elite-class animal. That's not a knock on the unit — Shiras moose hunting of any quality is a special pursuit, and a unit with moderate trophy potential paired with a 100% historical success rate is an attractive combination for hunters who value tag fulfillment and a quality hunt over a slim shot at a record-book wall-hanger.

Because trophy records are logged at the county level rather than by hunt unit, the moderate trophy history associated with Unit 27 is shared with neighboring units drawing from the same counties. Hunters shouldn't assume every bull contributing to that trophy picture came specifically from within Unit 27's boundaries — but it does establish that the broader area has a demonstrated capacity to produce quality bulls.

Access & Terrain

Access is the single most important factor for hunters to understand before applying for Unit 27. Public land accounts for only 25% of the unit's 468,248 acres, meaning the majority — 75% — is privately held. This is a unit where DIY hunters cannot assume they'll have free rein across the landscape; a significant portion of good moose habitat likely sits behind private ownership, and hunters will need to either secure landowner permission, focus their efforts tightly on the public parcels that do exist, or budget time for identifying access points well before the season.

Elevations in the unit range from 6,551 feet up to 9,773 feet, which covers a broad band of habitat types — from lower sagebrush-steppe and riparian corridors up into higher-elevation timber and subalpine terrain that moose favor during summer and into the fall. Moose in this elevation range are often found working willow-lined drainages and wet meadows at the lower-to-mid elevations, with some movement into higher timber as the season progresses.

Notably, Unit 27 carries 0% wilderness designation. This is meaningful for nonresident hunters: Wyoming law requires nonresidents to hire a licensed outfitter when hunting in designated wilderness areas, but with no wilderness acreage in this unit, that requirement does not apply here. Nonresident hunters are free to hunt Unit 27 without a guide from a wilderness-access standpoint — though given the significant private land share, many hunters still find it worthwhile to make local contacts (landowners, game wardens, or wildlife biologists) well ahead of their hunt to better understand where the public and accessible private ground lies.

Given the limited public land base, hunters serious about scouting this unit should lean on detailed mapping tools — HuntPilot's public land overlays can help identify exactly where the 25% public footprint sits in relation to drainages, access roads, and elevation bands worth glassing, which is critical in a unit where private boundaries dictate so much of the huntable ground.

How to Apply

Every moose hunt in Unit 27 is a limited-quota draw hunt — there is no general season opportunity for moose here. Hunters cannot simply buy an over-the-counter tag; a tag must be drawn through Wyoming Game and Fish Department's annual application process, and this holds true for both residents and nonresidents.

For Wyoming residents: Moose is one of the species where residents do accumulate preference points, building toward higher-point applications over multiple years. Resident moose tags in Unit 27 are competitive, and point accumulation plays a direct role in draw positioning.

For nonresidents: All nonresident big game hunters in Wyoming must draw a tag before hunting, with no exceptions for moose. Nonresidents likewise accumulate preference points year over year, and because moose tags are scarce statewide, nonresident applicants typically need a substantial point investment to be competitive for limited-quota units like Unit 27. It's worth noting that a successful draw consumes the hunter's accumulated points for that species — after drawing, point totals reset, and a hunter builds back up from there for future applications.

The Type 1 hunt in Unit 27 saw its tag quota cut from 15 tags in 2025 to 12 in 2026, a 20% reduction. This kind of quota change can shift draw competitiveness from one year to the next, so hunters should not assume historical draw patterns will hold steady going forward.

Application dates, fees, and current draw odds change every cycle and are not included here. For the most current deadlines, costs, and draw odds specific to Unit 27, hunters should check HuntPilot's Wyoming state page at /states/wy or the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's published draw statistics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Wyoming Unit 27? Unit 27 spans a wide elevation gradient from 6,551 feet up to 9,773 feet across 468,248 total acres, encompassing lower sagebrush and riparian terrain as well as higher timbered and subalpine country. There is no designated wilderness in the unit, which simplifies access logistics compared to wilderness-heavy units elsewhere in Wyoming, but the terrain itself still spans a meaningful range of habitat types that moose use throughout the season.

What is harvest success like in Unit 27? Harvest success has been exceptional and remarkably consistent — 100% in each of the last four recorded seasons (2022 through 2025), with hunter numbers running between 14 and 16 per year. Few moose units anywhere maintain that level of consistency, and it suggests that hunters who draw a Unit 27 tag have a very strong historical likelihood of filling it.

How big are the moose in Unit 27? Trophy records tied to the counties overlapping Unit 27 reflect a moderate trophy history — real potential for quality bulls, but not among Wyoming's elite trophy-producing areas. Most successful hunters should plan on taking a solid, mature Shiras bull rather than targeting a record-class animal specifically.

Is Unit 27 worth applying for? For hunters prioritizing a high likelihood of filling a moose tag, yes — the four-year run of 100% harvest success is hard to ignore. For hunters laser-focused on trophy size above all else, the moderate trophy history suggests tempering expectations. The unit's low public land share (25%) also means nonresident DIY hunters should plan carefully around access before committing points, even though no wilderness-guide requirement applies here.

Is Unit 27 a good unit for DIY nonresident hunters? It can be, but access planning is essential. With only 25% of the unit in public ownership and no wilderness restrictions, nonresidents are legally free to hunt without a guide, but the bulk of the land base is private. Successful DIY hunters in this kind of unit typically scout hard, identify the public parcels precisely using mapping tools, and work on building local access relationships well before the season.