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Units / Wyoming / Elk area 73

Same number, different ground: Antelope area 73

Unit research · Wyoming Elk area 73

Targhee-Alta — Wyoming

96% public across 244,981 ac. Real backcountry here — 53% of the public land sits more than a mile from any road. No landlocked public land.

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Elk area 73Full map — ownership, roads, wind →
6,040–11,000 ft

elevation range

96%

public land

53%

of public >1 mi from a road

0 ac

landlocked public

0.81

road miles per mi²

374 mi

maintained trails

Computed from primary government data by the open pipeline. See the code →

Tags & season

Tags: check Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

No draw hunts are published for this elk area. Tag type, quotas and season dates are in Wyoming Game and Fish Department's regulations.

Season dates: see Wyoming Game and Fish Department's regulations

2026 WGFD Hunting License Application Information (booklet PDF)

Fees and draw dates from Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 2026, verified 2026-08-05 — past its verify-by date, confirm with the agency. Tag type from the agency's published draw statistics: a elk area that appears in none of them has no limited-entry hunt we know of. Source: 2026 WGFD Hunting License Application Information (booklet PDF) · WGFD license fee list · WGFD preference points · WGFD application dates & deadlines.

Land & access

USFS 96%USBR 4%BLM 1%□ Private 4%
Unit area244,981 ac
Public land236,373 ac (96%)
Landlocked public0 ac (0.0%)
Motorized routes (MVUM + roads)312 mi
Maintained trails374 mi

Backcountry

Public land >1 mi from a road124,591 ac (53% of public)
Road density0.81 mi/mi²
Managed byUSFS 234k ac · USBR 9k ac · BLM 1k ac
Elevation6,040–11,000 ft
Median elevation7,650 ft
Median slope12°

Where the ground sits

6,040 ft11,000 ft

Tap or hover the bars for each elevation band

Slope mix

Which way the slopes face

N 31%
E 9%
S 24%
W 35%

Share of ground steeper than 5° — flat ground has no facing

North slopes hold shade, cover and snow; south slopes open first.

USGS 3DEP 1 arc-second (30 m), slope at native resolution in a local metric projection, sampled on a 200 m grid. See the code →

Unit intelligence report

1,347 ac of this elk area has burned — 1% of the unit. The full report assembles it into one printable document and keeps it current as the facts change.

Open the report →

Season conditions — measured, not vibes

Historical temperatures · 2000–2025

Monthly normal highs and lows, °F30° high15° lowJFMAMJJASOND

Normals for 2000–2025 — tap or hover for a month

Measured at REXBURG-MADISON COUNTY APT, 69 km from the unit’s center and ~2,800 ft below its median elevation — expect the unit to run colder. NOAA ISD-Lite hourly observations.

Harvest — agency survey estimates

Elk · 2025

39.9% success

57 taken by 143 hunters · 1,198 days afield

37 bulls · 12 spikes · 8 cows · 0 calves

Res 39% · NR 41% success

Elk hunter success · 2021–2025 · 26% → 40%

WGFD estimates harvest statistics from a voluntary hunter survey run with the University of Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center. "Hunters" are active hunters (license holders who actually hunted). Hunt areas are species-specific geographies. Source: WGFD Annual Harvest Reports (per species-year PDFs) · WGFD Job Completion Reports (per herd unit: population, harvest, success).

How these numbers are made

public_land_pct = public_area / unit_area
landlocked = public ∖ reachable(roads, corners)
remote = public ∖ buffer(roads, 1 mi)

Computed, not curated: no paid research team, no opinions dressed as data. If a number looks wrong, file an issue — the fix ships for everyone.

Nearby elk areas

Berry Creek · Elk area 72100% public · 100% remoteWilson · Elk area 7837% public · 36% remotePacific Creek · Elk area 71100% public · 84% remoteNational Elk Refuge · Elk area 7798% public · 36% remoteFall Creek · Elk area 8592% public · 46% remoteLower Hoback · Elk area 8492% public · 68% remote

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