🏹 Wyoming Elk Area 124: Your Guide to Finding Bulls on Public Land

You drew one of the toughest-yet-most-intriguing elk tags in the West—Area 124, also known as the Powder Rim. This unit is famous for vast sagebrush flats, wide-open desert country, and a real chance at a trophy bull. But let’s be honest—it’s not a volume game. You’re not glassing up 50 elk a day. This is a “needle in a haystack” hunt. The reward? The chance to arrow or drop a 330–360” bull in rugged, remote country few others will ever see.

The Lay of the Land

Area 124 is wide-open sage country with isolated buttes, rimrock ridges, and scattered canyons. It’s not mountainous, and there are very few trees. This is high desert terrain: open, harsh, and absolutely brutal in bad weather. That also means you can glass for miles—if you know where to go.

Public land access is pretty dang good throughout the unit thanks to BLM holdings and oilfield roads. You’ll want a high-clearance 4x4 and a good mapping app because the private land checkerboard can sneak up on you with inaccessible parcels.

Best Public Land Areas to Focus On

🔭 Delaney Rim & Tipton HMA

Long rimrock ridges in the northern part of the unit. Excellent glassing points overlooking big sage flats. Elk often feed below or along the base of these rims early in the day. Use the rimtops to locate bulls, then get sneaky. Be sure to get the HMA Permission Slip if possible (apply July 21st).

🪨 Pine Butte & Kinney Rim

Tall butte and ridgeline near the center of the unit. From the top, you can scan multiple drainages. Worth hiking up in both archery and rifle season. Not flashy, but it’s a solid hub of activity and big bulls have been taken from this area.

🏜️ Powder Rim & Little Snake River (Southern Boundary)

Isolated knobs in the southern half of the unit, closer to the Colorado line. Known to consistently hold bulls, especially early season before they retreat onto private. The surrounding drainages are overlooked gems. Private land dominates the best feed and water area, but the adjacent public tracts can be productive, especially early in the rifle season or during archery. Glass the public/private edge hard.

💧 Eight Mile Lake & Duck Lake

In a dry unit like this, water is king. These north-east water sources are worth a look—especially for archery hunters. Early-season bulls will hit water consistently in hot weather. Find good vantages near these lake systems to glass.

Archery Season Game Plan

If you’ve got time to hunt the September archery portion, you’re holding the golden ticket.

• Bulls are vocal. The rut is rolling. Early to mid-September is primetime. Use your ears from glassing knobs, too.

• Water is a magnet. Sit water holes or wallows if you find active ones.

• Glassing rules. Use the rims and buttes to spot bulls feeding at dawn, then plan a stalk using breaks and gullies for cover.

• Use unconventional tactics. Dragging water with a rake, or driving roads at night for bugle activity are both solid options not many people are doing.

If you’re patient, mobile, and willing to cover ground, this is the best window to tag a real dandy on public.

Rifle Season Strategy

Once October 15 hits, it’s a different game.

• Glassing becomes your best friend. Bulls are quiet and spread out, but still killable.

• Expect wind, snow, and cold. Be ready to suffer a little.

• Cover country. Use truck, optics, and boots to glass rimrock, buttes, and tucked-away drainages.

Plan to hunt at least 10–14 days if you’re serious about finding a big bull in rifle season. A lot of guys kill solid bulls late in the season when other hunters pack it in, but that takes grit and some luck.

Final Advice

• Scout beforehand. Find water sources, glassing spots, and learn the land status.

• Expect low elk numbers. This is a grind, not a numbers game.

• Use elevation. You glass bulls in this country—you don’t stumble into them.

• Take your time. A good bull is out there, but it’ll take everything you’ve got to find him.

• Archery gives you a better shot at a trophy. But rifle can still produce if you go hard.

This unit’s bulls don’t come easy. But that’s what makes them special. You’re stepping into a part of Wyoming most folks never see—and if you do it right, you just might bring home a bull worth every mile, glass session, and freezing wind-blasted morning you put in.