Elk hunters can buy three licenses for the first time since the Wyoming Game and Fish Department started writing hunting regulations.

Hunters previously could hold two licenses, usually a full-price one and a reduced-price one good for killing cows and calves only.

The new provision allows a third license to be held in one of 21 of Game and Fish’s elk hunting units. Area 92, west of Daniel Junction, and area 93, east of Bondurant in the Gros Ventre mountains, are the nearest to Jackson.

Game and Fish believes many herds have grown too big, spokesman Jeff Obrecht said.

“We’re at our highest elk population in history,” Obrecht said. “Hopefully, we can get a few more elk harvested in some of the areas where we don’t get all the licenses sold.”

Historically, the affected units have had low hunter-success rates, he said.

“They’re areas where it’s hard to harvest for a variety of reasons — private access, steep terrain,” he said. “If those elk were easy to kill, we wouldn’t need to do this.”

Licenses can be purchased on a first-come, first-served basis at regional Game and Fish offices and through wgfd.wyo.gov.

The expanded limit applies to the following elk hunt areas: 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 34, 47, 48, 49, 61, 63, 64, 66, 92, 93, 94, 104, 108, 114, 122 and 125.