Area 128 is the Cody-area elk unit — the foothills and front-range country between the town of Cody and the Shoshone National Forest boundary along the North Fork and South Fork of the Shoshone River. Elevations range from about 5,000 feet on the Shoshone River near Cody to 9,000 feet on the timbered ridges that mark the forest boundary. The low country is sagebrush, grass, and irrigated hay meadows in the Shoshone River valley, with dramatic volcanic badlands and red-rock formations (the Absaroka Volcanics) creating a distinctive western landscape. Climb the ridges and you transition through mountain mahogany, juniper, and Douglas fir into lodgepole and mixed conifer. The area serves as critical elk winter range, and elk migrate down from the high Absaroka wilderness in late fall, concentrating on these lower-elevation slopes and valley edges. Land ownership is a mix of BLM, state trust, USFS, and private ranch land. The private land along the river bottoms and hay meadows is where elk concentrate in winter, so access arrangements matter. US-14/16/20 along the North Fork Shoshone and WY-291 along the South Fork provide paved access, with forest and county roads branching into the foothills. Cody is right there — five minutes from town you can be on huntable ground, which is both a convenience and a pressure factor. Everyone in Cody hunts, and this unit sees heavy local pressure. The advantage is that elk numbers are very high, especially later in the season when the migration is underway. Cody has full services: gas, groceries, restaurants, hospital, and more outfitters per capita than almost any town in the West. Cell service is good throughout. This is a classic front-range migration hunt — timing matters more than fitness. Hit the migration window when elk are pouring out of the backcountry and the hunting can be remarkably fast. Miss it and you're glassing sage flats hoping for stragglers. Area 128 is the Cody front-range elk migration unit, and nonresident tags typically require 2-4 preference points. No wilderness applies — this is the roaded foothills and valley between Cody and the national forest boundary. Grizzly bears are increasingly present on the upper fringes as the population expands out of the Absarokas — standard Greater Yellowstone precautions are warranted. Land is a mix of BLM, USFS, state trust, and private ranch, with the private valley-floor hay meadows holding the densest elk concentrations. The area is known as a migration-timing hunt — when cold weather pushes elk off the high Absaroka wilderness (Areas 1-6) and down to the winter range, this unit lights up. Hit the migration window (typically late October through November) and you may see hundreds of elk in a day. Miss it, and the unit is empty. The WGFD manages Hunter Management Areas and damage hunts on private land in this area, which provide access to concentrations that are otherwise on private property.