I have a house in 49. Basically, I can reiterate what the others have said VERY STEEP. Archery bull tags over the counter, both units. The Elk population is stable (good population) in 49 and growing in 48. If you are rifle hunting the key will be horses, as most of the bigger bucks have been pushed back in away from roads. I have seen only about 5 bucks total that would go 180+ in approx. 15 years of hunting there. I have video of one huge buck in 48. My buddy shot a 34" buck on the back side of the ski mountain. And my high school principal shot a 250+ non-typical in the 80's. This last year my buddy had a bull tag in 49, I found him a couple nice bulls, after running back to my car (I was looking for deer), I finally got through to him on his phone (his wife was on for a half hour), he didn't think he had time to make it to me, so, he didn't get his bull last year. I never saw a good buck, just forkies, so ate my tag. The year before I shot a 23" 3 pt.