Can a hunter in Wyoming take hunt area 106 on a general deer licence?

Yes. Hunt area 106 is a general-licence area, and any Wyoming resident can buy a general deer licence over the counter at any time from mid-July onward, with no draw and no preference points involved. A nonresident cannot buy a general licence; instead, a nonresident must draw a Region F general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region.

Does hunt area 106 require preference points for nonresidents?

Yes, for nonresidents only. Wyoming residents have no deer preference points at all and the resident deer draw is random. Nonresidents must enter the Region F general draw, where three quarters of the licences go to the preference-point draw (awarded top-down by points) and a quarter go to a random draw. Nonresident preference points therefore matter significantly for this hunt area.

What species of deer can a hunter legally take in hunt area 106?

Both mule deer and white-tailed deer are legal, but which animal can be taken depends on the hunt type. The September–November any-deer hunts (Type 1) permit either species. Two general-licence hunts permit antlered mule deer and any white-tailed deer, though one (October 1–14) restricts mule deer to the North Absaroka Wilderness. The white-tailed doe or fawn hunt (Type 8) permits white-tailed deer only.

How much of hunt area 106 can a nonresident legally hunt as a nonresident in wilderness?

A nonresident cannot legally hunt in the North Absaroka Wilderness without being accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide. Nearly all the area is public land, but the designated wilderness portion requires guidance.

When does the general-licence season run in hunt area 106?

General-licence hunts on this area run in two phases: October 1–14 (antlered mule deer within the North Absaroka Wilderness only; any white-tailed deer in the entire area) and October 15–31 (antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer). Both runs are during the rifle season windows shown in the table; archery is not part of the general-licence hunts here.

Wyoming Hunt Area 106 (Crandall-Sunlight) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

98%

Elevation

4,700–12,200 ft

Terrain

Steep

Deer region

Hunt area 106 is mountainous forest cut by steep drainages, with significant burned acreage from recent wildfires that has attracted new vegetation and wildlife. Elevation spans 4,700 to 12,200 feet, with typical ground around 8,400 feet. The terrain is steep overall, graded at a mean of 17.4 degrees: 23% of it is gentle, 58% moderate slope, 17% steep, and 2% rugged. At lower elevations sagebrush and conifer are nearly equal in cover. Mid-elevation ground is mostly conifer with substantial sagebrush. Higher elevations are sagebrush-dominant with conifer, scattered other cover, and some grass and meadow. Nearly all the area—98% of it—is National Forest and State Wildlife Areas open to public hunting, though roads, trailheads, and seasonal closures still apply; private land makes up the remaining 2%.

Hunt area 106 contains designated wilderness. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide in designated wilderness. Early in the season deer are widely dispersed across the North Absaroka Wilderness and adjacent country. As autumn advances and weather turns cold, deer shift lower and toward the margins of the wilderness and lower-elevation basins. General-licence hunting pressure is much lighter before late October, when sufficient cold weather can trigger migrations off the high ground and onto lower country where access is easier. White-tailed deer opportunities here are very limited; most hunting revolves around mule deer.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 106 (Crandall-Sunlight) is a general-licence hunt area, and how a hunter gets a licence for it depends on where they live.

A Wyoming resident buys a general deer licence over the counter — unlimited statewide, on sale from mid-July. No draw, no application, no preference points.
A nonresident cannot buy one. They must draw a Region general licence — for this hunt area, deer region F, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region and nowhere else.

A hunter may hold only ONE general deer licence in a year, so a general licence is a single choice rather than something to stack.

Wyoming residents have no preference points for deer — the resident deer draw is random, and no resident point cutoff exists for any hunt area in the state. For nonresidents points matter a great deal: Wyoming awards 75% of each nonresident pool through the preference-point draw, top-down by points, and the remaining 25% at random. Nonresidents also choose between the Regular and Special pools — the same hunts at two price points, competing separately.

Seasons (2026)

Type 1 · Any deer
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – November 20
Type Gen — general licence · Antlered mule deer within the North Absaroka Wilderness; any white-tailed deer valid in the entire area
Legal: mule deer and white-tailed deer, under different rules
Regular October 1 – October 14
Type Gen — general licence · Antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer
Legal: mule deer and white-tailed deer, under different rules
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – October 31
Type 8 · Doe or fawn white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – December 15

The wording of each hunt is the Wyoming Game & Fish Department’s and is legally exact — a “doe or fawn” hunt is not a deer hunt in general, and a hunt limited to part of the area is not valid across it. Confirm every hunt in the current regulations before applying.

Mandatory CWD sampling in 2026

A CWD sample is required from every deer harvested in hunt area 106 in 2026, on licence types 1, 3, 8. A sample can be left at a game check station or the Cody regional office of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department, or collected by the hunter and sent to the Wildlife Health Laboratory.

In the words of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department: “mandatory CWD sampling in effect in Hunt Areas 105, 106, and 109 for License Types: 1, 3, and 8” The areas under mandatory sampling change every year, so confirm the current list before hunting — 2026 mandatory CWD sampling areas.

Hunting each season

Type 1 — Any deer (September–November)

The September archery hunt pursues deer in the early fall transition, when velvet is shedding and deer are still scattered across high country. Highs reach the upper 50s and lows are in the mid-30s Fahrenheit; snowfall is minimal. Hunting at this time is spread across a large area and locating deer requires time and local knowledge. Any deer—both mule deer and white-tailed—are legal from September 1 through September 30, with archery only. The October rifle season for any deer (October 1–November 20) splits into three phases. Early October is still the nocturnal buck phase, with temperatures in the mid-40s and minimal snow, and deer remain widely scattered at higher elevations. By late October the early pre-rut movement begins; temperatures drop to the mid-30s, and snowfall averages almost 7 inches, pushing deer down into lower country and migration corridors. November brings the primary rut into late November, with highs falling from the low 30s to the mid-20s Fahrenheit and heavier snow totaling nearly 19 inches, concentrating deer in accessible lower-elevation basins. Any deer—mule deer and white-tailed alike—remain legal through November 20.

Type Gen — Antlered mule deer within the North Absaroka Wilderness; any white-tailed deer valid in… · mule deer & whitetail (October)

The October 1–14 general-licence hunt is a short, early-season window during the nocturnal buck phase when deer are still high and nocturnal, with temperatures in the mid-40s and minimal snow. This hunt allows antlered mule deer only—and only within the North Absaroka Wilderness—while any white-tailed deer are legal across the entire area. Because white-tailed opportunities are minimal on this area and mule deer are concentrated at high elevations in the wilderness in early October, this hunt is best for hunters with good access to remote country. Nonresidents must be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide in the designated wilderness.

Type Gen — Antlered mule deer or any… · mule deer & whitetail (September–October)

The late-season general-licence hunt (October 15–31 and archery September 1–30) spans two distinct phases. September archery hunts the early fall transition in mild conditions with highs near 60°F and minimal snow, with deer still dispersed in high country and locating them requiring time and local knowledge. Both mule deer and white-tailed deer are legal. By mid-to-late October, temperatures drop to the mid-30s and snowfall approaches 7 inches per month, triggering migration and bringing deer down from remote ridges toward lower basins and accessible ground where hunters concentrating effort can encounter more animals. Antlered mule deer and any white-tailed deer are both legal through October 31.

Type 8 — Doe or fawn white-tailed deer · whitetail only (September–December)

The white-tailed doe or fawn hunt opens with archery September 1–30 in mild weather (highs near 60°F, minimal snow) when white-tailed opportunities are very limited and deer are scattered. Regular rifle season runs October 1–December 15, spanning the nocturnal buck phase through the late rut and winter consolidation. October brings temps in the mid-40s and light snow early in the month, but the hunt extends through November's heavy snows and the early December cold, when temperatures fall into the low 20s and snow totals 26 inches. Only white-tailed deer—does and fawns—are legal, and white-tailed opportunities remain limited throughout the area.

Land and access

National Forest98%

Generally open to public hunting

private land2%

Private

About 98% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest and State Wildlife Areas, roughly 479 square miles. Public ownership is not the same as easy entry: roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply.

This hunt area includes designated wilderness. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide in designated wilderness.

Where deer are mapped

Summer Range84%

used in summer

Winter Range16%

used in winter

Crucial Winter Range14%

the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it

Yearlong Range2%

the only layer that means year-round use

Each figure is the share of the hunt area that layer covers. It says where deer are mapped, not where inside the area they are, and not when they move.

Habitat and cover

Lower elevations

Sagebrush50%

Conifer47%

Other cover2%

Riparian1%

Mid elevations

Conifer52%

Sagebrush47%

Other cover1%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush48%

Conifer31%

Other cover16%

Grass and meadow4%

Shares are of each elevation band, not of the whole hunt area — they describe what grows up there, not how much of the area sits at that elevation.

Weather through the season

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Snowfall
January	28°F	11°F	23.5 in
February	30°F	10°F	21.5 in
March	38°F	16°F	18.4 in
April	44°F	22°F	12.3 in
May	53°F	30°F	2.7 in
June	61°F	37°F	0 in
July	71°F	43°F	0 in
August	70°F	42°F	0 in
September	60°F	36°F	0.7 in
October	46°F	27°F	6.9 in
November	34°F	17°F	18.9 in
December	26°F	10°F	25.9 in

Snowfall is the monthly total, not depth lying on the ground.

Common questions

Can a hunter in Wyoming take hunt area 106 on a general deer licence?: Yes. Hunt area 106 is a general-licence area, and any Wyoming resident can buy a general deer licence over the counter at any time from mid-July onward, with no draw and no preference points involved. A nonresident cannot buy a general licence; instead, a nonresident must draw a Region F general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region.
Does hunt area 106 require preference points for nonresidents?: Yes, for nonresidents only. Wyoming residents have no deer preference points at all and the resident deer draw is random. Nonresidents must enter the Region F general draw, where three quarters of the licences go to the preference-point draw (awarded top-down by points) and a quarter go to a random draw. Nonresident preference points therefore matter significantly for this hunt area.
What species of deer can a hunter legally take in hunt area 106?: Both mule deer and white-tailed deer are legal, but which animal can be taken depends on the hunt type. The September–November any-deer hunts (Type 1) permit either species. Two general-licence hunts permit antlered mule deer and any white-tailed deer, though one (October 1–14) restricts mule deer to the North Absaroka Wilderness. The white-tailed doe or fawn hunt (Type 8) permits white-tailed deer only.
How much of hunt area 106 can a nonresident legally hunt as a nonresident in wilderness?: A nonresident cannot legally hunt in the North Absaroka Wilderness without being accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide. Nearly all the area is public land, but the designated wilderness portion requires guidance.
When does the general-licence season run in hunt area 106?: General-licence hunts on this area run in two phases: October 1–14 (antlered mule deer within the North Absaroka Wilderness only; any white-tailed deer in the entire area) and October 15–31 (antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer). Both runs are during the rifle season windows shown in the table; archery is not part of the general-licence hunts here.

Sources

Wyoming Game & Fish — Hunting & Trapping — licence types, general and limited-quota hunts, and season structure
WGFD Hunt Planner — hunt-area boundaries, season dates and the unit descriptions
WGFD — Draw results and odds — how the resident random draw and the nonresident preference-point draw work
WGFD — Regulations — the legal limitations on each hunt, and the statewide licence rules
USGS National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2021) and 3DEP elevation — land cover and terrain by elevation band

Seasons, licence types and boundaries change. Confirm every detail with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before applying or hunting.

All Wyoming deer hunt areas