Can a nonresident hunter in hunt area 115 travel alone without a guide?

No. Wyoming law requires any nonresident hunting in designated wilderness to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide at all times. Hunt area 115 lies entirely within the Teton Wilderness, so a nonresident cannot legally hunt it without a guide present.

Does a region F licence cover hunt area 115?

A region F general deer licence is valid in all general-licence hunt areas of region F, including hunt area 115. Residents purchase a general licence over the counter with no draw; nonresidents must draw a region F general licence, with three quarters of the licences awarded by preference points (high to low) and a quarter by random draw.

What deer species can a hunter legally take in hunt area 115?

Hunt area 115 permits only mule deer and antlered mule deer are required. No white-tailed deer hunting is available in this hunt area.

How much of hunt area 115 can a hunter realistically access without horses?

The entire hunt area lies within designated wilderness and is mountainous and steep country. Access and hunting on foot alone is not practical, and most hunters use horses or mules to reach huntable ground.

When does the general deer season run in hunt area 115?

Hunt area 115 has one general deer season that runs in two windows: archery from September 1 through September 9, and regular season from September 10 through October 27. Both windows hunt the same area and the same legal animal (antlered mule deer).

Wyoming Hunt Area 115 (Thorofare) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

100%

Elevation

7,800–12,200 ft

Terrain

Steep

Deer region

Hunt area 115 is a high, steep mountain landscape of forests, ridges and sagebrush basins sprawling across 329 square miles between 7,800 and 12,200 feet. The country grades steep — just under a third is gentle ground, more than half is moderate slope, and about a sixth is steep or rugged — making foot travel the real work here. Lower elevations run roughly even between sagebrush and conifer; higher elevations flip the balance toward sagebrush with scattered grass meadows and thinner forest. The entire hunt area lies within designated wilderness, and access without horses or pack stock is essentially not feasible. A hunter planning to work this ground needs to plan accordingly: the public land is there, but reaching it and hunting it are different propositions.

The hunt area is all national forest and wholly public, but public ownership does not mean straightforward entry. The designated wilderness status adds a legal requirement for nonresidents: Wyoming law requires a nonresident hunter to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide when hunting in designated wilderness. This is not optional, and a nonresident planning a solo hunt cannot legally execute it here. Horses and mules are the practical standard for reaching the interior; a hunter should budget time, cost and logistical planning accordingly. The area sees some resident deer year-round, but a significant part of the hunting opportunity comes from animals migrating through in fall — the rut and the movement it brings matter more than the year-round population.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 115 (Thorofare) 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 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 9Regular September 10 – October 27

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.

Hunting each season

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

The general season here runs from early September through late October in two consecutive windows — archery through September 9, then regular rifle and shotgun through October 27 — and both hunt antlered mule deer across the entire area. Early season archery coincides with velvet shedding and the shift toward bachelor-band behavior; deer are still on summer range and active in sagebrush and forest margins at higher elevation. September weather starts cool with highs around 55 degrees and lows near 34, with minimal snow, making movement relatively consistent. As the archery window closes and regular season opens in mid-September, bucks transition into the early fall migration phase — the first shift downslope as nights lengthen and cooler air sinks into drainages. October brings the steeper cooling and storm risk: highs drop to around 42 degrees, lows to the mid-20s, and monthly snowfall averages 10.8 inches, which can arrive in concentrated bursts mid-month and slow travel and scouting. By late October the hunt overlaps the early pre-rut staging phase, when bucks move through migration corridors toward traditional concentration areas. Access throughout the season depends on horse stock to penetrate the wilderness — early-season travel is simpler before snow accumulation, but the rut-phase hunting in October often requires more rugged conditions management. Deer in the area include year-round residents and animals moving through, and success here tracks closely with fall migration timing.

Land and access

National Forest100%

Generally open to public hunting

About 100% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, roughly 329 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 Range100%

used in summer

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

Sagebrush46%

Conifer45%

Riparian8%

Other cover2%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush47%

Conifer46%

Grass and meadow6%

Other cover1%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush57%

Grass and meadow16%

Other cover14%

Conifer13%

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	25°F	9°F	24.5 in
February	27°F	8°F	23.7 in
March	35°F	14°F	24.5 in
April	41°F	19°F	21.9 in
May	49°F	28°F	4.9 in
June	57°F	35°F	0.1 in
July	66°F	42°F	0 in
August	64°F	41°F	0 in
September	55°F	34°F	1.8 in
October	42°F	24°F	10.8 in
November	30°F	15°F	21.6 in
December	23°F	8°F	27.4 in

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

Common questions

Can a nonresident hunter in hunt area 115 travel alone without a guide?: No. Wyoming law requires any nonresident hunting in designated wilderness to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide at all times. Hunt area 115 lies entirely within the Teton Wilderness, so a nonresident cannot legally hunt it without a guide present.
Does a region F licence cover hunt area 115?: A region F general deer licence is valid in all general-licence hunt areas of region F, including hunt area 115. Residents purchase a general licence over the counter with no draw; nonresidents must draw a region F general licence, with three quarters of the licences awarded by preference points (high to low) and a quarter by random draw.
What deer species can a hunter legally take in hunt area 115?: Hunt area 115 permits only mule deer and antlered mule deer are required. No white-tailed deer hunting is available in this hunt area.
How much of hunt area 115 can a hunter realistically access without horses?: The entire hunt area lies within designated wilderness and is mountainous and steep country. Access and hunting on foot alone is not practical, and most hunters use horses or mules to reach huntable ground.
When does the general deer season run in hunt area 115?: Hunt area 115 has one general deer season that runs in two windows: archery from September 1 through September 9, and regular season from September 10 through October 27. Both windows hunt the same area and the same legal animal (antlered mule deer).

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