Can a hunter in Wyoming draw a licence for this hunt area on a general or region licence?

No. Hunt area 118 is a limited-quota hunt area that must be drawn individually. A general or region licence is not valid here — a hunter must draw a specific licence for this hunt area.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw a deer licence for this hunt area?

No. Wyoming residents do not use preference points for deer hunting. The resident draw for this hunt area is random. Preference points for deer are a nonresident concept only, and nonresidents applying here compete in a draw where three quarters of the licences go to the preference-point pool, awarded top-down by points, and a quarter go to a random draw open to all applicants.

Can a hunter legally take a mule deer on the November white-tailed-only hunt in this area?

No. The November hunt is for any white-tailed deer only. Mule deer are not legal on that hunt regardless of antlers. The two archery and early-October hunts do permit antlered mule deer alongside any white-tailed deer, but the November hunt permits white-tailed deer only.

How much of this hunt area can a hunter actually access without trespassing?

About 63% of hunt area 118 is publicly owned and generally accessible — roughly 129 square miles of BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest. The remaining 37% is private. However, public ownership is not simple entry; roads, trailheads and seasonal closures all still apply, and private inholdings can complicate foot travel across open public land.

Can a hunter access the Absaroka Front Hunter Management Area without advance arrangement?

No. The Absaroka Front HMA is private land enrolled with the Game and Fish. Hunting it requires a printed permission slip obtained in advance. The HMA is renegotiated annually, so enrollment is not guaranteed year to year.

Wyoming Hunt Area 118 (Upper Gooseberry Creek) deer hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

63%

Elevation

5,400–10,600 ft

Terrain

Moderate

Deer region

Hunt area 118 consists mostly of rolling sagebrush hills and ridge country at lower elevations, where grasslands dominate the open ground. Higher elevations hold juniper and conifer forest, and throughout the area intermittent river and creek riparian corridors break the pattern. The country runs from 5,400 to 10,600 feet, with typical ground around 6,500 feet. Slope averages 10.6 degrees — most of the area is gentle or moderate ground that a hunter can move across on foot, though 5% is steep. Lower elevations are almost entirely sagebrush. As elevation climbs, conifer steadily replaces sagebrush while grassland holds steady, and aspen appears in the mix at the highest points.

Access here is mixed public and private, and the interspersed ownership creates real complications for a hunter on the ground. About 63% of the area is dependably open public land — BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest combined, roughly 129 square miles — but roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply. The Absaroka Front Hunter Management Area draws the most hunting pressure; entry to HMAs requires a printed permission slip obtained beforehand. Lower-elevation sagebrush country near accessible public land sees concentrated use through the season, and the mixed ownership means that deer can move onto private ground where a hunter cannot follow.

The three hunts here differ sharply in what they permit and when they run. The early-season hunts — archery in September and regular in October and early November — open while antlers are still growing or freshly hardened and deer are not yet in the rut. The November white-tailed-only hunt runs through the primary rut and into the late-rut period, a fundamentally different window. The doe-or-fawn hunt spans the full September-through-November range, giving opportunity across all three seasonal phases.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 118 (Upper Gooseberry Creek) is limited quota. A licence for it must be drawn for this hunt area specifically, by resident and nonresident alike. A region licence does not reach it — a region licence is valid only in the general-licence areas of its region, so there is no fallback for this hunt.

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 · 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 1 · Any white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Regular November 1 – November 30
Type 8 · Doe or fawn white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – November 30

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

Archery runs September 1–30, while regular season splits into two windows: October 15–31 and then November 1–30. Hunters after antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer spend September afield while bucks are still hardening antlers off velvet, then return through October and early November as deer move down from summer range and begin pre-rut behaviour. Early season brings mild highs near 67 °F and minimal snow, but by late October temperatures drop into the 50s with occasional snow totalling 2–2.5 inches across the month. November is cold, with highs dropping to the 41 °F range and frequent snow — roughly 4.7 inches for the month — that can push high-country deer to lower sagebrush elevations. Access to BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest is generally open across the season, though mixed private ownership means deer can shift onto ground a hunter cannot pursue. Early October focuses on the migration and staging phase as deer concentrate in movement corridors; the November window coincides with the primary rut and late-rut period, when buck movement is most nocturnal and unpredictable.

Type 1 — Any white-tailed deer · whitetail only (November)

The November hunt for any white-tailed deer runs November 1–30, overlapping the period when bucks are at peak rut activity and does are seeking mates. Cold weather — highs near 41 °F, lows dropping to 18 °F — and frequent heavy snow totalling around 4.7 inches across the month can push deer down from open high ground into sagebrush and riparian cover at lower elevations, concentrating them where access is most competitive. This hunt permits any white-tailed deer without restriction on sex or age. Access across the hunt area remains dependent on public land ownership, which covers about 63% of the ground, and the mixed landscape means considerable hunting pressure concentrates on accessible BLM and State Trust Land near trailheads and roads.

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

The archery season runs September 1–30, with a regular season extending October 15 through November 30, giving doe and fawn hunters a long window across all three autumn phases. Early archery in September finds mild conditions — highs around 67 °F — when does and fawns are still using summer range and early fall patterns are beginning. Regular season spans October's cooling trend, with highs dropping from the 50s to the 40s and snowfall building from 2.4 inches in October to 4.7 inches in November, which can shift deer downslope into lower-elevation sagebrush. Access to public land is generally available across the season, though interspersed private holdings mean doe and fawn hunters share the most-accessible country with hunters pursuing bucks, creating concentrated pressure on BLM and State Trust Land near roads and established trailheads.

Land and access

BLM46%

Generally open to public hunting

private land37%

Private

State Trust Land9%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest8%

Generally open to public hunting

About 63% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest, roughly 129 square miles. Public ownership is not the same as easy entry: roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply.

State trust land counts toward the open figure above. Wyoming extends hunting on legally accessiblestate trust land to the public unless a parcel is specifically closed — the catch is the access itself, since crossing private ground to reach it still needs the landowner’s permission. Camping, fires and off-road vehicles are not allowed on it.

the Wyoming Game & Fish Department publishes 50% public land for this hunt area. That counts public ownership; the figure above counts ground a hunter can depend on getting onto. They answer different questions, so both are shown rather than blended.

It also holds 1 Hunter Management Area. That is private ground enrolled for public access, not public land. A Hunter Management Area requires a printed permission slip from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before hunting it. Enrollment is renegotiated every year, so check current status before counting on either.

Where deer are mapped

Winter Range93%

used in winter

Yearlong Range49%

the only layer that means year-round use

Crucial Winter Range44%

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

Summer Range7%

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

Sagebrush95%

Other cover3%

Conifer2%

Grass and meadow1%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush83%

Conifer11%

Grass and meadow5%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush50%

Conifer41%

Grass and meadow8%

Aspen1%

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	34°F	11°F	3.2 in
February	35°F	12°F	4.3 in
March	45°F	19°F	3.9 in
April	51°F	26°F	4 in
May	60°F	35°F	0.3 in
June	70°F	42°F	0 in
July	79°F	49°F	0 in
August	77°F	47°F	0 in
September	67°F	39°F	0.2 in
October	53°F	29°F	2.4 in
November	41°F	18°F	4.7 in
December	33°F	11°F	4.3 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter in Wyoming draw a licence for this hunt area on a general or region licence?: No. Hunt area 118 is a limited-quota hunt area that must be drawn individually. A general or region licence is not valid here — a hunter must draw a specific licence for this hunt area.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw a deer licence for this hunt area?: No. Wyoming residents do not use preference points for deer hunting. The resident draw for this hunt area is random. Preference points for deer are a nonresident concept only, and nonresidents applying here compete in a draw where three quarters of the licences go to the preference-point pool, awarded top-down by points, and a quarter go to a random draw open to all applicants.
Can a hunter legally take a mule deer on the November white-tailed-only hunt in this area?: No. The November hunt is for any white-tailed deer only. Mule deer are not legal on that hunt regardless of antlers. The two archery and early-October hunts do permit antlered mule deer alongside any white-tailed deer, but the November hunt permits white-tailed deer only.
How much of this hunt area can a hunter actually access without trespassing?: About 63% of hunt area 118 is publicly owned and generally accessible — roughly 129 square miles of BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest. The remaining 37% is private. However, public ownership is not simple entry; roads, trailheads and seasonal closures all still apply, and private inholdings can complicate foot travel across open public land.
Can a hunter access the Absaroka Front Hunter Management Area without advance arrangement?: No. The Absaroka Front HMA is private land enrolled with the Game and Fish. Hunting it requires a printed permission slip obtained in advance. The HMA is renegotiated annually, so enrollment is not guaranteed year to year.

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