Can a Wyoming resident buy a general deer licence for hunt area 123 over the counter?

Yes. Wyoming residents purchase general deer licences over the counter with no draw involved; these licences are unlimited statewide and available from mid-July. A resident may hold only one general deer licence per year.

Does a nonresident need preference points to draw a Region X general licence covering hunt area 123?

Yes, preference points matter significantly for nonresidents. Within the nonresident draw pool, three quarters of Region X general licences are awarded to the preference-point draw (top-down by points) and a quarter go to a random draw. Nonresidents without points compete only in the random quarter.

Which deer species can a hunter take on Type Gen in hunt area 123?

Type Gen permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. The antler requirement applies to mule deer only; any white-tailed deer—buck, doe or fawn—is legal under this hunt.

Can a hunter take a doe or fawn anywhere in hunt area 123 on Type 7?

Type 7 permits doe or fawn, but only on private land. This hunt is not valid on public ground, so a hunter must have permission to be on enrolled private land or an HMA where the hunt applies.

How much public land can a hunter count on in hunt area 123?

About 16% of the area—roughly 6 square miles—is dependably open BLM ground. The Big Horn County Walk-In Area 6 provides additional seasonal access. Roads, trailheads and private inholdings affect actual entry points, so a hunter should scout the ground or seek local advice.

Wyoming Hunt Area 123 (Yellowtail) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

16%

Elevation

3,600–4,600 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 123 spans gently rolling terrain from 3,600 to 4,600 feet, with typical ground around 3,700 feet. The country is 92% gentle slope, broken by river bottoms and sage-covered hills. Cover is mixed: sagebrush and other woody growth each make up about a third of the landscape, while riparian cottonwood corridors and grass or meadow account for the remainder. The area totals 38 square miles, making it a compact ground to hunt on foot.

Public hunting access is limited. Dependably open BLM ground covers about 6 square miles, roughly 16% of the area. Private land makes up 58%, though a portion is enrolled in the Yellowtail Hunter Management Area, where a printed permission slip from the landowner is required before hunting. The Big Horn County Walk-In Area 6 also provides access during its open season. The remaining public land—27% of the area—is closed to hunting and lies off limits. Roads, trailheads and seasonal closures all apply to public ground, so access requires local knowledge and planning rather than simple walk-on entry.

Type Gen seasons run in early fall and mid-fall, when the rut phases shift from early velvet shed into the nocturnal buck phase and early pre-rut staging. Type 7 offers a longer harvest window that extends into the primary rut and early winter. Weather cools through the season: September highs average 75 degrees with virtually no snow, while October brings highs around 60 degrees and minimal precipitation, and November highs drop to 45 degrees with about an inch of monthly snow.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 123 (Yellowtail) 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 X, 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 30Regular October 15 – October 31
Type 7 · Doe or fawn valid on private land
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 Gen — Antlered mule deer or any… · mule deer & whitetail (September–October)

Archery hunting runs through September when mule deer are shedding velvet and white-tailed deer begin early fall movement. Temperatures remain warm, with September highs near 75 degrees and minimal snow, making midday hunting difficult and shifting activity to dawn and dusk. Access to BLM ground and enrolled private land is available throughout the month. Antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer are legal. Rifle season follows from mid-October through October's end, coinciding with the nocturnal buck phase and early pre-rut staging. Temperatures cool to October highs around 60 degrees with virtually no precipitation, while deer begin bedding on open slopes and moving in predictable corridors. The same access applies, and the same legal animals hold.

Type 7 — Doe or fawn valid on private land (September–November)

Archery hunting in September targets does and fawns on private land only, with the same early fall conditions and warm temperatures as the Type Gen archery season. Both mule deer and white-tailed does and fawns are legal. Rifle hunting extends from mid-October through November, spanning the nocturnal buck phase, early pre-rut staging, primary rut and early winter consolidation. October weather is cool and clear; November brings frequent snow—roughly an inch per month—and temperatures that drop toward 45 degrees at midday and below 20 degrees at night. Deer movement intensifies through the rut and winter tightens groups, shifting hunting pressure and behavior as the season progresses. This hunt remains valid on private land only, so a hunter must secure access before the season begins.

Land and access

private land58%

Private

National Park Service27%

Public land closed to hunting

BLM16%

Generally open to public hunting

About 16% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, roughly 6 square miles. Public ownership is not the same as easy entry: roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply.

the Wyoming Game & Fish Department publishes 54% 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.

This hunt area has 1 enrolled walk-in area. It also holds 1 Hunter Management Area. Both are 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. A Walk-In Area needs no permission slip — a hunter may walk in during the open period, subject to its posted rules. Enrollment is renegotiated every year, so check current status before counting on either.

Where deer are mapped

Yearlong Range100%

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

Across the unit

Other cover32%

Sagebrush32%

Riparian18%

Grass and meadow18%

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 in
February	38°F	15°F	2.8 in
March	50°F	24°F	0.9 in
April	58°F	32°F	0.2 in
May	68°F	42°F	0 in
June	79°F	51°F	0 in
July	88°F	57°F	0 in
August	86°F	55°F	0 in
September	75°F	45°F	0 in
October	60°F	34°F	0.1 in
November	45°F	22°F	1 in
December	35°F	13°F	2.4 in

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

Common questions

Can a Wyoming resident buy a general deer licence for hunt area 123 over the counter?: Yes. Wyoming residents purchase general deer licences over the counter with no draw involved; these licences are unlimited statewide and available from mid-July. A resident may hold only one general deer licence per year.
Does a nonresident need preference points to draw a Region X general licence covering hunt area 123?: Yes, preference points matter significantly for nonresidents. Within the nonresident draw pool, three quarters of Region X general licences are awarded to the preference-point draw (top-down by points) and a quarter go to a random draw. Nonresidents without points compete only in the random quarter.
Which deer species can a hunter take on Type Gen in hunt area 123?: Type Gen permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. The antler requirement applies to mule deer only; any white-tailed deer—buck, doe or fawn—is legal under this hunt.
Can a hunter take a doe or fawn anywhere in hunt area 123 on Type 7?: Type 7 permits doe or fawn, but only on private land. This hunt is not valid on public ground, so a hunter must have permission to be on enrolled private land or an HMA where the hunt applies.
How much public land can a hunter count on in hunt area 123?: About 16% of the area—roughly 6 square miles—is dependably open BLM ground. The Big Horn County Walk-In Area 6 provides additional seasonal access. Roads, trailheads and private inholdings affect actual entry points, so a hunter should scout the ground or seek local advice.

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