Can a hunter draw a Region W general deer licence as a nonresident for hunt area 131?

Yes, nonresidents must draw a Region W general licence to hunt any general-licence area in the region, including hunt area 131. Three quarters of Region W general licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded to the highest preference-point holders first, while one quarter are randomly drawn from all applicants regardless of points. Residents purchase a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points involved.

Which deer species and sexes can a hunter legally take during the Type Gen season in hunt area 131?

The Type Gen season legal on antlered mule deer with four or more points on either antler, and on any white-tailed deer regardless of antlers or sex. This means any white-tailed buck is legal, as are white-tailed does and fawns, while mule deer must meet the four-point minimum on one antler to be legal.

Where is the Type 7 antlerless hunt valid in hunt area 131?

Type 7 is valid only on doe or fawn within one-half mile of irrigated land west of the Blue Rim (Sweetwater County Road 5) and Old Stauffer Roads (Sweetwater County Road 7), and south of the OCI Entrance Road (Sweetwater County Road 6). Hunters must understand the specific boundaries marked by these county roads, as the hunt is not valid area-wide.

What is the general hunting access like in hunt area 131?

About 70% of the area is public ground on BLM and State Trust Land where hunters can rely on access, plus two walk-in areas that are open seasonally with no permission required. The southern portion is a checkerboard of public and private land, and many private owners there allow hunters to cross their ground, though access is never guaranteed and roads and trailheads still control where hunters can go.

When do the archery and rifle seasons run in hunt area 131?

The Type Gen season runs archery September 1–September 30, followed by regular rifle October 1–October 6. The Type 7 antlerless hunt runs archery September 1–September 30, with regular rifle extending October 9–October 31, giving the doe-fawn hunt a much longer rifle window than the general hunt.

Wyoming Hunt Area 131 (Steamboat) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

70%

Elevation

6,100–8,700 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 131 is a vast, mostly open high-desert landscape at 6,100 to 8,700 feet elevation, dominated by sagebrush flats broken by mesas, buttes, and hilly country in the south and north-central portions. The terrain is exceptionally gentle, with 96% of the ground sloping under the threshold that distinguishes gentle from moderate country. Limited juniper grows in the broken terrain of the southern section, and riparian habitat of cottonwoods and willows lines the western edge along the Green River. The country is arid and sparsely timbered, and most of the deer using this area migrate into it seasonally rather than settling year-round.

About 70% of hunt area 131 is BLM, State Trust Land, or other public ground that a hunter can generally count on accessing, along with two walk-in areas—Fremont County Walk In Area 22 and Sweetwater County Walk In Area 3—that require no permission and are open during posted seasons. The southern portion contains a checkerboard of public and private sections, and many private landowners there permit access across their ground. Public ownership does not guarantee easy entry, however: roads, trailheads, and seasonal closures still apply.

Deer hunting here differs sharply between the two seasons. The general-licence hunt in September and early October targets antlered mule deer and any white-tailed deer as bucks shed velvet and begin their early fall transition, while October's regular season runs into the early fall migration and nocturnal phase when bucks move more freely and are often more active at dawn and dusk. The antlerless hunt in September and early October operates in the same early fall period, while its October extension pushes into the pre-rut staging period. October brings cooling temperatures and a small amount of snow, conditions that can concentrate deer movement and improve hunting pressure.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 131 (Steamboat) 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 W, 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 four (4) points or more on either antler or any white-tailed deer
Legal: mule deer and white-tailed deer, under different rules
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – October 6
Type 7 · Doe or fawn valid on or within one-half (1/2) mile of irrigated land west of the Blue Rim (Sweetwater County Road 5) and Old Stauffer Roads (Sweetwater County Road 7) and south of the OCI Entrance Road (Sweetwater County Road 6)
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 9 – October 31

Where a hunt above sets an antler requirement on mule deer and then allows any white-tailed deer, that point requirement is a mule deer rule only. And “any white-tailed deer” means any— buck, doe or fawn. WGFD writes “antlered” where it means a buck and “antlerless” or “doe or fawn” where it means a female, so an unqualified “any” sets no restriction on sex or age.

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 four (4) points… · mule deer & whitetail (September–October)

Hunting the Type Gen season—antlered mule deer with four or more points on either antler and any white-tailed deer—spans archery in September and rifle in early October as bucks finish shedding velvet and shift into their early fall movement pattern. September offers warm days in the low 70s and cool mornings, with negligible snow, favoring early-morning glassing and stalking of deer still on summer feeding areas in the sagebrush. The transition into October brings cooling from the 50s and the first meaningful snowfall of the season, about 1.2 inches monthly, which can push bucks into more active daylight movement and concentrate hunting pressure on migration corridors. Access to 70% of the area as reliable public land and the two walk-in areas allows hunters to spread out across the sagebrush and broken country; the checkerboard pattern in the south may offer alternatives if a area is crowded.

Type 7 — Doe or fawn valid on or within… (September–October)

Hunting the Type 7 season for doe or fawn is restricted to the irrigated lands and immediate surroundings west of the Blue Rim, Old Stauffer Roads, and south of the OCI Entrance Road, a specificity that concentrates effort into a defined portion of the hunt area rather than spreading across the open country. The archery phase in September coincides with velvet shedding and early fall behavior, when does and fawns use the riparian and irrigated corridors along the Green River and in the interior; cool mornings and warm days give way to archery hunting over water and through brush. The extended rifle phase running from mid-October through October spans both the early fall migration into movement corridors and the early pre-rut staging, when antlerless deer shift more actively and snow in the foothills may funnel animals toward lower, open ground where irrigation offers forage through cooling temperatures.

Land and access

BLM67%

Generally open to public hunting

private land24%

Private

unclassified ownership7%

Ownership unclassified

State Trust Land3%

Generally open to public hunting

About 70% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM and State Trust Land, roughly 2,948 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.

This hunt area has 2 enrolled walk-in areas. That is private ground enrolled for public access, not public land. 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

Winter Range27%

used in winter

Yearlong Range26%

the only layer that means year-round use

Summer Range5%

used in summer

Crucial Winter Range5%

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

Parturition Areas2%

spring birthing ground, months before any hunting season

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

Sagebrush93%

Grass and meadow4%

Other cover3%

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	31°F	10°F	4.8 in
February	34°F	12°F	4.3 in
March	44°F	20°F	3.3 in
April	52°F	26°F	2 in
May	62°F	35°F	0.1 in
June	74°F	43°F	0 in
July	82°F	50°F	0 in
August	80°F	48°F	0 in
September	70°F	40°F	0.2 in
October	56°F	29°F	1.2 in
November	41°F	18°F	4 in
December	31°F	10°F	6 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw a Region W general deer licence as a nonresident for hunt area 131?: Yes, nonresidents must draw a Region W general licence to hunt any general-licence area in the region, including hunt area 131. Three quarters of Region W general licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded to the highest preference-point holders first, while one quarter are randomly drawn from all applicants regardless of points. Residents purchase a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points involved.
Which deer species and sexes can a hunter legally take during the Type Gen season in hunt area 131?: The Type Gen season legal on antlered mule deer with four or more points on either antler, and on any white-tailed deer regardless of antlers or sex. This means any white-tailed buck is legal, as are white-tailed does and fawns, while mule deer must meet the four-point minimum on one antler to be legal.
Where is the Type 7 antlerless hunt valid in hunt area 131?: Type 7 is valid only on doe or fawn within one-half mile of irrigated land west of the Blue Rim (Sweetwater County Road 5) and Old Stauffer Roads (Sweetwater County Road 7), and south of the OCI Entrance Road (Sweetwater County Road 6). Hunters must understand the specific boundaries marked by these county roads, as the hunt is not valid area-wide.
What is the general hunting access like in hunt area 131?: About 70% of the area is public ground on BLM and State Trust Land where hunters can rely on access, plus two walk-in areas that are open seasonally with no permission required. The southern portion is a checkerboard of public and private land, and many private owners there allow hunters to cross their ground, though access is never guaranteed and roads and trailheads still control where hunters can go.
When do the archery and rifle seasons run in hunt area 131?: The Type Gen season runs archery September 1–September 30, followed by regular rifle October 1–October 6. The Type 7 antlerless hunt runs archery September 1–September 30, with regular rifle extending October 9–October 31, giving the doe-fawn hunt a much longer rifle window than the general hunt.

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