Can a hunter in Wyoming obtain a general deer licence for hunt area 140 without drawing?

A Wyoming resident can buy a general deer licence over the counter at no point cost — the licence is unlimited statewide and available to residents year on year without a draw or preference-point system. A nonresident cannot buy a general licence; a nonresident wanting to hunt here must draw a Region H general licence, which is valid across all general-licence hunt areas in that region.

Does a nonresident need preference points to draw a Region H general licence for this area?

Preference points matter significantly for nonresidents in Wyoming's general licence draw. Within each pool, three quarters of the licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded by points from highest to lowest, and a quarter go to a random draw open to everyone. A nonresident with no points still has a chance in the random pool, but points improve odds considerably.

Which deer species can a hunter take in the Type Gen hunt here in early September?

The Type Gen hunt permits antlered mule deer with four or more points on either antler, or any white-tailed deer without antler restriction. The four-point minimum applies only to the mule deer; white-tailed deer of any antler configuration are legal.

How much of this hunt area's public land can a hunter generally rely on accessing?

About 62% of hunt area 140 is public land, roughly 201 square miles, spread across National Forest in the north and east and BLM and State lands in the west and south. However, roads, trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings all constrain actual on-the-ground access, and a hunter should consult the interactive hunt map planner before planning a trip.

Does this hunt area contain wilderness where a nonresident must have a guide?

Hunt area 140 contains designated wilderness, and Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide when hunting in that wilderness. A nonresident planning to hunt designated wilderness here must arrange a guide in advance.

Wyoming Hunt Area 140 (New Fork) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

62%

Elevation

7,100–12,100 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 140 spans the western slopes of the Wind River Range down through coniferous forest and aspen to rolling sagebrush foothills and private valley bottoms, draining west and south through the New Fork River and its tributaries. The terrain is predominantly gentle, with 74% gentle ground, 21% moderate slopes, and less than 5% steep or rugged terrain. Elevation runs from 7,100 feet in the valleys to 12,100 feet in the high country, with typical ground around 7,800 feet. The lower elevations hold sagebrush with scattered riparian corridors; mid elevations transition to conifer and aspen forest; higher elevations above are sagebrush, conifer, and scattered meadow. About 62% of the hunt area is public land — National Forest in the north and east, BLM and State lands in the west and south — giving a hunter roughly 201 square miles of dependably accessible ground. The remaining 38% is private, concentrated through the western half of the area and in the valley bottoms.

Getting onto public land here is straightforward on paper but requires homework on foot. The major access points into National Forest are Boulder Creek Road, New Fork Lake Road, and Willow Lake Road. Trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings all constrain where a hunter can actually get to, and designated wilderness on this area requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide. The Wyoming Game and Fish rates access here as good, and the interactive hunt map planner is essential for sorting out which parcels are open and how to reach them.

The two hunts here differ sharply in timing and legal game. The Type 3 hunt opens early in September for white-tailed deer only, running through November across the archery and regular seasons. The Type Gen hunt runs the same archery window in early September but closes by early October, taking antlered mule deer with a four-point minimum on either antler or any white-tailed deer. White-tailed deer appear throughout the area and shift to lower foothills and valley rims as the season progresses; mule deer concentrate in forested northern reaches and also move to lower elevations during the end-of-season migration. Grizzly bears are relatively common on Forest Service lands here, and the Game and Fish recommends carrying bear pepper spray.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 140 (New Fork) 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 H, 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 3 · Any white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – November 30
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 14Regular September 15 – October 2

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 3 — Any white-tailed deer · whitetail only (September–November)

Hunting for white-tailed deer in the Type 3 hunt begins in September with the archery season and continues through November on the regular rifle season. In September, temperatures run from highs near 65 degrees to lows near 34 degrees, and deer are in early fall transition with minimal snow. The archery window offers a long, dry opening in a period when bucks are still in loose bands and largely nocturnal. As October arrives, weather cools to highs near 51 degrees and lows near 25 degrees, bringing roughly two inches of monthly snowfall and triggering early fall migration; white-tailed deer begin shifting toward lower foothills and valley rims. By November, as the primary rut peaks and then wanes into late rut, temperatures drop sharply to highs near 37 degrees and lows near 14 degrees, and snowfall increases to around nine inches per month, concentrating deer in lower country and making sign reading easier. Public land access remains consistent across all three months, though snow in November may slow foot travel at higher elevations.

Type Gen — Antlered mule deer four (4) points… · mule deer & whitetail (September–October)

The Type Gen hunt for mule deer and white-tailed deer runs through two distinct windows—archery in early September and regular rifle from mid-September through early October. During the archery opener in early September, temperatures are warm at highs near 65 degrees, snowfall is negligible, and both species are in early fall transition with minimal rut activity. The switch to regular seasons in mid-September maintains the same weather window, with highs still in the low 60s and minimal snow, but by late September into October the rut shifts to early fall migration and nocturnal buck phase as temperatures cool from 51 degrees into the low 40s. Mule deer concentrate in forested habitats in the northern portion of the area and along migration corridors; white-tailed deer remain available throughout. The closure by early October ends this hunt before the rut intensifies, cutting access short of the November primary rut that the Type 3 hunt continues through. Public land access functions normally across both archery and rifle windows, though early snow in late September can begin to affect high-elevation travel.

Land and access

National Forest46%

Generally open to public hunting

private land38%

Private

BLM11%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land3%

Generally open to public hunting

State Wildlife Areas2%

Generally open to public hunting

About 62% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land and State Wildlife Areas, roughly 201 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 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 Range89%

used in summer

Winter Range8%

used in winter

Crucial Winter Range8%

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

Parturition Areas4%

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

Lower elevations

Sagebrush60%

Other cover24%

Riparian15%

Grass and meadow1%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush61%

Conifer25%

Aspen7%

Riparian4%

Other cover3%

Grass and meadow2%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush42%

Conifer38%

Grass and meadow16%

Other cover2%

Aspen2%

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	4°F	11.1 in
February	31°F	5°F	12.1 in
March	39°F	13°F	7.6 in
April	48°F	22°F	4.6 in
May	57°F	30°F	0.8 in
June	67°F	37°F	0 in
July	76°F	43°F	0 in
August	74°F	41°F	0 in
September	65°F	34°F	0 in
October	51°F	25°F	1.9 in
November	37°F	14°F	9 in
December	28°F	5°F	13.2 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter in Wyoming obtain a general deer licence for hunt area 140 without drawing?: A Wyoming resident can buy a general deer licence over the counter at no point cost — the licence is unlimited statewide and available to residents year on year without a draw or preference-point system. A nonresident cannot buy a general licence; a nonresident wanting to hunt here must draw a Region H general licence, which is valid across all general-licence hunt areas in that region.
Does a nonresident need preference points to draw a Region H general licence for this area?: Preference points matter significantly for nonresidents in Wyoming's general licence draw. Within each pool, three quarters of the licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded by points from highest to lowest, and a quarter go to a random draw open to everyone. A nonresident with no points still has a chance in the random pool, but points improve odds considerably.
Which deer species can a hunter take in the Type Gen hunt here in early September?: The Type Gen hunt permits antlered mule deer with four or more points on either antler, or any white-tailed deer without antler restriction. The four-point minimum applies only to the mule deer; white-tailed deer of any antler configuration are legal.
How much of this hunt area's public land can a hunter generally rely on accessing?: About 62% of hunt area 140 is public land, roughly 201 square miles, spread across National Forest in the north and east and BLM and State lands in the west and south. However, roads, trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings all constrain actual on-the-ground access, and a hunter should consult the interactive hunt map planner before planning a trip.
Does this hunt area contain wilderness where a nonresident must have a guide?: Hunt area 140 contains designated wilderness, and Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide when hunting in that wilderness. A nonresident planning to hunt designated wilderness here must arrange a guide in advance.

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