Can a hunter take white-tailed deer on public land during the regular Type Gen season in hunt area 2?

No. The Type Gen hunt permits any white-tailed deer only on private land; on public land, only antlered mule deer are legal. Public land hunts for white-tailed does are closed except to General Youth License holders.

What licence does a Wyoming resident need to hunt the general seasons in hunt area 2?

A Wyoming resident buys a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points involved. A resident may hold at most one general deer licence per year.

How many preference points do nonresidents need for hunt area 2?

Nonresidents cannot buy a general licence outright. A nonresident must draw a Region A general licence, valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region. Within the nonresident pool, three quarters of the licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded top-down by points; the remaining quarter enters a random draw open to all applicants.

Which deer species can a hunter legally take on public land in hunt area 2 during the regular seasons?

Only antlered mule deer are legal on public land during both regular seasons. White-tailed deer of any sex are legal only on private land and walk-in areas, except General Youth License holders may harvest white-tailed does on public land.

Where can a hunter access private land in hunt area 2?

Crook County Walk In Area 6 and Crook County Walk In Area 4 are private lands enrolled in walk-in programmes and open to hunters during their operating periods without permission or application. Most private land in the area requires outfitting fees or access charges, and hunters should contact landowners directly.

Wyoming Hunt Area 2 (Bearlodge) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

23%

Elevation

3,100–6,700 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 2 is a rolling to steeply sloped country dominated by the Black Hills and their surrounding plains. The Black Hills carry open stands of Ponderosa Pine with Bur Oak, Aspen and Paper Birch, and the lower elevations grade to agricultural land. The ground slopes gently on average (mean 6.3 degrees), with about 79% of it gentle and the rest moderate to steep. Grass and meadow dominate at lower elevations; mid elevations mix meadow, conifer and sagebrush fairly evenly; higher elevations grow mostly conifer with open meadow breaks. Roughly half the area is mapped as yearlong range and the other half concentrates in winter, so deer use the ground across seasons.

About 233 square miles of the hunt area is public land — National Forest, State Trust Land and BLM — though public ownership does not mean straightforward access. Roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply. The Bearlodge Ranger District of Black Hills National Forest forms the main public block and draws heavy hunting pressure as one of Wyoming's most accessible public hunting grounds. Hunters using it should consult travel-management information for the district to find which roads are open to which vehicles and where dispersed camping is allowed. Crook County Walk In Area 6 and Crook County Walk In Area 4 offer additional access points on private land enrolled by agreement. Most white-tailed deer on the area, however, live on private land, where outfitting fees and access charges are the norm. Mule deer range throughout the area but exist at very low densities, particularly on public ground.

Seasons here favor white-tailed deer hunting. The general licence Type Gen hunt allows antlered mule deer across the entire area, but white-tailed deer of any sex only on private land — a critical distinction, since public land hunts for white-tailed does are closed except to General Youth License holders. Type 8, a doe-or-fawn white-tailed deer hunt, is also valid on private land only. This structure concentrates recreational white-tailed hunting on private ground and walk-in areas, while public-land hunters targeting antlered deer face the very low mule deer densities of the Black Hills public block.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 2 (Bearlodge) 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 A, 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 8 · Doe or fawn white-tailed deer valid on private land
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular November 1 – November 20
Type Gen — general licence · Antlered deer valid in the entire area; any white-tailed deer valid on private land
Legal: mule deer and white-tailed deer, under different rules
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular November 1 – November 20

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

The Type 8 doe or fawn white-tailed deer hunt spans September and November on private land and walk-in areas only. September archery unfolds early in the velvet-shed period when bucks are still in bachelor groups and white-tailed does and fawns feed heavily in open country; the month stays warm with highs around 74°F and virtually no snow. November regular season runs through the early pre-rut and primary rut, when bucks begin to search actively and does concentrate with increasing intensity, and weather turns cold and wet with highs around 45°F and roughly 2.8 inches of monthly snowfall. Access to walk-in areas during both windows is straightforward during posted-open periods; private land requires landowner permission or enrollment in an access fee programme.

Type Gen — Antlered deer valid in the entire area; any white-tailed deer valid on private land · mule deer & whitetail (September–November)

The Type Gen general hunt permits antlered mule deer across the entire area, and any white-tailed deer on private land and walk-in areas only. Archery season runs through September as bucks shed velvet and bachelor groups hold their summer patterns; weather is warm with highs around 74°F and no snow. Regular season spans November, crossing the early pre-rut and primary rut when buck activity and doe concentration increase sharply; temperature drops to highs around 45°F and snowfall averages about 2.8 inches. The land restriction is significant: mule deer are scarce on public land, where most hunters target them, while public-land hunters seeking white-tailed deer face the restriction that only antlered animals are legal there, leaving doe and fawn hunting to private ground.

Land and access

private land77%

Private

National Forest15%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land7%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM1%

Generally open to public hunting

About 23% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, State Trust Land and BLM, roughly 233 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

Yearlong Range51%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range39%

used in winter

Summer Range14%

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

Grass and meadow76%

Sagebrush11%

Other cover8%

Conifer4%

Mid elevations

Grass and meadow47%

Conifer22%

Sagebrush18%

Other cover12%

Higher elevations

Conifer61%

Grass and meadow20%

Sagebrush13%

Other cover7%

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	12°F	4.4 in
February	36°F	13°F	4.7 in
March	47°F	22°F	3 in
April	55°F	30°F	2.2 in
May	66°F	40°F	0 in
June	76°F	50°F	0 in
July	86°F	56°F	0 in
August	84°F	54°F	0 in
September	74°F	45°F	0 in
October	58°F	33°F	0.5 in
November	45°F	22°F	2.8 in
December	35°F	13°F	4.4 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter take white-tailed deer on public land during the regular Type Gen season in hunt area 2?: No. The Type Gen hunt permits any white-tailed deer only on private land; on public land, only antlered mule deer are legal. Public land hunts for white-tailed does are closed except to General Youth License holders.
What licence does a Wyoming resident need to hunt the general seasons in hunt area 2?: A Wyoming resident buys a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points involved. A resident may hold at most one general deer licence per year.
How many preference points do nonresidents need for hunt area 2?: Nonresidents cannot buy a general licence outright. A nonresident must draw a Region A general licence, valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region. Within the nonresident pool, three quarters of the licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded top-down by points; the remaining quarter enters a random draw open to all applicants.
Which deer species can a hunter legally take on public land in hunt area 2 during the regular seasons?: Only antlered mule deer are legal on public land during both regular seasons. White-tailed deer of any sex are legal only on private land and walk-in areas, except General Youth License holders may harvest white-tailed does on public land.
Where can a hunter access private land in hunt area 2?: Crook County Walk In Area 6 and Crook County Walk In Area 4 are private lands enrolled in walk-in programmes and open to hunters during their operating periods without permission or application. Most private land in the area requires outfitting fees or access charges, and hunters should contact landowners directly.

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