Can a hunter use a region licence to hunt this area?

No. Hunt area 36 is a limited-quota area and must be drawn individually; a region licence is valid only in the general-licence areas of its region, not here. A hunter who draws a region licence instead of a specific limited-quota licence for this area will not be able to hunt it.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw for hunt area 36?

No. Residents are drawn at random for all deer hunt areas in Wyoming, including this one, and there are no preference points in the resident draw. A resident may draw on their first application or their twentieth with equal probability.

What deer species can a hunter take under the Type 1 antlered mule deer licence?

The Type 1 licence permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. The antler requirement applies to mule deer only; any white-tailed deer of any sex or age is legal under this licence, including does and fawns.

What deer species can a hunter take under the Type 8 doe or fawn licence?

The Type 8 licence is white-tailed deer only and permits does or fawns. Mule deer are not legal under this licence, and neither are white-tailed bucks or antlered white-tailed deer.

When does the Type 1 regular season run in this hunt area?

The Type 1 regular season runs October 15–October 31, following an archery period that ends September 30. This timing corresponds to the early pre-rut migration phase, when mule deer are moving and more active, and the month is cooling into the twenties to fifties at night.

Wyoming Hunt Area 36 (Badwater) deer hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

68%

Elevation

4,600–9,000 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 36 sprawls across 900 square miles of rolling high desert broken by sagebrush and grassland ridges. The country rises from about 4,600 feet to 9,000 feet, with most ground sitting around 5,700 feet. Terrain is predominantly gentle, sloping at a mean of 5.3 degrees across the area. The northern portion rolls through juniper, sagebrush and grass mixed together; the southern half turns drier and more open, dominated by saltbush flats that see fewer deer. Private hay fields are scattered throughout, and stream and river corridors on the southern and lower-lying ground tend toward private ownership. The arid character of much of the country, especially south, limits where deer concentrate, which shapes both access and where a hunter will find animals.

Getting onto this ground requires planning. About 68% of the area is public land a hunter can generally count on—BLM and State Trust Land—roughly 612 square miles. Private land fills the remaining third. The publicly owned ground is not uniformly open: roads, trailheads and seasonal closures all still apply. Walk-in areas enrolled through Fremont County and Natrona County offer unrestricted access during their open periods, though these enrollments are renegotiated annually and are not guaranteed in any future season. The stream corridors and lower, more productive ground often lie on private land, which means that ground cannot be relied on without permission.

The seasons here split between mule deer and white-tailed deer hunting, with a short window for antlerless white-tailed only. Both hunts stack an early archery period in September against a main regular season in mid-to-late October. October conditions cool and can bring light snow; if higher elevations receive snow, mule deer tend to migrate down into the northern portion of the area, concentrating hunting there. The northern ground is where October mule deer hunting concentrates regardless, making that zone the productive focus for antlered hunts.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 36 (Badwater) 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 8 · Doe or fawn white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – October 31

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)

The Type 1 hunt for antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer spans September and October, opening with archery from September 1–30 as mule deer are shedding velvet in late summer patterns and then continuing through a regular rifle season from October 15–31 when animals begin moving and nocturnal buck behavior picks up heading into pre-rut staging. September is warm, with highs in the mid-70s and essentially no snow, keeping deer in summer and early-fall range across both northern and southern ground; by October, conditions cool sharply, with highs dropping to the upper 50s and lows in the 30s, and light monthly snowfall can push mule deer down from higher elevations into the northern portion of the hunt area where most October hunting occurs. Access remains dependent on public land (BLM and State Trust Land making up about two-thirds of the area) and walk-in enrollment, which is renegotiated annually; the arid southern habitat limits deer distribution there regardless. This licence allows antlered mule deer of any age or antlered male white-tailed deer, or any white-tailed deer of either sex or age.

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

The Type 8 hunt for white-tailed does or fawns mirrors the Type 1 calendar, running archery September 1–30 and regular season October 15–31, with the same progression from warm, stable September conditions through cooling October and the same possibility of early-season snow pushing deer northward into concentration. Early September presents warm and dry conditions favoring summer behavior, while October's cold nights and light snow shift white-tailed movement and may concentrate animals in the northern parts of the area. This licence is white-tailed deer only—mule deer cannot be taken—and is restricted to antlerless animals, meaning does and fawns. Like the Type 1 season, access depends on public land and walk-in areas that are not guaranteed year to year.

Land and access

BLM59%

Generally open to public hunting

private land32%

Private

State Trust Land9%

Generally open to public hunting

About 68% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM and State Trust Land, roughly 612 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 75% 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 3 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 Range33%

used in winter

Yearlong Range29%

the only layer that means year-round use

Crucial Winter Range22%

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

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

Sagebrush66%

Grass and meadow21%

Other cover10%

Riparian3%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush84%

Grass and meadow11%

Other cover5%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush81%

Grass and meadow12%

Conifer6%

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	33°F	11°F	3.2 in
February	36°F	13°F	4 in
March	48°F	23°F	2.5 in
April	56°F	29°F	1 in
May	66°F	39°F	0 in
June	78°F	47°F	0 in
July	87°F	54°F	0 in
August	85°F	53°F	0 in
September	74°F	43°F	0 in
October	58°F	32°F	1 in
November	44°F	21°F	2.3 in
December	33°F	12°F	3.8 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter use a region licence to hunt this area?: No. Hunt area 36 is a limited-quota area and must be drawn individually; a region licence is valid only in the general-licence areas of its region, not here. A hunter who draws a region licence instead of a specific limited-quota licence for this area will not be able to hunt it.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw for hunt area 36?: No. Residents are drawn at random for all deer hunt areas in Wyoming, including this one, and there are no preference points in the resident draw. A resident may draw on their first application or their twentieth with equal probability.
What deer species can a hunter take under the Type 1 antlered mule deer licence?: The Type 1 licence permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. The antler requirement applies to mule deer only; any white-tailed deer of any sex or age is legal under this licence, including does and fawns.
What deer species can a hunter take under the Type 8 doe or fawn licence?: The Type 8 licence is white-tailed deer only and permits does or fawns. Mule deer are not legal under this licence, and neither are white-tailed bucks or antlered white-tailed deer.
When does the Type 1 regular season run in this hunt area?: The Type 1 regular season runs October 15–October 31, following an archery period that ends September 30. This timing corresponds to the early pre-rut migration phase, when mule deer are moving and more active, and the month is cooling into the twenties to fifties at night.

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