Wyoming Hunt Area 6 (Skull Creek) deer hunting

Licence
General licence area
Open public land
34%
Elevation
4,100–6,600 ft
Terrain
Gentle
Deer region
A

Hunt area 6 spans 411 square miles of rolling hills and steeper terrain in the Black Hills, mixed with sagebrush grassland plains along the edges. The ground is gentle overall, with mean slope of 6.8 degrees and three-quarters of it graded gentle. At lower elevations, grass and meadow dominate the landscape, interspersed with sagebrush and scattered conifers. Higher up, ponderosa pine thickens considerably, creating denser forest alongside open grasslands and meadows. Some agricultural fields and their adjacent uplands support good deer densities. The eastern edge holds steeper, rockier terrain of the southern Black Hills, while central and western portions are characterized by heavier stands of pine.

Most of the area's deer live on private land, where access typically requires fees. About 34% of the ground is publicly accessible, mostly in parcels of Thunder Basin National Grasslands interspersed with private lands, along with some State Trust Land. Walk-In Areas on the Wyoming-South Dakota stateline provide additional opportunity; hunters can walk into these without permission during their open periods. Limited State land parcels also exist, though many require a walk from public roads to reach huntable ground. The access rating here is fair, reflecting both the patchwork of ownership and the distance from roads to productive habitat.

Mule deer are the dominant species here, and the hunt is not managed for trophy animals. Most bucks taken are less than four years old. White-tailed deer also inhabit the area, particularly on private land, and general-licence hunters can harvest either species with antlers, or any white-tailed deer regardless of sex or age.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 6 (Skull Creek) 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 Gen — general licence · Antlered deer
    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 Gen — Antlered deer (September–November)

Archery season in September runs through a period when deer are shedding velvet and transitioning into early fall patterns, with highs near 74 degrees and virtually no snow, making hiking and glassing favorable. Regular rifle season spans November, opening as deer begin pre-rut staging and migration and continuing through the primary rut, when temperatures drop into the low 40s and snowfall averages 2.3 inches monthly, concentrating deer movement and bringing them into more predictable patterns. Both seasons allow hunters to take antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. Access to public ground is mixed, with patches of Thunder Basin National Grasslands mixed through private land, plus Walk-In Areas on the stateline; much of the better hunting pressure falls on enrolled private land, leaving public ground less crowded but requiring more effort to locate huntable deer.

Land and access

  • private land66%
    Private
  • BLM13%
    Generally open to public hunting
  • National Forest11%
    Generally open to public hunting
  • State Trust Land11%
    Generally open to public hunting

    • About 34% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, National Forest and State Trust Land, roughly 141 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 28% 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 Range78%
    used in winter
  • Yearlong Range61%
    the only layer that means year-round use
  • Crucial Winter Range17%
    the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
  • Summer Range12%
    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 meadow70%
  • Sagebrush16%
  • Conifer10%
  • Other cover5%

    • Mid elevations

  • Grass and meadow53%
  • Conifer27%
  • Sagebrush15%
  • Other cover5%

    • Higher elevations

  • Conifer50%
  • Grass and meadow27%
  • Sagebrush13%
  • Other cover10%

    • 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

    MonthAvg highAvg lowSnowfall
    January35°F12°F4.9 in
    February37°F14°F5.4 in
    March48°F23°F2.7 in
    April56°F30°F1.4 in
    May65°F40°F0 in
    June76°F50°F0 in
    July85°F57°F0 in
    August84°F55°F0 in
    September74°F45°F0 in
    October58°F33°F0.7 in
    November44°F22°F2.3 in
    December35°F13°F4.4 in

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

    Common questions

    Can a hunter legally harvest a white-tailed deer on a general licence in hunt area 6?
    Yes. The general-licence hunt allows antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer, meaning white-tailed deer of any age or sex are legal animals here.
    Does a Wyoming resident need preference points to draw a general deer licence for hunt area 6?
    No. Wyoming residents purchase a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points required. A resident may hold only one general deer licence per year.
    Is hunt area 6 accessible on public land that a hunter can depend on?
    About 34% of the area is dependably open public ground, mostly Thunder Basin National Grasslands interspersed with private land, plus some State Trust Land and Walk-In Areas. The remainder is private, though some parcels are enrolled in access programs.
    When does the archery season run in hunt area 6?
    Archery for antlered deer runs September 1 through September 30. Regular rifle season runs November 1 through November 20.
    Does a nonresident need preference points to hunt hunt area 6 on a general licence?
    A nonresident cannot buy a general licence directly; instead, a nonresident must draw a Region A general licence. Within that draw pool, three quarters of licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded by points from highest to lowest, and a quarter go to a random draw. Points therefore matter significantly for nonresidents.

    Sources

    Seasons, licence types and boundaries change. Confirm every detail with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before applying or hunting.

    All Wyoming deer hunt areas