Can a hunter use a general licence to hunt deer in this area?

Yes. Hunt area 61 is a general-licence hunt area, and both Wyoming residents and nonresidents can hunt it with the correct general licence. A Wyoming resident buys a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points; a nonresident must draw a Region J general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region.

What deer species does this hunt area permit, and are there any antler restrictions?

The general season here permits both antlered mule deer and any white-tailed deer—buck, doe or fawn whitetails are all legal. There is no antler or point requirement beyond the mule deer needing to be antlered. Both species are found throughout the area.

When does the general season run in this area?

The general season is split into two windows: archery runs September 1 through September 30, and regular seasons from October 1 through October 14. These are consecutive seasons on the same hunt; a hunter holding a general licence can hunt across both windows with different equipment.

What public access is available in hunt area 61?

Public access is limited to about 42 square miles of State Trust Land, BLM and National Forest, roughly 12% of the area. The two primary entry points are the Monolith Ranch and Lone Tree Creek Hunter Management Areas, both of which require a printed permission slip from Wyoming Game and Fish before a hunter can enter. Roads, trailheads and seasonal closures still apply on all public ground.

How much of this hunt area is actually huntable without private land access?

The hunt area is 87% private land, leaving very little reliably open ground. Public access funnels through the Monolith Ranch and Lone Tree Creek Hunter Management Areas, which are small and heavily used. Hunters are strongly encouraged to arrange private land access before applying for a licence.

Wyoming Hunt Area 61 (Harriman) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

12%

Elevation

6,000–8,900 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 61 is a 339-square-mile region spanning 6,000 to 8,900 feet, with most ground around 7,500 feet. The northern canyons run deep and steep enough to segment timber and mahogany by aspect, draining eastward into rolling mahogany hills and grassy flats that grade toward agricultural land. The southern half rolls with small drainages and rocky outcrops scattered across open parks and ponderosa pine forest. The terrain is gentle overall, with 90% grading to slopes under 9 degrees and a mean of 4.5 degrees; the difficulty lies in access, not steepness.

At lower elevations the ground is almost entirely grass and meadow with scattered sagebrush. Mid elevations hold a rougher mix of sagebrush and meadow with some conifer. Higher ground turns sagebrush-dominant with diminishing grass and pine. Deer are spread throughout the hunt area. Private land makes up 87% of it, and public access is severely limited—only about 42 square miles of State Trust Land, BLM and National Forest are reliably open to hunting. Two Hunter Management Areas, Monolith Ranch and Lone Tree Creek, require printed permission slips from Wyoming Game and Fish before entry, and these are the primary public hunting grounds on the area. Hunters are strongly advised to pursue private land access before the season.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 61 (Harriman) 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 J, 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 or any white-tailed deer
Legal: mule deer and white-tailed deer, under different rules
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – October 14

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.

Mandatory CWD sampling in 2026

A CWD sample is required from every deer harvested in hunt area 61 in 2026, on every licence type. A sample can be left at a game check station or the Laramie regional office of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department, or collected by the hunter and sent to the Wildlife Health Laboratory.

In the words of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department: “Hunters in Hunt Areas 15, 61, 74, 75, 76, and 77 must be aware that these areas are under mandatory CWD sampling.” The areas under mandatory sampling change every year, so confirm the current list before hunting — 2026 mandatory CWD sampling areas.

Hunting each season

Type Gen — Antlered mule deer or any… · mule deer & whitetail (September–October)

The general season opens with archery from September 1 through September 30, when mule deer are shedding velvet and moving from summer areas to lower elevations in early fall transition; whitetails are in the same transition pattern. September weather runs warm, with highs near 70 degrees and minimal snowfall. The season then shifts to regular hunting October 1 through October 14 as deer move into early fall migration corridors, with bucks becoming more nocturnal as the rut approaches. October cools noticeably, with highs around 56 degrees and light snowfall averaging under 2 inches. Both archery and regular hunting are limited to the small patch of dependably open public land or to private ground a hunter has secured in advance. The season permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer, with whitetails carrying no sex or age restriction.

Land and access

private land87%

Private

State Trust Land10%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM1%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest1%

Generally open to public hunting

About 12% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — State Trust Land, BLM and National Forest, roughly 42 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 3% 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.

It also holds 2 Hunter Management Areas. That is private ground enrolled for public access, not public land. A Hunter Management Area requires a printed permission slip from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before hunting it. Enrollment is renegotiated every year, so check current status before counting on either.

Where deer are mapped

Yearlong Range86%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range60%

used in winter

Crucial Winter Range11%

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

Summer Range3%

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 meadow89%

Sagebrush6%

Other cover3%

Riparian2%

Mid elevations

Grass and meadow48%

Sagebrush40%

Conifer5%

Riparian3%

Other cover3%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush59%

Grass and meadow31%

Conifer7%

Riparian2%

Other cover1%

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	35°F	13°F	3.4 in
February	37°F	14°F	3.9 in
March	45°F	20°F	4.1 in
April	51°F	26°F	3.1 in
May	61°F	34°F	0.1 in
June	73°F	43°F	0 in
July	80°F	49°F	0 in
August	78°F	47°F	0 in
September	70°F	39°F	0.2 in
October	56°F	29°F	1.9 in
November	43°F	20°F	3.2 in
December	35°F	13°F	4 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter use a general licence to hunt deer in this area?: Yes. Hunt area 61 is a general-licence hunt area, and both Wyoming residents and nonresidents can hunt it with the correct general licence. A Wyoming resident buys a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points; a nonresident must draw a Region J general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas of that region.
What deer species does this hunt area permit, and are there any antler restrictions?: The general season here permits both antlered mule deer and any white-tailed deer—buck, doe or fawn whitetails are all legal. There is no antler or point requirement beyond the mule deer needing to be antlered. Both species are found throughout the area.
When does the general season run in this area?: The general season is split into two windows: archery runs September 1 through September 30, and regular seasons from October 1 through October 14. These are consecutive seasons on the same hunt; a hunter holding a general licence can hunt across both windows with different equipment.
What public access is available in hunt area 61?: Public access is limited to about 42 square miles of State Trust Land, BLM and National Forest, roughly 12% of the area. The two primary entry points are the Monolith Ranch and Lone Tree Creek Hunter Management Areas, both of which require a printed permission slip from Wyoming Game and Fish before a hunter can enter. Roads, trailheads and seasonal closures still apply on all public ground.
How much of this hunt area is actually huntable without private land access?: The hunt area is 87% private land, leaving very little reliably open ground. Public access funnels through the Monolith Ranch and Lone Tree Creek Hunter Management Areas, which are small and heavily used. Hunters are strongly encouraged to arrange private land access before applying for a licence.

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