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

Yes. Residents buy a general licence over the counter with no draw involved; nonresidents cannot obtain one but may draw a Region J general licence valid here and across other general-licence areas in deer region J.

Which deer species are legal on each hunt type in this area?

Type Gen permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. Type 3 permits only any white-tailed deer, so mule deer are not legal on that hunt. Type 8 permits doe or fawn white-tailed deer only; neither mule deer nor antlered white-tailed deer are legal.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw a general deer licence here?

No. Wyoming residents have no deer preference points. The resident general-licence draw does not exist—residents buy one over the counter. Nonresidents compete for Region J general licences; three quarters of nonresident licences go to those with the most preference points, and a quarter are awarded randomly.

How much of this hunt area is open to public hunting?

About a quarter, or roughly 296 square miles, is on State Trust Land, BLM, or National Forest that hunters can generally access. The remaining three quarters is private land, though six walk-in areas and two hunter management areas provide enrolled access to some private ground during their open periods.

When do each of the three seasons run, and what is the rut phase during the rifle hunts?

Type Gen archery runs September 1–30 and regular rifle October 20–31. Type 3 archery runs September 1–30 and regular rifle October 15–November 30, spanning the early migration, pre-rut, and primary breeding period. Type 8 follows the same archery dates and runs regular rifle October 15–December 31, extending through the late rut and into winter consolidation.

Wyoming Hunt Area 65 (South Converse) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

24%

Elevation

4,600–9,400 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 65 spreads across 1,223 square miles of gently rolling country between 4,600 and 9,400 feet, with typical ground near 5,900 feet. Three quarters of the area is gentle terrain, and cover changes markedly by elevation: lower ground is grass and meadow with scattered sagebrush; mid elevations mix sagebrush, grass, and small patches of conifers; higher ground shifts to conifer forest with sagebrush understory. Mule deer occupy the low and mid-elevation riparian corridors, farmland, and sagebrush draws, while white-tailed deer favor the agricultural valleys and wooded lowland edges. Three-quarters of the hunt area is privately owned, and the public land that does exist—chiefly National Forest parcels in the Laramie Range—holds relatively few mule deer and should not be counted on as primary hunting ground.

Public access is limited. About a quarter of the area is open to public hunting on State Trust Land, BLM, or National Forest, but that acreage is fragmented by private inholdings, seasonal road closures, and variable trailhead conditions. Six walk-in areas provide access without permission or application, though they are renegotiated each year and have their own posted rules; the largest opportunities often lie in two hunter management areas—Hermit Rock and Duncan Ranch—which require a printed permission slip from Wyoming Game and Fish before hunting. Accessible public ground tends to be crowded during the September and October overlaps with elk season. Where white-tailed deer are concerned, public land sometimes holds them, but most occupied habitat lies in private fields and riparian thickets. A detailed map with landowner boundaries—available through the Converse County Mapserver or mapping apps—is essential for any public-land hunt here.

Seasons differ markedly in which species are legal and how long the regular-rifle window extends. The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) takes antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer during a short archery season in early September and a broader rifle window in late October. Type 3 focuses on white-tailed deer only, with archery in September but a rifle season stretching from mid-October through November, including the primary breeding period. Type 8 is white-tailed does and fawns only, following the same timeline but continuing through December. All three overlap, and all Type 3 and Type 8 hunts are also valid within the portion of adjoining hunt area 66 that lies in Converse County.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 65 (South Converse) 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 20 – October 31
Type 3 · Any white-tailed deer; also valid in that portion of Area 66 in Converse County
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – November 30
Type 8 · Doe or fawn white-tailed deer; also valid in that portion of Area 66 in Converse County
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 15 – December 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 Gen — Antlered mule deer or any… · mule deer & whitetail (September–October)

Hunting antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer on the general licence is split between an archery season in September and a rifle window in late October. September archery finds mule deer shedding velvet and moving between summer and fall ranges, often in low-elevation draws and riparian cover where they are most accessible; white-tailed deer occupy farmland and willow bottoms. Early September temperatures hover near 73 degrees during the day and cool to the 40s at night, with virtually no snow. The October rifle hunt coincides with the early nocturnal phase before the rut truly begins, when bucks become more mobile but remain primarily crepuscular; by late October, temperatures have dropped to the low 50s and 30s, with increasing pressure from elk hunters on public ground. Both archery and rifle seasons are valid on the general licence, offering either method across a one-month span.

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

A hunter pursuing any white-tailed deer on Type 3 has archery in September and then a long rifle season from mid-October through November, the longest option on this area. September archery follows the same early-fall patterns as the general hunt—white-tailed deer are still in agricultural and riparian lowlands before the rut pulls them into staging and breeding movement. October archery gives way to rifle in mid-month, as early fall migration and pre-rut staging intensify, then the primary breeding period arrives in November; during this span, temperatures fall from the high 50s and low 30s in October to the mid-40s and low 20s by month's end. Type 3 is white-tailed deer only, so mule deer are not legal, and the extended rifle window captures the entire autumn rut cycle.

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

Doe and fawn white-tailed deer hunts on Type 8 mirror the rifle-season calendar of Type 3—archery in September and regular rifle from mid-October through the end of December—but target females rather than antlered animals. September archery precedes the main rut, when antlerless deer are in riparian corridors and agricultural edges before migration and breeding movement scatter them across the landscape. The rifle season opening in mid-October catches the early migration phase, then sustains through the primary rut in November and into the late-rut and winter-consolidation period of December, when does and fawns aggregate in winter concentration areas and cold weather intensifies pressure on all accessible ground. Temperatures during the rifle span drop from the 50s and 30s in October through November's 40s and 20s to December's 30s and low teens, and snowfall increases through the period, accumulating roughly 2 to 5 inches per month.

Land and access

private land74%

Private

State Trust Land12%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest9%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM2%

Generally open to public hunting

unclassified ownership1%

Ownership unclassified

About 24% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — State Trust Land, National Forest and BLM, roughly 296 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 6 enrolled walk-in areas. It also holds 2 Hunter Management Areas. Both are 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. 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 Range55%

used in winter

Summer Range38%

used in summer

Crucial Winter Range36%

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

Yearlong Range19%

the only layer that means year-round use

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 meadow57%

Sagebrush27%

Other cover11%

Riparian5%

Conifer1%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush44%

Grass and meadow35%

Conifer17%

Other cover2%

Riparian2%

Higher elevations

Conifer43%

Sagebrush41%

Grass and meadow13%

Riparian2%

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	36°F	14°F	3.8 in
February	38°F	15°F	5.4 in
March	48°F	23°F	3.4 in
April	54°F	29°F	3.2 in
May	64°F	38°F	0 in
June	76°F	47°F	0 in
July	85°F	54°F	0 in
August	83°F	53°F	0 in
September	73°F	43°F	0 in
October	58°F	32°F	2.1 in
November	45°F	22°F	2.7 in
December	35°F	14°F	5.1 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter use a Wyoming general deer licence to hunt this area?: Yes. Residents buy a general licence over the counter with no draw involved; nonresidents cannot obtain one but may draw a Region J general licence valid here and across other general-licence areas in deer region J.
Which deer species are legal on each hunt type in this area?: Type Gen permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. Type 3 permits only any white-tailed deer, so mule deer are not legal on that hunt. Type 8 permits doe or fawn white-tailed deer only; neither mule deer nor antlered white-tailed deer are legal.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw a general deer licence here?: No. Wyoming residents have no deer preference points. The resident general-licence draw does not exist—residents buy one over the counter. Nonresidents compete for Region J general licences; three quarters of nonresident licences go to those with the most preference points, and a quarter are awarded randomly.
How much of this hunt area is open to public hunting?: About a quarter, or roughly 296 square miles, is on State Trust Land, BLM, or National Forest that hunters can generally access. The remaining three quarters is private land, though six walk-in areas and two hunter management areas provide enrolled access to some private ground during their open periods.
When do each of the three seasons run, and what is the rut phase during the rifle hunts?: Type Gen archery runs September 1–30 and regular rifle October 20–31. Type 3 archery runs September 1–30 and regular rifle October 15–November 30, spanning the early migration, pre-rut, and primary breeding period. Type 8 follows the same archery dates and runs regular rifle October 15–December 31, extending through the late rut and into winter consolidation.

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