Can a hunter use a general deer licence in hunt area 74?

Yes, a Wyoming resident can buy a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points required — the resident deer draw is random, not points-based. A nonresident cannot buy a general licence; instead, a nonresident must draw a Region D general licence, which is valid across all general-licence hunt areas in that region and nowhere else.

What species can a hunter legally take in the general-licence season on this hunt area?

The general-licence season (Type Gen) permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. Mule deer hunters must take an antlered animal, while white-tailed deer hunters can take a buck, doe, or fawn.

When does the general-licence deer season close in hunt area 74?

The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) runs archery September 1–30 and then regular season October 1–14. The regular season is significantly shorter than the other hunts on this area, which remain open through December.

How much public land is actually huntable in hunt area 74?

Approximately 208 square miles of the 843-square-mile area is dependably open public ground, including Bureau of Land Management, State Trust Land, State Wildlife Areas, and the Wick/Beumee Wildlife Habitat Management Area. The public land is fragmented in a checkerboard pattern mixed with private holdings, limiting access.

Which hunt area seasons in Wyoming target only white-tailed deer?

Type 3 (any white-tailed deer) and Type 8 (doe or fawn white-tailed deer) both run September 1–December 31 and permit white-tailed deer only. On these hunts, mule deer are not legal regardless of antlers. The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) permits both mule deer and white-tailed deer under different rules.

Wyoming Hunt Area 74 (Kyle) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

25%

Elevation

6,500–8,200 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 74 is shortgrass prairie rolling across gentle terrain, with slope averaging 2.3 degrees across its 843 square miles. The majority of the vegetation is shortgrass prairie, broken by the riparian zones and irrigated hay meadows along the Medicine Bow River and Little Laramie River. Elevation ranges from 6,500 to 8,200 feet, with typical ground around 7,100 feet. The landscape has very little variation in terrain, which makes hunting difficult — the country offers limited natural features to work from and cover to hunt through.

Access is the real barrier here. Public land makes up about 208 square miles of the hunt area, but it sits in a checkerboard pattern interspersed with private holdings, and most of that private ground is closed to hunting. Mule deer concentrate in the northwest near the Medicine Bow River, while very few are found south and east of Wyoming Highway 13. Public lands accessible by vehicle or short walk are limited to a few Carbon County roads — including County Roads 1, 3, 320, and 115 — and the Wick/Beumee Wildlife Habitat Management Area, a 22,942-acre Wyoming Game and Fish managed property reached from Interstate 80 exits 272 and 267 or from County Road 1 near McFadden. Hunters planning to apply should arrange private land access beforehand if possible, as the public ground available is scattered and limited.

Seasons vary significantly in what they allow and when they run. Type 3 and Type 8 hunts target white-tailed deer only from September through December, while the general-licence hunt (Type Gen) allows either antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer but closes its regular season in mid-October.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 74 (Kyle) 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 D, 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 3 · Any white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – December 31
Type 8 · Doe or fawn white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – December 31
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 74 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 3 — Any white-tailed deer · whitetail only (September–December)

Type 3 hunting — any white-tailed deer — runs archery September 1–30, then regular October 1–December 31, spanning the early fall transition into the primary rut and winter consolidation. September archery coincides with early fall conditions, when highs reach near 70 degrees and snow is minimal, making for pleasant hiking but challenging hunting as deer are still in summer patterns and dispersed. October through December brings rapid cooling, from highs in the 50s in early October to the low 30s by December, with increasing snow accumulation — October sees roughly 3 inches monthly, while December averages 8.8 inches, which can concentrate deer but also tests a hunter's endurance and limits access on public land. Deer move through migration corridors from mid-October onward and enter the peak rut in November, making mid-season hunting the most productive period. Public access remains limited and scattered across the same Carbon County roads and the Wick/Beumee area throughout the season.

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

Type 8 hunting — doe or fawn white-tailed deer — runs archery September 1–30, then regular October 1–December 31, with seasons covering the same rut and weather progression as Type 3. The early-September archery window offers mild conditions near 70 degrees with minimal snow, while October and December bring the cooling and increasing snow described above. This hunt is particularly useful during the peak rut in November and afterward, when doe and fawn concentrations make success more likely than hunting antlered deer alone. Access to public land follows the same scattered pattern across Carbon County roads and the Wick/Beumee management area; hunters should expect limited ground and should secure private land access where possible.

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

Type Gen hunting — antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer, valid on general licence — runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–14, closing well before the rut reaches its peak. September archery occurs during early fall, with mild temperatures near 70 degrees and negligible snow, when mule deer are shedding velvet and dispersed across summer range; white-tailed deer are also dispersed. The regular season in early October opens as temperatures begin dropping and minor snow becomes possible, marking the start of fall migration and the transition to nocturnal buck behavior. Mule deer concentrate in the northwestern portion of the hunt area near the Medicine Bow River, where public access is most limited; very few are found south and east of Wyoming Highway 13. This hunt's shorter regular-season window closes before the rut enters its most active phase, placing success on early-fall and migration-period hunting. Access to public ground remains scattered and limited.

Land and access

private land75%

Private

BLM14%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land9%

Generally open to public hunting

State Wildlife Areas2%

Generally open to public hunting

About 25% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Trust Land and State Wildlife Areas, roughly 208 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 16% 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.

Where deer are mapped

Yearlong Range66%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range62%

used in winter

Crucial Winter Range10%

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

Across the unit

Sagebrush59%

Grass and meadow30%

Riparian6%

Other cover5%

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	13°F	6.7 in
February	35°F	13°F	8.1 in
March	44°F	20°F	6.9 in
April	51°F	26°F	4 in
May	62°F	34°F	0.2 in
June	73°F	42°F	0 in
July	81°F	49°F	0 in
August	79°F	47°F	0 in
September	70°F	39°F	0.1 in
October	56°F	29°F	3 in
November	42°F	20°F	6.2 in
December	32°F	12°F	8.8 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter use a general deer licence in hunt area 74?: Yes, a Wyoming resident can buy a general deer licence over the counter with no draw and no preference points required — the resident deer draw is random, not points-based. A nonresident cannot buy a general licence; instead, a nonresident must draw a Region D general licence, which is valid across all general-licence hunt areas in that region and nowhere else.
What species can a hunter legally take in the general-licence season on this hunt area?: The general-licence season (Type Gen) permits antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. Mule deer hunters must take an antlered animal, while white-tailed deer hunters can take a buck, doe, or fawn.
When does the general-licence deer season close in hunt area 74?: The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) runs archery September 1–30 and then regular season October 1–14. The regular season is significantly shorter than the other hunts on this area, which remain open through December.
How much public land is actually huntable in hunt area 74?: Approximately 208 square miles of the 843-square-mile area is dependably open public ground, including Bureau of Land Management, State Trust Land, State Wildlife Areas, and the Wick/Beumee Wildlife Habitat Management Area. The public land is fragmented in a checkerboard pattern mixed with private holdings, limiting access.
Which hunt area seasons in Wyoming target only white-tailed deer?: Type 3 (any white-tailed deer) and Type 8 (doe or fawn white-tailed deer) both run September 1–December 31 and permit white-tailed deer only. On these hunts, mule deer are not legal regardless of antlers. The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) permits both mule deer and white-tailed deer under different rules.

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