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

A Wyoming resident may hunt this area on a general deer licence, which is purchased over the counter with no draw or preference points involved. A nonresident must draw a Region B general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas in that region, including hunt area 8. Nonresidents enter a draw pool where three-quarters of the available licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded to those with the most points, and one-quarter go to a random draw open to all applicants in the pool.

Which deer species can a hunter legally take in this area?

Hunt area 8 has three separate hunts with different legal animals. The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) permits either antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. Type 3 and Type 8 hunts permit white-tailed deer only—mule deer are not legal on those hunts. A hunter needs to confirm which hunt their licence covers before the season opens.

When does hunting take place here?

The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) runs in two windows: archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–15. Type 3 (any white-tailed deer) runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–November 30. Type 8 (doe or fawn white-tailed deer) runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–November 30. The regular seasons overlap or extend well into the rut, particularly the Type 3 and Type 8 hunts.

How much of this hunt area is public land a hunter can count on?

About 38% of the hunt area is ground that can generally be relied on—National Forest, BLM, and State Trust Land totalling roughly 215 square miles. However, large portions of the public ground here are not legally accessible to hunters, and Thunder Basin National Grasslands, which holds much of the public acreage, has seasonal and area-specific travel and camping restrictions. A hunter must consult the Thunder Basin National Grasslands Travel Management Map and verify access before heading out.

Where do most deer in this area live and can a hunter find them on public land?

Most mule deer in hunt area 8 live on private land, and white-tailed deer are found almost exclusively on private ground in riparian areas and around cultivated fields. Success on public land runs low and crowding is common on the accessible parcels. Hunters planning to pursue either species should strongly consider negotiating permission on private land, where most of it is outfitted.

Wyoming Hunt Area 8 (Upton-Four Horse) deer hunting

Licence

General licence area

Open public land

38%

Elevation

4,100–5,200 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Deer region

Hunt area 8 is rolling prairie and sagebrush country between 4,100 and 5,200 feet, with typical ground around 4,500 feet. The terrain is nearly all gentle, at a mean slope of 3.6 degrees—a landscape of grass and meadow broken by sagebrush flats, draws, and scattered pine-covered breaks. Mule deer work the mixed-grass prairie and rolling hills across the unit, along with some cultivated fields, but most of the mule deer here live on private land. White-tailed deer are limited to riparian corridors and cultivated ground on private land, chiefly along cottonwood-lined creek bottoms. Public access is difficult: Thunder Basin National Grasslands makes up much of the public holding, but large portions of public ground are not legally open to hunting, and contiguous public tracts are small. Private land dominates at 62% of the hunt area, and most is outfitted. Pressure concentrates on the accessible public parcels, making crowding a problem there even as private-land opportunity remains strong.

Getting in requires careful groundwork. Roads that appear public on mapping software are often private, and a hunter needs explicit permission to use them. A GPS unit with landownership mapping and access to the Thunder Basin National Grasslands Travel Management Map is essential—that map details which roads and campsites are open and which are closed. Walk-in access is available at Weston County Walk-In Area 15 during its open period. Success on accessible public land runs low, while private-land harvest is typically good, a split that reflects where the deer actually are. Most hunters here negotiate permission on outfitted private ground or focus their effort on mapped public land where access is clear.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 8 (Upton-Four Horse) 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 B, 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 15
Type 3 · Any white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – November 30
Type 8 · Doe or fawn white-tailed deer
Legal: white-tailed deer only
Archery September 1 – September 30Regular October 1 – November 30

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)

Archery hunting for antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer runs September 1–30, when bucks are shedding velvet and beginning their early fall transition. High temperatures average 74°F with lows around 44°F and almost no snow, making warm-weather hunting typical early in the month. Mule deer move across the mixed-grass prairie and through the rolling hills, while white-tailed deer remain concentrated on private land in riparian and cultivated areas. This is a good window for early-season public-land effort when crowds are lightest, though finding deer on the accessible public ground remains difficult. Regular hunting for the same animals runs October 1–15, a two-week window when bucks shift into the nocturnal phase and begin migrating. October weather cools significantly, with highs dropping to 58°F and lows to 32°F, and about 1 inch of snow possible mid-month. Most mule deer movement happens at night and in the early morning; dusk and dawn glassing becomes more productive as daylight hours shorten. Deer are more mobile across the landscape in this phase, and hunting the draws and breaks where deer move between feeding and bedding grounds improves chances. Access to public land remains the same constraint, though the colder weather and early snow can help reveal movement patterns.

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

Hunting for any white-tailed deer runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–November 30, a much longer span than the general-licence hunt and one that carries the hunter into the rut. Archery hunting coincides with the velvet-shed phase in September, when temperatures average 74°F and snow is minimal; white-tailed deer are still concentrated on private riparian and agricultural land and remain difficult to locate and access on public ground. The regular season is where this hunt's advantage emerges: it opens October 1 during the early fall migration and nocturnal buck phase, continues through the early pre-rut staging period in late October, and extends through the primary rut in November and the late rut into early December. Weather deteriorates across those months, with highs dropping from 58°F in October to 45°F in November and snow increasing from about 1 inch to 2.5 inches per month. The rut period—November and into early December—is when white-tailed bucks become more visible and responsive, moving actively to find does and sometimes less cautious in daylight. However, white-tailed deer remain sparse on public land and hunters without private-land access will struggle to find huntable populations.

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

Doe and fawn hunting for white-tailed deer mirrors the regular seasons for Type 3 but opens to antlerless animals only. Archery hunting runs September 1–30, when temperatures average 74°F and does and fawns are still concentrated on private land in riparian and cultivated areas; public-land opportunity is minimal. Regular hunting runs October 1–November 30, carrying the hunter through the early rut period and into November's primary rut phase. October sees highs of 58°F and early-month snow; November cools to average highs of 45°F with increased snowfall. During the rut, does become more active and visible as they evade pursuing bucks, though on public ground they remain scarce. This hunt type allows a hunter to take a white-tailed doe or fawn where one is encountered, extending the calendar deep into late fall, but the restriction to antlerless animals and the concentration of white-tailed deer on private land makes this hunt more limiting than the Type 3 any-white-tailed-deer option.

Land and access

private land62%

Private

National Forest18%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM15%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land6%

Generally open to public hunting

About 38% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM and State Trust Land, roughly 215 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 1 enrolled walk-in area. 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 Range16%

used in winter

Yearlong Range16%

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

Across the unit

Grass and meadow72%

Sagebrush25%

Other cover3%

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	12°F	3 in
February	36°F	13°F	3.8 in
March	47°F	22°F	2.8 in
April	55°F	29°F	2 in
May	65°F	39°F	0 in
June	76°F	48°F	0 in
July	86°F	55°F	0 in
August	85°F	53°F	0 in
September	74°F	44°F	0 in
October	58°F	32°F	1 in
November	45°F	21°F	2.5 in
December	35°F	12°F	3.9 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter use a general deer licence to hunt in this area?: A Wyoming resident may hunt this area on a general deer licence, which is purchased over the counter with no draw or preference points involved. A nonresident must draw a Region B general licence, which is valid across the general-licence hunt areas in that region, including hunt area 8. Nonresidents enter a draw pool where three-quarters of the available licences go to the preference-point draw, awarded to those with the most points, and one-quarter go to a random draw open to all applicants in the pool.
Which deer species can a hunter legally take in this area?: Hunt area 8 has three separate hunts with different legal animals. The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) permits either antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer. Type 3 and Type 8 hunts permit white-tailed deer only—mule deer are not legal on those hunts. A hunter needs to confirm which hunt their licence covers before the season opens.
When does hunting take place here?: The general-licence hunt (Type Gen) runs in two windows: archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–15. Type 3 (any white-tailed deer) runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–November 30. Type 8 (doe or fawn white-tailed deer) runs archery September 1–30 and regular October 1–November 30. The regular seasons overlap or extend well into the rut, particularly the Type 3 and Type 8 hunts.
How much of this hunt area is public land a hunter can count on?: About 38% of the hunt area is ground that can generally be relied on—National Forest, BLM, and State Trust Land totalling roughly 215 square miles. However, large portions of the public ground here are not legally accessible to hunters, and Thunder Basin National Grasslands, which holds much of the public acreage, has seasonal and area-specific travel and camping restrictions. A hunter must consult the Thunder Basin National Grasslands Travel Management Map and verify access before heading out.
Where do most deer in this area live and can a hunter find them on public land?: Most mule deer in hunt area 8 live on private land, and white-tailed deer are found almost exclusively on private ground in riparian areas and around cultivated fields. Success on public land runs low and crowding is common on the accessible parcels. Hunters planning to pursue either species should strongly consider negotiating permission on private land, where most of it is outfitted.

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