Can a hunter draw hunt area 109 on a general or region licence?

No. Every pronghorn hunt area in Wyoming is limited quota, drawn individually. There is no general pronghorn licence sold over the counter in Wyoming and no region licence for pronghorn. A hunter must draw a licence for this specific hunt area.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points for pronghorn in this hunt area?

No. Residents have no pronghorn preference points in Wyoming, and the resident pronghorn draw is random. Nonresidents, however, do use preference points: three quarters of nonresident licences are awarded by points (top-down to those with the most), and a quarter go to a random drawing among all nonresidents in the pool.

How much public land can a hunter count on in hunt area 109?

About 57 square miles, or roughly 12% of the area—State Trust Land, State Wildlife Areas, BLM, and National Forest ground. Private land comprises the rest. Public access still faces roads, trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings, so ground is not uniformly available.

Are there walk-in areas open to public hunting here?

Yes, there are six walk-in areas enrolled in this hunt area, including Sheridan County Walk-In Areas 7, 8, and 11. A hunter may walk in during the posted open period on walk-in areas without a permission slip. Enrollment is renegotiated annually, so availability should be confirmed before the season.

When do archery and rifle seasons run for pronghorn here?

Archery runs August 15 through September 30. Rifle season (called regular season) runs October 1 through November 30. Both seasons are part of the same draw—a hunter applies for a specific season type, not a hunt-area licence that covers both.

Wyoming Hunt Area 109 (Beckton) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

12%

Elevation

3,600–8,600 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 109 spans prairie, rolling hills and the eastern foothills of the Bighorn Mountains across 491 square miles, ranging from 3,600 feet in the lower country to 8,600 feet in the high terrain. The landscape is predominantly gentle, with 80% of the area graded as gentle terrain, making it accessible to foot hunters across much of the ground. Habitats shift with elevation: sagebrush and grass dominate the lower country alongside some developed ranchland and agricultural ground, while mid elevations bring more sagebrush and meadow, and the higher foothills grade toward conifer and aspen forest. Considerable rural residential development limits where a hunter can actually work, and larger ranches with higher pronghorn densities are generally outfitted private ground.

About 57 square miles of the hunt area—roughly 12%—is ground a hunter can generally count on: State Trust Land, State Wildlife Areas, BLM, and National Forest ground. The remainder is private land, much of it off-limits. Six walk-in areas and one hunter management area (Soldier Creek) offer limited harvest opportunity on private ground enrolled by agreement, but access there is renegotiated annually and not guaranteed to persist. Expect high hunter densities on whatever public land holds pronghorn, especially early in the season. A very limited amount of public ground here actually harbors antelope, and outfitting and private access dominate opportunity; this hunt area presents a difficult access puzzle for a walk-in hunter.

Archery runs mid-August through September as the rut builds and then peaks, offering hunting across territory formation and the primary rut into early post-rut recovery, with warm early-season temperatures cooling steadily into fall. Regular rifle season spans October and November, pushing through the late rut recovery phase and into fall grouping as animals shift toward winter patterns and weather turns cold, with snowfall totaling around 1.7 inches in October and 2.8 inches in November.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 109 (Beckton) is limited quota. A licence for it must be drawn for this hunt area specifically, by resident and nonresident alike. Wyoming issues no general pronghorn licence and no region pronghorn licence, so there is no over-the-counter option and no regional fallback: every pronghorn hunt area in the state is drawn on its own.

Wyoming residents have no preference points for pronghorn — the resident pronghorn 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 1 · Any antelope
Archery August 15 – September 30Regular October 1 – November 30
Type 6 · Doe or fawn
Archery August 15 – September 30Regular October 1 – November 30

The wording of each hunt is the Wyoming Game & Fish Department’s and is legally exact — a “cow or calf” hunt is not a pronghorn 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 1 — Any antelope (August–November)

Archery hunting spans mid-August through late September as pronghorn move through territory formation, the primary rut, and early post-rut recovery, concentrating animals and making them responsive to calling and decoys. Temperatures start warm in mid-August around 84°F and cool steadily into the low 50s by late September, with virtually no snow at elevation; warm daytime hunting shifts to cooler mornings and evenings as the season progresses. Public land holds sparse pronghorn and draws heavy early-season pressure; walk-in areas and the Soldier Creek Hunter Management Area (which requires a printed permission slip before hunting) offer limited alternatives, though most pronghorn on accessible ground are found in small scattered groups rather than bunches. This season allows any antelope—buck, doe, or fawn.

Type 6 — Doe or fawn (August–November)

Doe and fawn hunting under archery (mid-August to late September) and rifle (October through November) mirrors the timing and conditions of the any-antelope season but is restricted to female animals and fawns, allowing more selective harvest on does and young animals. Early archery months bring warm weather and rut activity; the rifle portion pushes through late October cold and into November's harder freeze as animals group for winter and snow accumulates—early October can bring 1.7 inches of monthly snow and November averages 2.8 inches. Public ground scarcity and high accessible-area pressure remain challenges, and the Soldier Creek HMA requires advance permission for entry. This season is limited to does and fawns only.

Land and access

private land88%

Private

State Trust Land8%

Generally open to public hunting

State Wildlife Areas3%

Generally open to public hunting

About 12% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — State Trust Land, State Wildlife Areas, BLM and National Forest, roughly 57 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.

This hunt area has 6 enrolled walk-in areas. It also holds 1 Hunter Management Area. 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 pronghorn are mapped

Yearlong Range27%

the only layer that means year-round use

Each figure is the share of the hunt area that layer covers. It says where pronghorn are mapped, not where inside the area they are, and not when they move.

Habitat and cover

Lower elevations

Sagebrush33%

Other cover30%

Grass and meadow25%

Riparian12%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush44%

Grass and meadow35%

Other cover15%

Riparian7%

Higher elevations

Conifer31%

Sagebrush30%

Grass and meadow28%

Aspen7%

Riparian3%

Other cover2%

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	37°F	14°F	5.6 in
February	38°F	15°F	5.2 in
March	47°F	22°F	3.5 in
April	55°F	29°F	1.8 in
May	64°F	38°F	0.1 in
June	74°F	47°F	0 in
July	85°F	53°F	0 in
August	84°F	51°F	0 in
September	73°F	43°F	0 in
October	58°F	32°F	1.7 in
November	45°F	22°F	2.8 in
December	36°F	14°F	5.6 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw hunt area 109 on a general or region licence?: No. Every pronghorn hunt area in Wyoming is limited quota, drawn individually. There is no general pronghorn licence sold over the counter in Wyoming and no region licence for pronghorn. A hunter must draw a licence for this specific hunt area.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points for pronghorn in this hunt area?: No. Residents have no pronghorn preference points in Wyoming, and the resident pronghorn draw is random. Nonresidents, however, do use preference points: three quarters of nonresident licences are awarded by points (top-down to those with the most), and a quarter go to a random drawing among all nonresidents in the pool.
How much public land can a hunter count on in hunt area 109?: About 57 square miles, or roughly 12% of the area—State Trust Land, State Wildlife Areas, BLM, and National Forest ground. Private land comprises the rest. Public access still faces roads, trailheads, seasonal closures, and private inholdings, so ground is not uniformly available.
Are there walk-in areas open to public hunting here?: Yes, there are six walk-in areas enrolled in this hunt area, including Sheridan County Walk-In Areas 7, 8, and 11. A hunter may walk in during the posted open period on walk-in areas without a permission slip. Enrollment is renegotiated annually, so availability should be confirmed before the season.
When do archery and rifle seasons run for pronghorn here?: Archery runs August 15 through September 30. Rifle season (called regular season) runs October 1 through November 30. Both seasons are part of the same draw—a hunter applies for a specific season type, not a hunt-area licence that covers both.

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 pronghorn hunt areas