Can a hunter draw a general or region pronghorn licence for hunt area 20, or is it drawn individually?

Hunt area 20 is a limited-quota hunt area drawn individually for that specific area; Wyoming issues no general pronghorn licence over the counter and no region pronghorn licence for pronghorn. Both resident and nonresident hunters must draw for this area specifically. If a hunter's name is not drawn, there is no alternative licence to fall back on.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw pronghorn in hunt area 20?

Wyoming residents do not earn or use preference points for pronghorn in any hunt area, including hunt area 20. The resident pronghorn draw is random, with no points at all. Nonresidents, by contrast, do compete on preference points: three quarters of nonresident licences are awarded top-down by points, and a quarter go to a random draw.

How much public land can a hunter actually access in hunt area 20?

About 40% of hunt area 20 is public ground a hunter can generally count on, including BLM, State Trust Land, and National Forest. Most of this lies along Highways 191 and 196 and county roads. However, many public parcels do not support antelope, many are not easily accessible, and early-season hunter density is heavy on the patches that are both huntable and open. Later in the season pressure eases.

Where do pronghorn go as the season progresses through hunt area 20?

Through summer and early fall, pronghorn inhabit the mountain grasslands and mid-elevation country. By mid-October, most animals have moved to lower elevations away from the high country. A hunter pursuing the archery season will find pronghorn higher up; a hunter in the regular season after October 15 will concentrate on the lower terrain off the mountain.

Can a hunter access private land in hunt area 20, and how difficult is it to arrange?

Most private ground in hunt area 20 is not open to casual hunting, and access is difficult to arrange without prior agreement. Opportunity on private land is limited mostly to outfitters and trespass-fee hunts. Hunters relying on public land should be prepared for heavy pressure early in the season and for pronghorn to move off public ground onto private land as the hunt unfolds.

Wyoming Hunt Area 20 (Upper Powder River) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

40%

Elevation

4,600–10,500 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 20 spans 818 square miles of broken country along the Bighorn Mountains and the gentler terrain rolling away to the east. Nearly three-quarters of the ground is gentle, sloping an average of 7.8 degrees, but elevation runs from 4,600 feet on the lower benches to 10,500 feet near the high ridges, with typical ground around 6,100 feet. Lower elevations are sagebrush-dominated, about 69% sagebrush and 22% grass and meadow, which pronghorn use heavily. Higher on the mountains, conifer takes over nearly half the ground, but sagebrush and grassland remain substantial—29% and 24% respectively—and hold antelope especially through summer and early fall. Mid-elevation country mixes all three, 42% sagebrush, 30% grass and meadow, 27% conifer, a transition zone pronghorn move through as seasons shift.

Public access here is limited and hunting pressure concentrates on what is open. About 40% of the area is public ground a hunter can generally count on—BLM, State Trust Land, and National Forest. Most accessible public land lies along Highways 191 and 196 and county roads; many parcels do not support antelope, and many are not easily reached from a road. Expect hunter density to be heavy early in the season, especially on the small patches of public ground that are both open and huntable. As pressure builds on public land, pronghorn move to adjacent private ground, which frustrates hunters without access agreements. Dispersed camping on BLM lands is common and spreads hunters across the country, but securing permission to hunt private ground takes legwork—most private opportunity is available through outfitters or on a trespass-fee basis.

Pronghorn use the mountain grasslands and mid-elevation country heavily through summer and early fall, but by mid-October most animals have shifted to lower elevations away from the high country. The regular season therefore hunts a very different landscape and pronghorn distribution than archery season does, concentrating opportunity on the lower benches and open terrain.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 20 (Upper Powder River) 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 – October 14Regular October 15 – November 15
Type 6 · Doe or fawn
Archery August 15 – October 14Regular October 15 – November 15

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)

Hunting pronghorn in hunt area 20 through the archery and regular seasons (August 15 through November 15) follows the animals' shift from higher country to lower elevations as autumn deepens. The archery window from August 15 through October 14 opens during the pre-rut and primary rut, when bucks are territorial and more visible, and temperatures still run warm—highs near 81°F in August cooling to 55°F by early October. Pronghorn occupy the mountain grasslands and mid-elevation sagebrush during this period, spreading across the country and making them more available to hunters willing to cover ground on foot. Once the regular season opens on October 15, the rut enters its late phase and transition to fall grouping, and temperatures drop sharply—highs near 55°F at the month's start falling to 43°F by November—with snowfall rising from roughly 1.2 inches in October to 3.4 inches in November. By mid-October most pronghorn have moved to lower elevations off the mountain, concentrating opportunity on the open terrain of the lower benches where public access is limited and hunting pressure is heavy.

Type 6 — Doe or fawn (August–November)

Hunters holding a doe or fawn licence can pursue any female or young animal from August 15 through November 15, following the same archery and regular season windows and rut phases. The archery season through October 14 opens during the pre-rut and primary rut, when doe herds are visible and concentrated, and warm conditions—highs around 81°F in August dropping to 55°F by early October—allow long days of foot hunting in the mountain grasslands and mid-elevation country where females concentrate. The regular season from October 15 through November 15 hunts the late rut and fall grouping as temperatures plunge from 55°F to 43°F and snow accumulates, with pronghorn having shifted by mid-October to lower elevations away from the high country. This hunt is not valid across all of hunt area 20; it is limited to specific portions of the area as defined by the regulations—a hunter should verify the exact boundaries before planning the hunt. Access remains limited to the same public parcels and private-land opportunities available to any-antelope hunters, and early-season pressure on open public ground is heavy.

Land and access

private land60%

Private

BLM22%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land11%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest7%

Generally open to public hunting

About 40% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest, roughly 328 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 10% 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 pronghorn are mapped

Yearlong Range45%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range29%

used in winter

Summer Range18%

used in summer

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

Sagebrush69%

Grass and meadow22%

Other cover6%

Riparian4%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush42%

Grass and meadow30%

Conifer27%

Higher elevations

Conifer46%

Sagebrush29%

Grass and meadow24%

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	3.5 in
February	36°F	13°F	4.5 in
March	46°F	21°F	4.1 in
April	52°F	28°F	2.3 in
May	62°F	37°F	0.1 in
June	73°F	46°F	0 in
July	83°F	53°F	0 in
August	81°F	51°F	0 in
September	70°F	42°F	0 in
October	55°F	31°F	1.2 in
November	43°F	20°F	3.4 in
December	34°F	13°F	5 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw a general or region pronghorn licence for hunt area 20, or is it drawn individually?: Hunt area 20 is a limited-quota hunt area drawn individually for that specific area; Wyoming issues no general pronghorn licence over the counter and no region pronghorn licence for pronghorn. Both resident and nonresident hunters must draw for this area specifically. If a hunter's name is not drawn, there is no alternative licence to fall back on.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw pronghorn in hunt area 20?: Wyoming residents do not earn or use preference points for pronghorn in any hunt area, including hunt area 20. The resident pronghorn draw is random, with no points at all. Nonresidents, by contrast, do compete on preference points: three quarters of nonresident licences are awarded top-down by points, and a quarter go to a random draw.
How much public land can a hunter actually access in hunt area 20?: About 40% of hunt area 20 is public ground a hunter can generally count on, including BLM, State Trust Land, and National Forest. Most of this lies along Highways 191 and 196 and county roads. However, many public parcels do not support antelope, many are not easily accessible, and early-season hunter density is heavy on the patches that are both huntable and open. Later in the season pressure eases.
Where do pronghorn go as the season progresses through hunt area 20?: Through summer and early fall, pronghorn inhabit the mountain grasslands and mid-elevation country. By mid-October, most animals have moved to lower elevations away from the high country. A hunter pursuing the archery season will find pronghorn higher up; a hunter in the regular season after October 15 will concentrate on the lower terrain off the mountain.
Can a hunter access private land in hunt area 20, and how difficult is it to arrange?: Most private ground in hunt area 20 is not open to casual hunting, and access is difficult to arrange without prior agreement. Opportunity on private land is limited mostly to outfitters and trespass-fee hunts. Hunters relying on public land should be prepared for heavy pressure early in the season and for pronghorn to move off public ground onto private land as the hunt unfolds.

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