Can a hunter draw a pronghorn licence for hunt area 26 as a Wyoming resident without preference points?

Yes. The resident pronghorn draw for hunt area 26 is random—Wyoming residents do not use preference points for pronghorn at all. Every resident who applies enters a random draw for the available resident licences, and points have no bearing on the outcome.

What do nonresidents need to know about preference points for this hunt area?

For nonresidents, hunt area 26 is drawn in two pools. Three quarters of the nonresident licences are awarded by preference points, with the highest-point applicants drawn first; the remaining quarter go to a random draw open to all nonresidents in the pool. A nonresident without points can still draw, but points materially improve the odds.

How much of hunt area 26 can a hunter actually access for public-land hunting?

About 297 square miles of the 1,819-square-mile area is public land (BLM, State Trust Land, and National Forest combined), and seasonal walk-in areas add small parcels. However, public hunting is limited to ground adjacent to public roads—much mapped public land is not accessible. A hunter should research the specific parcel and access route before the season.

When do the pronghorn seasons run on hunt area 26?

Type 1 (any antelope) runs August 15 through October 14, split into archery (August 15–September 23) and regular seasons (September 24–October 14). Type 7 (doe or fawn valid within 1 mile of irrigated land) runs the same archery window but extends the regular season through October 31.

Why do hunters get told to hunt later in the season here?

Because public-land access is limited and tends to draw concentrated pressure early on, hunting in late September or October spreads out the hunters and lets an individual cover more ground without competing for the same few accessible spots. Antelope are well distributed throughout the area year-round, so the later hunt works strategically rather than waiting for animals to appear.

Wyoming Hunt Area 26 (Bear Creek) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

16%

Elevation

4,600–6,300 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 26 spreads across 1,819 square miles of rolling high plains and hills in the 4,600- to 6,300-foot band, with typical ground around 5,200 feet. The country is gentle—98% of it slopes under 9 degrees—and runs to sagebrush grasslands with meadow scattered through. A hunter covers a lot of ground on foot here, but the terrain itself is open country that rewards the ability to move and glass. The elevation and cover mean pronghorn are mapped across the whole area year-round, though they concentrate differently through the seasons.

Access is the hunt's real constraint. Sixteen percent of the area—roughly 297 square miles—is public ground that a hunter can depend on: BLM, State Trust Land, and National Forest scattered in small parcels. The rest is private, and much of it is outfitted. Two walk-in areas enroll land seasonally, but their acreage shifts with renegotiation each year. Public land and walk-in hunting stays tethered to small pockets along the 55 Ranch Road and the Ross Road, and a few parcels northwest of Bill; ground not adjacent to public roads stays off-limits. Much of the public land on the map is not actually accessible. Roads through the area turn to mud and become nearly impassable when wet, and some private roads can look public but are not. Energy development in portions of the area has built maintained private roads that remain closed to the public and has sometimes scattered antelope unevenly. A hunter planning to foot public ground needs to research the specific parcel first; one planning to hunt private land nearly always has to secure permission well ahead, and outfitting is thick here.

Because public access is patchy and crowded, later-season hunting spreads the pressure and can pay off. Antelope are well distributed through most of the area, and success is typically good, so the strategy is not to wait for animals to move but to wait for other hunters to thin out and leave room to hunt the ground properly.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 26 (Bear Creek) 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 23Regular September 24 – October 14
Type 7 · Doe or fawn valid on or within (1) mile of irrigated land
Archery August 15 – September 23Regular September 24 – October 31

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–October)

Hunters pursuing any antelope can start with archery from August 15 through September 23, when pronghorn are settling into territory and the rut begins to build. Temperatures run warm—highs near 85 degrees in August cooling toward the high 70s by late September—and mornings and evenings remain cool, with no snow. The archery window shifts into the primary rut as September deepens, concentrating bucks and making them more visible and responsive. The regular season from September 24 through October 14 overlaps the rut's peak and carries it into the post-rut recovery phase, when bucks begin to relax slightly and antelope are still actively moving. October temperatures drop steadily, reaching highs around 59 degrees and lows near freezing by month's end, with trace snowfall possible late in the window. Access on public ground remains the limiting factor throughout; crowding on accessible parcels is typical early season, making the later regular-season dates a strategic advantage for a hunter willing to move ground.

Type 7 — Doe or fawn valid on or within (1)… (August–October)

Hunters with a doe or fawn licence valid within 1 mile of irrigated land can take the same archery window from August 15 through September 23 during the pre-rut and primary rut phases, when animals move across the landscape to feeding and watering grounds. Warm August weather shifts to cooler September mornings and evenings, with clear skies and zero snowfall across both months. The regular season for this licence extends from September 24 through October 31, pushing well past the rut into the post-rut recovery phase and into fall grouping as pronghorn begin shifting toward winter movement patterns. By late October, temperatures drop to highs near 59 degrees and lows around 32 degrees, with sporadic early snow; the season's longer tail is a real advantage in autumn conditions when animals often concentrate in predictable areas. Access pressures affect this hunt equally—public ground is patchy and often crowded early—and the combination of the later season window and the doe-and-fawn licence's focus on irrigated-land margins can work together to spread a hunter's effort across more ground.

Land and access

private land84%

Private

BLM7%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land7%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest2%

Generally open to public hunting

About 16% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Trust Land and National Forest, roughly 297 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 2 enrolled walk-in areas. 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 pronghorn are mapped

Yearlong Range100%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range23%

used in winter

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

Across the unit

Grass and meadow54%

Sagebrush44%

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	36°F	13°F	2.7 in
February	37°F	14°F	3.5 in
March	48°F	23°F	2.5 in
April	55°F	29°F	1.8 in
May	65°F	39°F	0 in
June	77°F	48°F	0 in
July	86°F	55°F	0 in
August	85°F	53°F	0 in
September	74°F	43°F	0 in
October	59°F	32°F	0.8 in
November	45°F	22°F	1.8 in
December	35°F	14°F	3.4 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw a pronghorn licence for hunt area 26 as a Wyoming resident without preference points?: Yes. The resident pronghorn draw for hunt area 26 is random—Wyoming residents do not use preference points for pronghorn at all. Every resident who applies enters a random draw for the available resident licences, and points have no bearing on the outcome.
What do nonresidents need to know about preference points for this hunt area?: For nonresidents, hunt area 26 is drawn in two pools. Three quarters of the nonresident licences are awarded by preference points, with the highest-point applicants drawn first; the remaining quarter go to a random draw open to all nonresidents in the pool. A nonresident without points can still draw, but points materially improve the odds.
How much of hunt area 26 can a hunter actually access for public-land hunting?: About 297 square miles of the 1,819-square-mile area is public land (BLM, State Trust Land, and National Forest combined), and seasonal walk-in areas add small parcels. However, public hunting is limited to ground adjacent to public roads—much mapped public land is not accessible. A hunter should research the specific parcel and access route before the season.
When do the pronghorn seasons run on hunt area 26?: Type 1 (any antelope) runs August 15 through October 14, split into archery (August 15–September 23) and regular seasons (September 24–October 14). Type 7 (doe or fawn valid within 1 mile of irrigated land) runs the same archery window but extends the regular season through October 31.
Why do hunters get told to hunt later in the season here?: Because public-land access is limited and tends to draw concentrated pressure early on, hunting in late September or October spreads out the hunters and lets an individual cover more ground without competing for the same few accessible spots. Antelope are well distributed throughout the area year-round, so the later hunt works strategically rather than waiting for animals to appear.

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