Can a hunter access public land in hunt area 29 with any license type?

No. Type 1 is the only license valid on public land in this hunt area. Type 2 and Type 7 are restricted to private land only, so a hunter drawn for either of those must have private permission before applying for the license.

Which walk-in areas does a hunter need permission to enter?

Neither. Converse County Walk In Area 12 and Converse County Walk In Area 14 require no permission slip and no application—a hunter may walk into them during the posted open season, subject to their rules. Since enrollment is renegotiated annually, a hunter should check that a particular walk-in area is enrolled before planning a hunt there.

What happens to a resident's pronghorn draw if the lottery does not come through?

There is no fallback. Wyoming issues no general or region pronghorn license over the counter. The resident draw for this hunt area is random and specific to hunt area 29. If a resident is not drawn, there is no alternative license.

How much public land is there in hunt area 29?

About 332 square miles of the 1,265-square-mile area is publicly owned (BLM, National Forest, and State Trust Land). However, a large block of that National Forest land is not publicly accessible, and the rest is broken by private inholdings and seasonal closures. A hunter should map the area and scout carefully before the season.

Do nonresidents need preference points for hunt area 29?

Preference points affect nonresident odds but not resident odds. For nonresidents, three-quarters of the available licenses go to the preference-point draw (top applicants by points), and a quarter go to a random draw. Residents draw randomly regardless of preference points.

Wyoming Hunt Area 29 (Shawneee) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

26%

Elevation

4,000–5,600 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 29 spreads across rolling prairie and sagebrush grassland between 4,000 and 5,600 feet, with typical ground near 4,700 feet. Nearly all of it is gentle terrain—rolling rather than steep, graded throughout at a mean slope of 3.5 degrees. Grass and meadow make up about 69% of the cover, sagebrush another 27%, and the rest scattered shrub or conifer. The landscape is marked by energy-industry infrastructure in places, which disrupts the country in patches and keeps some roads busy. Southern portions include agricultural fields, a different hunting dynamic than the open range. About three-quarters of the area is private land. Public access amounts to roughly a quarter of the hunt area—mostly BLM, National Forest, and State Trust Land—but ownership on the ground is broken and tangled with private inholdings, seasonal access gates, and closed or impassable roads. A large contiguous block of National Forest land in this area cannot be hunted; other Forest sections further north are open. The walk-in areas enrolled through Converse County provide access without a permission slip, though enrollment shifts year to year and their rules govern their use.

Getting onto public ground takes planning and a good map—a GPS unit or phone app with landownership boundaries is genuinely useful here. Pronghorn move freely between public and private as the season shifts, and Type 1 licences are the only ones valid on public land; Type 2 and Type 7 are private-land only. A hunter drawn for Type 2 or Type 7 therefore needs private permission locked in before the application, not after the draw. The country does not reward casual access, and casual scouting is harder than on less fragmented ground. The access rating for this area is poor, and that assessment matches what a hunter encounters in the field.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 29 (Shawneee) 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 – October 15
Type 2 · Any antelope valid on private land
Archery August 15 – September 30Regular October 1 – October 31
Type 7 · Doe or fawn valid on private land
Archery August 15 – September 30Regular October 1 – 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)

Type 1 hunters chase any pronghorn across both public and private land during the archery period and regular season combined. The archery window from mid-August through September catches pronghorn in pre-rut and into the primary rut, when bucks are territorial and visible; the regular season from October 1 through 15 extends into late rut and post-rut recovery, when animals are still callable but beginning to group. August stays warm with highs near 87 degrees and no snow, September cools to highs around 77 degrees, and October continues cooling toward 61 degrees with occasional light snow accumulating about 0.6 inches for the month. Public land is fragmented in this hunt area and parts are inaccessible, so success depends on knowing what ground is open and being willing to walk rough terrain. This license is the only one valid on public land.

Type 2 — Any antelope valid on private land (August–October)

Type 2 hunters are restricted to private land and can take any pronghorn during archery in mid-August through September and regular season through the end of October. The archery period overlaps the pre-rut and primary rut when bucks hold territory and are responsive to calling; the regular season extends from early October into late rut, post-rut recovery, and fall grouping, capturing a longer window as pronghorn begin moving toward winter patterns. Temperature drops from August highs in the upper 80s through September in the mid-70s to October highs around 61 degrees, and October may bring light snow of about half an inch. Access to private land is not guaranteed and must be arranged before drawing the license. Type 2 is specifically valid on private land only and is not usable on any public ground.

Type 7 — Doe or fawn valid on private land (August–October)

Type 7 hunters can take only does or fawns on private land during the same archery and regular-season windows as Type 2. Doe and fawn hunting during archery in mid-August through September coincides with the pre-rut and primary rut, when females may be more visible as they move in nursery groups; the regular season through October extends into late rut and fall grouping, when groups consolidate and travel patterns stabilize. Weather runs from August highs near 87 degrees through October highs around 61 degrees, with October snowfall averaging about 0.6 inches monthly. Private land permission is essential before applying for this license, and access on public land is not allowed. Type 7 is for antlerless animals on private land only.

Land and access

private land74%

Private

BLM10%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest10%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land6%

Generally open to public hunting

About 26% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, National Forest and State Trust Land, roughly 332 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 Range91%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range9%

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 meadow69%

Sagebrush27%

Other cover2%

Conifer1%

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	38°F	13°F	1.8 in
February	40°F	15°F	3 in
March	50°F	23°F	1.9 in
April	58°F	30°F	1.2 in
May	68°F	40°F	0 in
June	80°F	49°F	0 in
July	89°F	56°F	0 in
August	87°F	54°F	0 in
September	77°F	44°F	0 in
October	61°F	32°F	0.6 in
November	48°F	21°F	1.6 in
December	38°F	14°F	2.4 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter access public land in hunt area 29 with any license type?: No. Type 1 is the only license valid on public land in this hunt area. Type 2 and Type 7 are restricted to private land only, so a hunter drawn for either of those must have private permission before applying for the license.
Which walk-in areas does a hunter need permission to enter?: Neither. Converse County Walk In Area 12 and Converse County Walk In Area 14 require no permission slip and no application—a hunter may walk into them during the posted open season, subject to their rules. Since enrollment is renegotiated annually, a hunter should check that a particular walk-in area is enrolled before planning a hunt there.
What happens to a resident's pronghorn draw if the lottery does not come through?: There is no fallback. Wyoming issues no general or region pronghorn license over the counter. The resident draw for this hunt area is random and specific to hunt area 29. If a resident is not drawn, there is no alternative license.
How much public land is there in hunt area 29?: About 332 square miles of the 1,265-square-mile area is publicly owned (BLM, National Forest, and State Trust Land). However, a large block of that National Forest land is not publicly accessible, and the rest is broken by private inholdings and seasonal closures. A hunter should map the area and scout carefully before the season.
Do nonresidents need preference points for hunt area 29?: Preference points affect nonresident odds but not resident odds. For nonresidents, three-quarters of the available licenses go to the preference-point draw (top applicants by points), and a quarter go to a random draw. Residents draw randomly regardless of preference points.

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