Can a hunter draw hunt area 45 without preference points?

A Wyoming resident draws this area through a random selection with no preference points used at all. Nonresidents compete in a draw where three quarters of the licenses go to applicants with the most points, while a quarter of the licenses are awarded randomly to any applicant regardless of points.

How much private land is off-limits to pronghorn hunters in this area?

About 52% of hunt area 45 is private ground. Hunters can access some private acreage through two hunter management areas—Strouss Hill and X-Bar Ranch—but both require a printed permission slip obtained in advance before hunting.

Can a hunter count on finding public land open to pronghorn in this area?

Around 305 square miles of public ground—roughly 47% of the area—is generally accessible, including National Forest, State Trust Land, BLM and State Wildlife Areas. However, most State of Wyoming and BLM lands here are not reliably reachable, and the National Forest holdings rarely hold pronghorn. Walk-in access is available at Albany County Walk In Area 1.

When does the pronghorn rut peak in hunt area 45?

The primary rut runs from early September through mid-September. Archery hunters fishing the pre-rut and early rut phases in August and early September encounter animals still forming territories and engaging in early breeding behavior, while rifle hunters from mid-September onward hunt pronghorn in the thick of the rut through the later recovery phases into October.

Wyoming Hunt Area 45 (West Laramie) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

47%

Elevation

7,100–12,000 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 45 is high country grassland with little terrain relief, ranging from 7,100 to 12,000 feet and averaging gentle slope throughout. The shortgrass prairie dominates the lower and middle elevations, broken by the Little Laramie River corridor in the central part of the area, which supports extensive riparian cover and irrigated hay meadows. Higher elevations shift toward conifer forest, though pronghorn rarely venture there. The lack of terrain variation makes this ground taxing to hunt—a hunter must work it methodically without the help of rimrock or ridge country to focus the search.

Pronghorn are scattered across the shortgrass prairie but concentrate on the irrigated hay meadows, making private ground along the river and its bottomlands attractive to animals and inaccessible to most hunters. Public land totals around 305 square miles, roughly 47% of the area, across National Forest, State Trust Land, BLM and State Wildlife Areas, but access is compromised. Most State of Wyoming and BLM acreage lies beyond practical reach, and the National Forest lands here rarely hold pronghorn. Walk-in access is available through Albany County Walk In Area 1, and two hunter management areas—Strouss Hill and X-Bar Ranch—enroll private ground seasonally, though both require printed permission before entry. The combination of limited public-land pronghorn habitat and pressure concentrated on it means a hunter working here should plan to avoid weekends and hunt later in the season when the crowd thins.

Wind dominates the fall and winter experience in this hunt area, with speeds commonly reaching 40 to 80 mph that make glassing and stalking difficult and exhausting.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 45 (West Laramie) 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 14Regular September 15 – October 31
Type 6 · Doe or fawn
Archery August 15 – September 14Regular September 15 – 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)

Archery and rifle hunting for any pronghorn overlaps two major phases of the rut. The August 15 archery opener coincides with animals claiming territory and early breeding behavior, a time when bucks are responsive to calls and decoying. Conditions are warm, with August highs averaging 76 degrees and nearly no snow, but the hunt shifts into September as the month progresses, cooling into the 60s by mid-month with light snow occasional but not yet a constraint. By the time the September 15 rifle season opens, the rut is at its peak; pronghorn are concentrated and restless, though the hunting grows more difficult as September cools toward October. The rifle window extends through October 31, spanning the late rut recovery phase and fall regrouping as animals shift toward winter patterns. October brings significant cooling, with highs dropping to the mid-50s, freezing nights, and roughly 4 inches of monthly snowfall that can accumulate. Wind remains the defining weather factor throughout, commonly exceeding 40 mph and often reaching 80 mph, which shapes how a hunter can glass and stalk. Access to public ground is limited to walk-in areas and hunter management areas requiring advance permission, concentrating hunting pressure on a small footprint; hunters are encouraged to hunt later in the season and avoid weekends to spread pressure.

Type 6 — Doe or fawn (August–October)

The doe and fawn season runs the same dates and spans the same two rut phases as the any-pronghorn hunt, from August 15 archery through October 31 rifle. Hunting for does and fawns follows the same rut-driven movements and weather progression as the any-pronghorn season, though the timing of the rut—beginning in August territory formation and cresting in early September—affects doe behavior differently, with females entering estrus and becoming more vulnerable to approach as the primary rut peaks. The doe season allows a hunter to target females and young animals from the archery opener through the entire fall window, provided access to ground where they concentrate. The same access constraints apply: public land is limited, walk-in areas offer the most reliable open ground, and hunter management areas require printed permission obtained before the hunt. Wind and cooling temperatures follow the same progression, with October snowfall and extreme wind speeds continuing to define the experience.

Land and access

private land52%

Private

National Forest35%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land7%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM4%

Generally open to public hunting

unclassified ownership1%

Ownership unclassified

About 47% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, State Trust Land, BLM and State Wildlife Areas, roughly 305 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 40% 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 1 enrolled walk-in area. It also holds 2 Hunter Management Areas. 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

Winter Range59%

used in winter

Yearlong Range44%

the only layer that means year-round use

Crucial Winter Range15%

the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it

Summer Range3%

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

Grass and meadow41%

Sagebrush36%

Other cover12%

Riparian11%

Mid elevations

Grass and meadow52%

Sagebrush25%

Conifer10%

Riparian9%

Aspen2%

Other cover2%

Higher elevations

Conifer73%

Grass and meadow13%

Sagebrush7%

Aspen4%

Riparian2%

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	33°F	11°F	13.3 in
February	35°F	12°F	12.6 in
March	43°F	18°F	11.6 in
April	50°F	24°F	6.5 in
May	60°F	32°F	0.6 in
June	71°F	40°F	0 in
July	78°F	46°F	0 in
August	76°F	44°F	0 in
September	68°F	37°F	0.3 in
October	55°F	27°F	4.1 in
November	41°F	18°F	10.1 in
December	32°F	11°F	15 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw hunt area 45 without preference points?: A Wyoming resident draws this area through a random selection with no preference points used at all. Nonresidents compete in a draw where three quarters of the licenses go to applicants with the most points, while a quarter of the licenses are awarded randomly to any applicant regardless of points.
How much private land is off-limits to pronghorn hunters in this area?: About 52% of hunt area 45 is private ground. Hunters can access some private acreage through two hunter management areas—Strouss Hill and X-Bar Ranch—but both require a printed permission slip obtained in advance before hunting.
Can a hunter count on finding public land open to pronghorn in this area?: Around 305 square miles of public ground—roughly 47% of the area—is generally accessible, including National Forest, State Trust Land, BLM and State Wildlife Areas. However, most State of Wyoming and BLM lands here are not reliably reachable, and the National Forest holdings rarely hold pronghorn. Walk-in access is available at Albany County Walk In Area 1.
When does the pronghorn rut peak in hunt area 45?: The primary rut runs from early September through mid-September. Archery hunters fishing the pre-rut and early rut phases in August and early September encounter animals still forming territories and engaging in early breeding behavior, while rifle hunters from mid-September onward hunt pronghorn in the thick of the rut through the later recovery phases into October.
What is the weather like during pronghorn season in this area?: August highs average around 76 degrees with nights dropping to the mid-40s and virtually no snow. September cools to highs near 68 degrees with light snowfall. October brings significant cooling, with highs around 55 degrees, harder freezes near 27 degrees, and roughly 4 inches of snowfall during the month. Extreme winds of 40 to 80 mph are common throughout the fall.

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