Can a hunter draw for hunt area 48 on a general or region pronghorn licence?

No. Pronghorn hunting in Wyoming is limited-quota by specific hunt area; every hunter, resident or nonresident, must draw for hunt area 48 individually. Wyoming offers no general pronghorn licence sold over the counter and no region licence valid across multiple areas.

What preference points do Wyoming residents need to draw hunt area 48?

Residents do not use preference points for pronghorn in Wyoming. The resident pronghorn draw for hunt area 48 is random, with no points system and no point cutoff. Nonresidents, by contrast, compete in a preference-point draw where three quarters of the licenses are awarded by points and one quarter are drawn at random.

How much of hunt area 48 can a hunter actually access?

Public land makes up roughly 49% of the hunt area, but the southern half is a checkerboard of alternating private and public ownership where public parcels are often difficult to reach. The northern half offers better public access via the Hanna-Leo Draw, Leo-Shirley Basin, and Dry Creek roads. Walk-in areas and the Hanna Draw Hunter Management Area add opportunity but are not guaranteed year to year.

When does the pronghorn rut peak on this area?

The primary rut typically peaks in the last week of September and the first part of October. Archery seasons run during the weeks before peak rut, while regular rifle seasons overlap the peak and extend into the post-rut recovery phase.

What are the season dates for hunt area 48?

Type 1 (any antelope) runs archery August 15–September 24 and rifle September 25–October 31. Type 2 (any antelope) runs archery August 15–September 24 and rifle October 5–October 31. Type 6 (doe or fawn only) runs archery August 15–September 24 and rifle September 25–October 31.

Wyoming Hunt Area 48 (Leo-Hanna) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

49%

Elevation

5,700–9,000 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 48 spans 857 square miles of topographically diverse country ranging from 5,700 feet along river bottoms to 9,000 feet in the high mountains. The northern half is dominated by broad rolling plains of sagebrush and grassland in the Shirley Basin, while the south contains steep irregular mountains, canyons, draws, and broken rimrock along the Medicine Bow River. The terrain averages 5.1 degrees of slope, with the vast majority gentle ground; 86% of it slopes gently, 13% moderately, and only 1% steeply. Sagebrush covers 83% of the area, with grass and meadow taking 9%, conifer 4%, and riparian and other cover together 3%. Pronghorn here are not confined to high country or low country but can be found throughout the hunt area except in the open forests and mountain brush of the highest foothills. In summer and fall they concentrate on irrigated croplands and riparian meadows, which are more abundant in the north, and in drier years they make heavy use of lower sagebrush and greasewood flats. Water availability drives where to find them.

Getting onto public ground is the main challenge. About half the hunt area is public land — BLM and State Trust Land totaling roughly 49% of the ground, or about 421 square miles — but the southern half lies in a checkerboard of alternating ownership where access to public parcels is typically restricted. The northern half is more navigable; the Hanna-Leo Draw Road (County Road 291), Leo-Shirley Basin Road (County Road 102), and Dry Creek Road (County Road 103) provide legal access to much of the public land there. Two walk-in areas, Carbon County Walk In Area 13 and Natrona County Walk In Area 161, offer additional opportunity during their open periods, though enrollment in these programs is renegotiated annually and neither is guaranteed for any given season. The Hanna Draw Hunter Management Area, private ground enrolled through agreement, requires a printed permission slip issued on a limited draw basis. With 46% of the hunt area held privately and access to public ground complicated by ownership patterns, a hunter should plan for lower access than the percentages suggest.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 48 (Leo-Hanna) 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 24Regular September 25 – October 31
Type 2 · Any antelope
Archery August 15 – September 24Regular October 5 – October 31
Type 6 · Doe or fawn
Archery August 15 – September 24Regular September 25 – 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 archery hunting runs August 15 through September 24, spanning the week before the rut takes off through early peak rut as bucks begin to establish and defend territory. Temperatures run from the low 80s in mid-August down to the low 70s by late September, with virtually no rain or snow; the mild weather makes for long hunting days and good glassing conditions. Public land in the northern half is generally accessible by road, though private land in the southern checkerboard requires either special access or reliance on walk-in areas. Type 1 regular rifle season opens September 25 and runs through October 31, covering the peak rut and its aftermath into the fall grouping phase as bucks remain active defending does and territories harden into herds. Temperatures cool from the 70s in late September to the high 50s by month's end, and snowfall increases from a trace in September to 1.6 inches in October, potentially complicating travel on unimproved roads. This season allows the take of any antelope, giving hunters the full range of quarry choices.

Type 2 — Any antelope (August–October)

Type 2 archery hunting runs August 15 through September 24, the same window as Type 1 and spanning territory formation and into the primary rut, with warm temperatures and clear skies favoring long days of glassing and stalking. The regular rifle season opens October 5 and runs through October 31, entering late rut and the fall grouping transition as bucks are still pursued by does and begin coalescing into larger herds. Early October still sees highs in the 60s, but temperatures drop through the month as October snowfall of 1.6 inches may create wet conditions and muddy roads in sections of the hunt area. This season also allows hunters to take any antelope.

Type 6 — Doe or fawn (August–October)

Type 6 archery runs August 15 through September 24, the same window as the other seasons and overlapping territory formation and the primary rut, when bucks are active and visible but the season is limited to doe or fawn. The regular rifle season for Type 6 opens September 25 and runs through October 31, covering peak rut and its aftermath into the fall grouping phase, with temperatures cooling from the 70s to the high 50s and October snowfall reaching 1.6 inches. Unlike Type 1 and Type 2, a Type 6 license restricts hunters to female animals, removing bucks from the harvest but allowing them to focus on the does and younger animals on which the season is built.

Land and access

private land46%

Private

BLM44%

Generally open to public hunting

unclassified ownership5%

Ownership unclassified

State Trust Land5%

Generally open to public hunting

About 49% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM and State Trust Land, roughly 421 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. 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

Winter Range52%

used in winter

Yearlong Range48%

the only layer that means year-round use

Summer Range31%

used in summer

Crucial Winter Range14%

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

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

Sagebrush83%

Grass and meadow9%

Conifer4%

Other cover3%

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	14°F	3.8 in
February	35°F	15°F	5.2 in
March	46°F	22°F	3.7 in
April	54°F	28°F	2.9 in
May	64°F	37°F	0 in
June	76°F	45°F	0 in
July	85°F	52°F	0 in
August	83°F	50°F	0 in
September	73°F	42°F	0.1 in
October	58°F	31°F	1.6 in
November	43°F	22°F	3.6 in
December	33°F	14°F	5.2 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw for hunt area 48 on a general or region pronghorn licence?: No. Pronghorn hunting in Wyoming is limited-quota by specific hunt area; every hunter, resident or nonresident, must draw for hunt area 48 individually. Wyoming offers no general pronghorn licence sold over the counter and no region licence valid across multiple areas.
What preference points do Wyoming residents need to draw hunt area 48?: Residents do not use preference points for pronghorn in Wyoming. The resident pronghorn draw for hunt area 48 is random, with no points system and no point cutoff. Nonresidents, by contrast, compete in a preference-point draw where three quarters of the licenses are awarded by points and one quarter are drawn at random.
How much of hunt area 48 can a hunter actually access?: Public land makes up roughly 49% of the hunt area, but the southern half is a checkerboard of alternating private and public ownership where public parcels are often difficult to reach. The northern half offers better public access via the Hanna-Leo Draw, Leo-Shirley Basin, and Dry Creek roads. Walk-in areas and the Hanna Draw Hunter Management Area add opportunity but are not guaranteed year to year.
When does the pronghorn rut peak on this area?: The primary rut typically peaks in the last week of September and the first part of October. Archery seasons run during the weeks before peak rut, while regular rifle seasons overlap the peak and extend into the post-rut recovery phase.
What are the season dates for hunt area 48?: Type 1 (any antelope) runs archery August 15–September 24 and rifle September 25–October 31. Type 2 (any antelope) runs archery August 15–September 24 and rifle October 5–October 31. Type 6 (doe or fawn only) runs archery August 15–September 24 and rifle September 25–October 31.

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