Can a hunter draw a region licence to hunt pronghorn here?

No. Hunt area 5 is a limited-quota draw area specific to this ground, and Wyoming issues no region pronghorn licence. A hunter must draw the licence for this hunt area itself, or there is no legal way to hunt pronghorn here.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points for pronghorn in this hunt area?

No. Wyoming residents do not earn or use preference points for pronghorn at all. The resident draw for this hunt area is random, with no points factored in.

Can a hunter walk into the walk-in areas without a permit?

Yes. Walk-in areas need no permission slip and no prior application. A hunter may enter Weston County Walk In Area 7 or Crook County Walk In Area 3 during their posted open periods, subject to any rules posted at the entrances.

When do pronghorn typically leave this hunt area?

Pronghorn migrate south and down in elevation through the fall as weather shifts, with migration normally completed by November 1st. Few animals remain in the northern parts of the area after that point, making early-season hunting significantly more productive than late season.

Does a nonresident need preference points to draw this hunt area?

Nonresident points are valuable here. The nonresident draw allocates three quarters of the licences to a preference-point draw, with top points drawn first, and a quarter to random selection. A nonresident with higher preference points has much better odds than one without them.

Wyoming Hunt Area 5 (Inyan Kara) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

33%

Elevation

3,500–6,700 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 5 sprawls across rolling grassland, sagebrush hills, and the lower slopes of the Black Hills, standing between 3,500 and 6,700 feet, with typical ground around 5,000 feet. Most of it is gentle terrain—77% slopes under what a walker can manage without much work, 21% moderate, and 2% steep. The country's character changes with elevation: lower ground holds grass, meadow, and sagebrush in roughly equal shares with scattered conifers; mid-elevations shift toward more conifer but keep grass and sagebrush; the higher terrain turns heavily forested with ponderosa pine. Pronghorn occupy the open sagebrush hills, prairie flats, and grassland, while the thicker timber of the Black Hills itself does not hold them. The majority of the area is private land, and that is where most pronghorn spend their time.

Getting onto ground that actually holds antelope means dealing with the ownership pattern. Public land—National Forest, State Trust Land, and BLM—makes up roughly a third of the hunt area, but neither ownership nor the presence of a road guarantees a hunter can get to pronghorn. Much public ground sits on Thunder Basin National Grassland, often interspersed with private inholdings. Walk-in areas operated through agreements with private landowners—Weston County Walk In Area 7 and Crook County Walk In Area 3—do allow foot access during their open periods without permission slips, but these enroll year to year and cover limited ground. Pronghorn migrate in autumn, moving south and down in elevation as weather shifts, with most animals gone from the northern Sundance country by November. Early-season hunting before that migration and before October horn-shedding begins is where the advantage lies. Late-season animals thin out sharply, and by late October many pronghorn have already shed their sheaths.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 5 (Inyan Kara) 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 – November 20

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)

Hunters in the archery window from August 15 through September 30 face pronghorn in the pre-rut and primary rut phases, when bucks are territorial and aggressive, making them more vulnerable to stalking. August weather starts warm—highs around 82 degrees, no snow—but September cools steadily, with highs dropping to the low 70s and cold nights in the 40s, still dry with no meaningful snow. Most pronghorn remain on or near private land through these months, and securing permission before applying is essential for any reasonable hunting opportunity. The hunt allows any antelope regardless of sex or age. The regular season from October 1 through November 20 hunts the late rut and fall transition, when bucks are losing condition and shifting focus toward grouping for winter, while does are less predictable. October begins cool—highs around 56 degrees, lows near freezing—and deteriorates fast; November brings winter, with highs dropping to the low 40s and snowfall climbing from about 1.3 inches in October to 3.3 inches in November. By late October many pronghorn have already migrated south and down in elevation, and horn shedding accelerates, making early-season hunting before that shift much more rewarding than late season. This window also allows any antelope.

Land and access

private land67%

Private

National Forest19%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land8%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM6%

Generally open to public hunting

About 33% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, State Trust Land and BLM, roughly 281 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 Range23%

the only layer that means year-round use

Summer Range13%

used in summer

Winter Range1%

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

Lower elevations

Grass and meadow59%

Conifer18%

Sagebrush13%

Other cover9%

Mid elevations

Grass and meadow47%

Conifer29%

Sagebrush13%

Other cover10%

Higher elevations

Conifer65%

Grass and meadow17%

Sagebrush9%

Other cover9%

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	34°F	12°F	6.5 in
February	36°F	13°F	6.2 in
March	46°F	22°F	3.6 in
April	54°F	29°F	2.2 in
May	63°F	39°F	0 in
June	74°F	48°F	0 in
July	83°F	55°F	0 in
August	82°F	53°F	0 in
September	72°F	44°F	0 in
October	56°F	32°F	1.3 in
November	43°F	21°F	3.3 in
December	34°F	12°F	6 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw a region licence to hunt pronghorn here?: No. Hunt area 5 is a limited-quota draw area specific to this ground, and Wyoming issues no region pronghorn licence. A hunter must draw the licence for this hunt area itself, or there is no legal way to hunt pronghorn here.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points for pronghorn in this hunt area?: No. Wyoming residents do not earn or use preference points for pronghorn at all. The resident draw for this hunt area is random, with no points factored in.
Can a hunter walk into the walk-in areas without a permit?: Yes. Walk-in areas need no permission slip and no prior application. A hunter may enter Weston County Walk In Area 7 or Crook County Walk In Area 3 during their posted open periods, subject to any rules posted at the entrances.
When do pronghorn typically leave this hunt area?: Pronghorn migrate south and down in elevation through the fall as weather shifts, with migration normally completed by November 1st. Few animals remain in the northern parts of the area after that point, making early-season hunting significantly more productive than late season.
Does a nonresident need preference points to draw this hunt area?: Nonresident points are valuable here. The nonresident draw allocates three quarters of the licences to a preference-point draw, with top points drawn first, and a quarter to random selection. A nonresident with higher preference points has much better odds than one without them.

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