Can a hunter access this hunt area on foot without an HMA permit?

Yes. Four walk-in areas—Carbon County Walk In Areas 2, 6, 8, and 11—are open during their posted periods and require no permission or application. Beyond these, about 76% of the area is public land where hunters may travel, though roads require four-wheel drive in most conditions and private inholdings still restrict access in some places.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw hunt area 53?

No. Wyoming residents do not have pronghorn preference points at all; the resident pronghorn draw is random. Nonresidents do earn and use preference points; three quarters of nonresident licenses are awarded top-down by points, while a quarter go to a random draw.

When do pronghorn shift to lower elevations on this area?

Early in the season, pronghorn are well distributed across public and private land throughout the hunt area. Later in the season—particularly toward the end of the regular hunts—they become more concentrated at the lower-elevation western periphery of the hunt area, though some remain on higher ground and throughout the season pronghorn occupy mapped range at all the elevations the area spans.

Can a nonresident hunt this area alone or does a guide come with it?

A nonresident can hunt alone. Hunt area 53 contains no designated wilderness and carries no guide requirement. Nonresidents are required to be accompanied by a licensed guide in designated wilderness areas only, which does not include this hunt area.

Wyoming Hunt Area 53 (Baggs) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

76%

Elevation

6,200–11,000 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 53 spans rolling hills, mesas, and canyon breaks across 1,002 square miles of sagebrush country. Elevation runs from 6,200 to 11,000 feet, with typical ground around 7,400 feet. The terrain is predominantly gentle, with 77% of it graded gentle, 22% moderate, and 1% steep; slope averages 6.7 degrees. Western portions of the hunt area sit lower and hold more desert shrub, while eastern portions climb higher and mix in aspen and conifer with the mountain shrub. About 76% of the area is ground a hunter can generally count on—BLM, National Forest, State Trust Land, and State Wildlife Areas—leaving 24% private. Public ownership is not simple entry; roads, trailheads, seasonal closures and private inholdings all still apply. Four-wheel drive is necessary to travel most roads, particularly in inclement weather.

Access to public land is widespread across much of the hunt area where pronghorn are found. The area includes four walk-in areas: Carbon County Walk In Area 8, Area 11, Area 2, and Area 6. These enroll annually and may be entered during their open periods without permission. Early in the season, pronghorn are abundant and well distributed across much of the BLM, State, and private portions. Later in the season, pronghorn concentrate more at lower elevations on the western periphery of the hunt area. The southern end around the Little Snake River is typically dense with pronghorn but is mostly private land and not accessible to the general public.

Hunt area 53 is LIMITED QUOTA, drawn for this area specifically. Both residents and nonresidents enter the draw; residents drawn participate in a random draw with no preference points. Nonresidents compete in a pool where three quarters of the licenses go to the preference-point draw, awarded top-down by points held, and the remaining quarter to a random draw. There is no general pronghorn license in Wyoming and no region license to fall back on if the draw does not come through.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 53 (Baggs) 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 19Regular September 20 – October 31
Type 7 · Doe or fawn valid south of Wyoming Highway 70 and west of Carbon County Road 601 in Area 53, and on private land within one (1) mile of Carbon County Road 603 in Area 57
Archery August 15 – August 31Regular September 1 – November 30

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 from mid-August through mid-September and rifle from late September through October offer a long window at any antelope here. Archery takes pronghorn in late pre-rut and early primary rut, when bucks establish and defend territories and does remain in predictable patterns. Temperatures start warm—highs near 80 degrees in August—and cool through September and October; no snow falls during the archery window, but October brings average snowfall of 1.5 inches monthly, which can tighten access on back-country roads. The rifle portion spans the peak rut and into the post-rut phase, when buck activity peaks but pronghorn begin shifting toward lower-elevation concentrations. Early in the season, pronghorn are scattered across public and private land throughout the hunt area; by late season, they gather more at western lower-elevation margins. Access to public land is widespread, though four-wheel drive remains essential on most roads.

Type 7 — Doe or fawn valid south of Wyoming… (August–November)

The doe or fawn archery window in mid-to-late August hunts pronghorn before the rut peaks, when does and fawns are most predictable. This hunt is restricted to south of Wyoming Highway 70 and west of Carbon County Road 601 in this hunt area, plus private land within one mile of Carbon County Road 603 in adjacent Area 57—not an area-wide hunt. Archery conditions are warm with no snow expected. The rifle portion stretches from early September through November, spanning the peak rut, post-rut decline, and into fall grouping, while temperatures drop from 70-degree highs in September to freezing lows and 12.2 inches of average monthly snowfall by November. Does and fawns shift with pronghorn distribution, concentrated at lower elevations as the season progresses. Access remains widespread on public land, though heavy November snow complicates travel on most roads in the hunt area.

Land and access

BLM37%

Generally open to public hunting

National Forest26%

Generally open to public hunting

private land24%

Private

State Trust Land9%

Generally open to public hunting

State Wildlife Areas4%

Generally open to public hunting

About 76% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, National Forest, State Trust Land and State Wildlife Areas, roughly 763 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 70% 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 4 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

Summer Range50%

used in summer

Winter Range33%

used in winter

Yearlong Range23%

the only layer that means year-round use

Crucial Winter Range10%

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

Lower elevations

Sagebrush89%

Other cover6%

Grass and meadow2%

Riparian2%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush87%

Aspen5%

Conifer3%

Grass and meadow3%

Riparian1%

Other cover1%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush45%

Conifer34%

Aspen16%

Grass and meadow3%

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	31°F	14°F	18.6 in
February	34°F	15°F	11.8 in
March	44°F	23°F	8.5 in
April	53°F	29°F	3.9 in
May	63°F	37°F	0.1 in
June	75°F	45°F	0 in
July	82°F	52°F	0 in
August	80°F	51°F	0 in
September	70°F	43°F	0 in
October	56°F	32°F	1.5 in
November	41°F	22°F	12.2 in
December	31°F	14°F	15.1 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter access this hunt area on foot without an HMA permit?: Yes. Four walk-in areas—Carbon County Walk In Areas 2, 6, 8, and 11—are open during their posted periods and require no permission or application. Beyond these, about 76% of the area is public land where hunters may travel, though roads require four-wheel drive in most conditions and private inholdings still restrict access in some places.
What are the two pronghorn seasons here and when do they run?: Type 1 is any antelope, with archery August 15 to September 19 and regular rifle September 20 to October 31. Type 7 allows doe or fawn in a restricted area—south of Wyoming Highway 70 and west of Carbon County Road 601, plus private land within one mile of Carbon County Road 603 in adjacent Area 57—with archery August 15 to August 31 and regular rifle September 1 to November 30.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw hunt area 53?: No. Wyoming residents do not have pronghorn preference points at all; the resident pronghorn draw is random. Nonresidents do earn and use preference points; three quarters of nonresident licenses are awarded top-down by points, while a quarter go to a random draw.
When do pronghorn shift to lower elevations on this area?: Early in the season, pronghorn are well distributed across public and private land throughout the hunt area. Later in the season—particularly toward the end of the regular hunts—they become more concentrated at the lower-elevation western periphery of the hunt area, though some remain on higher ground and throughout the season pronghorn occupy mapped range at all the elevations the area spans.
Can a nonresident hunt this area alone or does a guide come with it?: A nonresident can hunt alone. Hunt area 53 contains no designated wilderness and carries no guide requirement. Nonresidents are required to be accompanied by a licensed guide in designated wilderness areas only, which does not include this hunt area.

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