Can a hunter draw hunt area 61 without preference points?

Wyoming's pronghorn draw is limited quota for each hunt area. Residents drawn for hunt area 61 enter a random draw with no preference points. Nonresidents in the pool are split: three quarters of their licences go to a preference-point draw (awarded top-down by points), and a quarter enters a random draw open to all nonresidents regardless of points.

Is hunt area 61 accessible from public roads throughout?

Most of the northern portion has good public-land access. The southern half is checkerboard country where public sections alternate with private; public land there without road frontage is generally closed without permission. A Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife and Habitat Management Area in the northwest covers about 100 square miles but holds few pronghorn in late summer and fall.

When does the archery season run in hunt area 61?

Archery season runs August 15 through September 18. Hunters can take any antelope, including does and fawns, during this window.

When does the regular rifle season run in hunt area 61?

The regular season runs September 19 through October 31. Hunters can take any antelope during this window, which spans the primary rut through fall grouping.

What happens to hunt area 61 roads when it rains?

Road conditions depend on terrain. Alkaline flats in the southern portion become nearly impassable when wet and muddy. Sandy-country roads in the northern and rolling sections often remain drivable even with light precipitation.

Wyoming Hunt Area 61 (Chain Lakes) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

77%

Elevation

6,300–9,200 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 61 spans 1,255 square miles across rolling sagebrush country interspersed with rocky rims and alkaline flats. Ground slopes gently—mean angle 2.1 degrees—and sagebrush covers 97% of the area. The northern portions rise toward the foothills of Green Mountain; the southern and eastern reaches break into mesas and rocky rims that drop to saltbush and greasewood flats. Riparian water is scarce, confined to a few major creeks. Elevation ranges from 6,300 to 9,200 feet, with typical ground sitting around 6,800 feet. The southwestern portion carries dense natural-gas development and a network of roads that have acclimated pronghorn to vehicles but require a hunter to be cautious while pursuing them.

The hunt area's public-land base is substantial—about 77% of the area, or roughly 972 square miles—but access is not straightforward. The southern half is checkerboard country where private and public sections alternate; public land there that does not border a public road is generally closed without landowner permission. Large ranches dominate the southern portion, and significant blocks are either unavailable or available only through outfitting or trespass-fee agreements. The northern section holds better public access overall. Chain Lakes Wildlife and Habitat Management Area, in the northwest corner of the checkerboard, opens roughly 100 square miles of public and deeded land; it was acquired primarily for winter pronghorn habitat and runs dry during summer and fall, holding few animals in those seasons. Few public roads traverse the area, and wet conditions in the alkaline southern portions can render them impassable, though sandy-country roads often remain drivable with light precipitation.

The rut in hunt area 61 peaks in late September and early October, when pronghorn enter their most aggressive breeding phase. Pronghorn concentrate more heavily in the northern and eastern portions where elevation and vegetation are more lush, but dry years see them shift into the low alkaline habitats to find forage. This shift means that access challenges in the southern checkerboard matter less in drought; in wetter years, hunters may need to focus on the north.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 61 (Chain Lakes) 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 18Regular September 19 – 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)

Hunting this season spans two distinct windows: an early archery phase from August 15–September 18, followed by the regular rifle hunt from September 19–October 31. During the archery window, pronghorn are in pre-rut and beginning to form territories, so bucks are active and responsive; temperatures run warm, with August highs near 83°F moderating to September highs around 72°F, and precipitation is minimal. As the calendar moves into September 19 and the rifle hunt opens, the rut intensifies into its primary phase and extends into late rut and fall grouping; temperatures cool steadily toward October (highs dropping to 57°F), and snowfall increases from trace amounts in September to about 1 inch in October, which can complicate access in the alkaline southern flats. This is a hunt for any antelope—bucks, does and fawns—valid throughout hunt area 61. The archery window favors hunters who can glass and stalk; the rifle period overlaps the rut's sharpest phase and allows hunters more flexibility in method, though early-October weather swings can range from dry and windy to freezing cold with significant snow.

Land and access

BLM67%

Generally open to public hunting

private land23%

Private

State Wildlife Areas8%

Generally open to public hunting

State Trust Land3%

Generally open to public hunting

About 77% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Wildlife Areas and State Trust Land, roughly 972 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.

Where pronghorn are mapped

Winter Range94%

used in winter

Yearlong Range72%

the only layer that means year-round use

Crucial Winter Range22%

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

Summer Range5%

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

Across the unit

Sagebrush97%

Other cover3%

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	32°F	13°F	3.1 in
February	35°F	14°F	3.4 in
March	45°F	22°F	3.1 in
April	54°F	28°F	2.3 in
May	65°F	37°F	0 in
June	77°F	45°F	0 in
July	85°F	52°F	0 in
August	83°F	51°F	0 in
September	72°F	42°F	0.2 in
October	57°F	31°F	1 in
November	42°F	21°F	2.5 in
December	32°F	13°F	3.8 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw hunt area 61 without preference points?: Wyoming's pronghorn draw is limited quota for each hunt area. Residents drawn for hunt area 61 enter a random draw with no preference points. Nonresidents in the pool are split: three quarters of their licences go to a preference-point draw (awarded top-down by points), and a quarter enters a random draw open to all nonresidents regardless of points.
Is hunt area 61 accessible from public roads throughout?: Most of the northern portion has good public-land access. The southern half is checkerboard country where public sections alternate with private; public land there without road frontage is generally closed without permission. A Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife and Habitat Management Area in the northwest covers about 100 square miles but holds few pronghorn in late summer and fall.
When does the archery season run in hunt area 61?: Archery season runs August 15 through September 18. Hunters can take any antelope, including does and fawns, during this window.
When does the regular rifle season run in hunt area 61?: The regular season runs September 19 through October 31. Hunters can take any antelope during this window, which spans the primary rut through fall grouping.
What happens to hunt area 61 roads when it rains?: Road conditions depend on terrain. Alkaline flats in the southern portion become nearly impassable when wet and muddy. Sandy-country roads in the northern and rolling sections often remain drivable even with light precipitation.

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