How is a pronghorn license for hunt area 65 obtained?

Hunt area 65 is a limited-quota area drawn specifically for this hunt area, not issued over the counter. Residents and nonresidents alike must enter the random resident draw or compete in the nonresident preference-point pool—three quarters of nonresident licenses go by points (top-down), and one quarter to random draw—and draw the specific license for hunt area 65. If the draw does not come through, no other license will serve this hunt area.

When do the pronghorn seasons run in hunt area 65?

Three seasons are published: Type 1 (any antelope) archery August 15–September 18 and regular September 19–October 31; Type 6 (doe or fawn) archery August 15–September 18 and regular September 19–October 31; and Type 7 (doe or fawn valid north of the Little Popo Agie River and in Area 66 west of that river) archery August 15–August 31 and regular September 1–November 7.

Can a hunter depend on walk-in access in hunt area 65?

Three walk-in areas operate in hunt area 65—Fremont County Walk In Areas 17, 26, and 27—and hunters may enter them during posted open seasons without permission. Because enrollment is renegotiated each year, these areas cannot be counted on for future seasons and should never be the sole access plan for a hunt.

How much of hunt area 65 can a hunter actually count on getting into?

About 80% of the hunt area is public land (National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land, and State Wildlife Areas), roughly 694 square miles. However, public ownership does not guarantee access: seasonal road closures, private inholdings, and terrain challenges still apply, and many roads through creek bottoms and alkaline flats become impassable when wet.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points for hunt area 65 pronghorn?

Wyoming residents have no pronghorn preference points and do not need them. The resident pronghorn draw is random, with no point requirement for any hunt area in the state. Preference points are a nonresident concept only, and for nonresidents they matter a great deal: three quarters of nonresident licenses go by points (top-down), though one quarter are random.

Wyoming Hunt Area 65 (South Pass) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

80%

Elevation

5,300–13,200 ft

Terrain

Moderate

Hunt area 65 spans 866 square miles from the Shoshone National Forest down to the Popo Agie and Sweetwater Rivers, with elevation running from 5,300 feet on the eastern desert flats to 13,200 feet in the high country. The country is steeply varied: western slopes carry alpine and montane forest, the middle reaches are rolling sagebrush foothills, and the eastern end flattens into sagebrush steppe and alkaline desert. Most of the terrain is gentle—two-thirds of it runs to moderate slopes—and at lower and mid elevations sagebrush dominates the cover, broken by scattered conifers as the country rises. The area drains well, with creeks and ephemeral streams running from the mountains down to the main rivers, so water is generally available. Pronghorn occupy most of the country except the heavily forested western slopes, holding near the forest edge around 8,400 feet and lower. Much of the hunt area is remote and far from services, with few roads and spotty cell coverage; many sections hold good access by public land but require planning and fuel.

About 80% of hunt area 65 is public ground—National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land and State Wildlife Areas—but public ownership does not guarantee easy entry. Roads vary sharply with terrain: sandy stretches often stay drivable after rain, while creek bottoms and alkaline flats turn muddy and nearly impassable when wet. Private land holds roughly 18% of the area, concentrated along major watercourses and north of the Little Popo Agie River near Lander, where access is limited. Three walk-in areas—Fremont County Walk In Areas 17, 26, and 27—provide open entry during their posted seasons, though enrollment is renegotiated annually and cannot be counted on for future years. The hunt area contains designated wilderness; Wyoming law requires nonresidents to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide when hunting in designated wilderness, and any nonresident planning to hunt here needs to account for that requirement.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 65 (South Pass) 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
Type 6 · Doe or fawn
Archery August 15 – September 18Regular September 19 – October 31
Type 7 · Doe or fawn valid north of the Little Popo Agie River; also valid in Area 66 west of the Little Popo Agie River
Archery August 15 – August 31Regular September 1 – November 7

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 regular seasons for any antelope run August 15–September 18 (archery) and September 19–October 31 (rifle), spanning the pre-rut transition into the primary rut and lingering through post-rut recovery into fall grouping. Early-season pronghorn are still scattered in their summer territories, but by late August bucks begin staking ground and becoming more aggressive and less wary; September sees the rut intensity, with animals on the move and vulnerable to both careful stalking and calling. Temperatures start warm in August (highs near 77°F) and cool steadily through October (highs dropping to 53°F), and snowfall creeps up from nearly nothing in August to 0.5 inches average in September and 3.1 inches in October—early October can flip between dry and freezing overnight, even with significant snow. Public land access is solid throughout the season, though weather can degrade roads in creek bottoms and alkaline flats. This license allows a hunter to take any pronghorn: buck, doe, or fawn.

Type 6 — Doe or fawn (August–October)

Archery and regular seasons for doe or fawn run August 15–September 18 (archery) and September 19–October 31 (rifle), mirroring the Type 1 season dates but narrowing the legal animal. The hunting follows the same rut timeline and temperature arc as any-antelope hunting, with scattered early-season animals tightening into rutting groups through September and breaking into fall bands by late October. August is warm and dry, September temps are mild early and cool late, and October brings the steepening cold and increasing snow that can degrade rough roads. This license restricts the hunter to doe or fawn, not bucks, and is valuable during the opening weeks before the rut when females are less pressured than males but still available to patient stalking.

Type 7 — Doe or fawn valid north of the… (August–November)

Archery and regular seasons for doe or fawn valid north of the Little Popo Agie River (and also valid in Area 66 west of that river) run archery August 15–August 31 and rifle September 1–November 7, extending two months beyond the other seasons and shifting the opening window. The archery phase falls in the pre-rut, when bucks are still establishing territories but does and fawns are already grouping; the rifle season begins in the pre-rut and carries through the primary rut, late rut, and into fall grouping, offering a very long window to find does and fawns at different behavioral stages. Early hunting (August) is warm and dry, September stays mild early then cools, and October brings the temperature drop and increasing snow normal to the area; by early November, highs are near 39°F and snowfall averages nearly 10 inches per month, making alpine access difficult or impossible. The geographic restriction—north of the Little Popo Agie River—limits this license to that portion of hunt area 65, not the entire area, and hunters should verify the exact boundary before planning their hunt. This license takes only doe or fawn.

Land and access

National Forest40%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM33%

Generally open to public hunting

private land18%

Private

State Trust Land7%

Generally open to public hunting

unclassified ownership1%

Ownership unclassified

About 80% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land and State Wildlife Areas, roughly 694 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 3 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.

This hunt area includes designated wilderness. Wyoming law requires a nonresident to be accompanied by a licensed guide or a resident guide in designated wilderness.

Where pronghorn are mapped

Summer Range47%

used in summer

Winter Range6%

used in winter

Yearlong Range5%

the only layer that means year-round use

Crucial Winter Range1%

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

Sagebrush81%

Grass and meadow8%

Other cover6%

Riparian3%

Conifer2%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush70%

Conifer21%

Grass and meadow5%

Aspen2%

Riparian2%

Higher elevations

Conifer51%

Sagebrush23%

Grass and meadow19%

Other cover5%

Aspen2%

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	30°F	9°F	11.7 in
February	32°F	10°F	11 in
March	41°F	17°F	8.6 in
April	49°F	24°F	6.8 in
May	59°F	33°F	0.8 in
June	70°F	41°F	0 in
July	79°F	48°F	0 in
August	77°F	47°F	0 in
September	67°F	38°F	0.5 in
October	53°F	28°F	3.1 in
November	39°F	17°F	9.8 in
December	29°F	9°F	14.7 in

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

Common questions

How is a pronghorn license for hunt area 65 obtained?: Hunt area 65 is a limited-quota area drawn specifically for this hunt area, not issued over the counter. Residents and nonresidents alike must enter the random resident draw or compete in the nonresident preference-point pool—three quarters of nonresident licenses go by points (top-down), and one quarter to random draw—and draw the specific license for hunt area 65. If the draw does not come through, no other license will serve this hunt area.
When do the pronghorn seasons run in hunt area 65?: Three seasons are published: Type 1 (any antelope) archery August 15–September 18 and regular September 19–October 31; Type 6 (doe or fawn) archery August 15–September 18 and regular September 19–October 31; and Type 7 (doe or fawn valid north of the Little Popo Agie River and in Area 66 west of that river) archery August 15–August 31 and regular September 1–November 7.
Can a hunter depend on walk-in access in hunt area 65?: Three walk-in areas operate in hunt area 65—Fremont County Walk In Areas 17, 26, and 27—and hunters may enter them during posted open seasons without permission. Because enrollment is renegotiated each year, these areas cannot be counted on for future seasons and should never be the sole access plan for a hunt.
How much of hunt area 65 can a hunter actually count on getting into?: About 80% of the hunt area is public land (National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land, and State Wildlife Areas), roughly 694 square miles. However, public ownership does not guarantee access: seasonal road closures, private inholdings, and terrain challenges still apply, and many roads through creek bottoms and alkaline flats become impassable when wet.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points for hunt area 65 pronghorn?: Wyoming residents have no pronghorn preference points and do not need them. The resident pronghorn draw is random, with no point requirement for any hunt area in the state. Preference points are a nonresident concept only, and for nonresidents they matter a great deal: three quarters of nonresident licenses go by points (top-down), though one quarter are random.

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