Can a hunter draw hunt area 69 on a region licence?

Hunt area 69 is limited-quota and drawn specifically for that area. There is no pronghorn region licence in Wyoming; nonresidents and residents alike enter a draw for this area alone, and if unsuccessful there is no alternative licence to fall back on.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw hunt area 69?

Wyoming residents draw all pronghorn hunt areas through a random draw; there are no preference points in the resident pronghorn system at all. Nonresidents, by contrast, do use preference points: three quarters of the nonresident licences are awarded to the preference-point draw by rank, and a quarter go to a random draw open to all nonresidents in the pool.

When do the archery and rifle seasons run on hunt area 69?

Archery for both the any-antelope and doe-or-fawn hunts runs August 15 through September 14. The rifle season for both runs September 15 through October 31.

How much of hunt area 69 can a hunter actually get onto?

Public land—BLM and State Trust Land—makes up 77% of the hunt area, roughly 262 square miles. Walk-in areas provide unrestricted entry during their open season. The private Hunter Management Area on Rattlesnake Mountain requires a printed permission slip and is open subject to annual re-enrollment.

What is the hunting like during the archery season on hunt area 69?

Archery runs in mid-August through mid-September, a period when pronghorn are pairing and beginning to establish territories as the primary rut approaches. August temperatures average highs near 82°F and lows near 52°F with essentially no snow, while September cools to highs around 71°F and lows around 43°F with minimal snowfall. The open, rolling sagebrush country makes glassing and stalking practical throughout this window.

Wyoming Hunt Area 69 (South Rattlesnake) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

77%

Elevation

5,500–8,200 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 69 is rolling open country in the foothills west of Casper, where sagebrush and grass dominate across all elevations. The terrain is uniformly gentle, with 88% of the ground sloping gently and the rest moderate, making it walkable country throughout. Pronghorn favour the open ridges and sagebrush benches where they can see, and avoid the rougher, more mountainous terrain scattered through the higher ground. Elevation runs from 5,500 to 8,200 feet, with typical ground around 6,400 feet.

Getting onto this hunt area is straightforward in concept: 77% of the area is public land—BLM and State Trust Land—giving a hunter roughly 262 square miles to work with. Walk-in access is available through Natrona County Walk-In Areas 10, 11, 12, and 13, which require no permission. The private Hunter Management Area on Rattlesnake Mountain does require a printed permission slip from the state. Road access is generally reliable but can become difficult in wet or snowy conditions, and hunters should exercise caution on excessively muddy or soft ground. Casper lies 30 to 60 minutes away, with basic services available at Alcova. Groomed camping exists at Alcova and Pathfinder Reservoirs; primitive camping is permitted on BLM lands but not on state ground.

The two seasons available here—any antelope and doe-or-fawn—both run from mid-August through October, with separate archery and rifle windows. Early season hunts coincide with pronghorn pairing and early rut activity when bucks are actively defending territory. Later-season hunting carries different conditions and pronghorn behaviour, as detailed below.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 69 (South Rattlesnake) 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 14Regular September 15 – October 31
Type 6 · Doe or fawn
Archery August 15 – September 14Regular September 15 – 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)

Any-antelope hunting runs through two distinct windows: archery from August 15 through September 14, then rifle from September 15 through October 31. During the archery period, pronghorn are beginning to establish territories and move into pre-rut and primary rut phases, when bucks are active and visible across the open country. August is warm with highs near 82°F and virtually no snow, while September turns cooler with highs dropping to around 71°F and occasional light snow. The rifle season carries pronghorn into late rut and early grouping phases as weather deteriorates—October temperatures fall from the mid-50s to the low-50s early month to near freezing by late month, with snow accumulating to roughly 2 inches. Public land access works throughout both windows, though hunters should be cautious on muddy or snowy roads as conditions worsen into fall.

Type 6 — Doe or fawn (August–October)

Hunting for does and fawns spans archery from August 15 through September 14 and rifle from September 15 through October 31, matching the any-antelope dates. Early-season archery coincides with pre-rut and primary rut behaviour when does are scattered across the open sagebrush, though the hunt includes animals of both sexes and fawns of any age. August weather is warm and dry with highs near 82°F; September cools to highs around 71°F with minor snowfall developing. The rifle window extends into late rut and fall grouping as herds begin gathering and temperatures drop sharply—from mid-50s early in October to freezing by month's end, with about 2 inches of snow accumulation. Access to public land remains available throughout, though deteriorating road conditions in autumn weather require careful judgment.

Land and access

BLM66%

Generally open to public hunting

private land23%

Private

State Trust Land11%

Generally open to public hunting

About 77% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — BLM and State Trust Land, roughly 262 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 4 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

Yearlong Range58%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range46%

used in winter

Summer Range38%

used in summer

Crucial Winter Range4%

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

Sagebrush96%

Grass and meadow2%

Riparian1%

Mid elevations

Sagebrush98%

Other cover2%

Higher elevations

Sagebrush90%

Conifer6%

Grass and meadow3%

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	14°F	5.4 in
February	35°F	14°F	6.5 in
March	45°F	22°F	4.2 in
April	52°F	28°F	4.1 in
May	63°F	37°F	0 in
June	75°F	46°F	0 in
July	84°F	53°F	0 in
August	82°F	52°F	0 in
September	71°F	43°F	0.2 in
October	56°F	32°F	2 in
November	42°F	22°F	4.1 in
December	32°F	14°F	6.1 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw hunt area 69 on a region licence?: Hunt area 69 is limited-quota and drawn specifically for that area. There is no pronghorn region licence in Wyoming; nonresidents and residents alike enter a draw for this area alone, and if unsuccessful there is no alternative licence to fall back on.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points to draw hunt area 69?: Wyoming residents draw all pronghorn hunt areas through a random draw; there are no preference points in the resident pronghorn system at all. Nonresidents, by contrast, do use preference points: three quarters of the nonresident licences are awarded to the preference-point draw by rank, and a quarter go to a random draw open to all nonresidents in the pool.
When do the archery and rifle seasons run on hunt area 69?: Archery for both the any-antelope and doe-or-fawn hunts runs August 15 through September 14. The rifle season for both runs September 15 through October 31.
How much of hunt area 69 can a hunter actually get onto?: Public land—BLM and State Trust Land—makes up 77% of the hunt area, roughly 262 square miles. Walk-in areas provide unrestricted entry during their open season. The private Hunter Management Area on Rattlesnake Mountain requires a printed permission slip and is open subject to annual re-enrollment.
What is the hunting like during the archery season on hunt area 69?: Archery runs in mid-August through mid-September, a period when pronghorn are pairing and beginning to establish territories as the primary rut approaches. August temperatures average highs near 82°F and lows near 52°F with essentially no snow, while September cools to highs around 71°F and lows around 43°F with minimal snowfall. The open, rolling sagebrush country makes glassing and stalking practical throughout this window.

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