Can a hunter draw hunt area 9 on a general pronghorn licence?

No. Hunt area 9 is limited-quota and must be drawn for this specific area. Wyoming issues no general pronghorn licence over the counter and no region licence that covers it. A hunter who does not draw this area has no alternative licence option.

Do Wyoming residents need preference points for a pronghorn draw in hunt area 9?

No. Wyoming residents enter a random draw for this hunt area with no preference points involved. Nonresidents, by contrast, use preference points in a separate draw where three quarters of the licences go to the highest-point applicants and a quarter to random draw.

Can a hunter walk onto the walk-in areas in hunt area 9 without permission?

Yes. Eight walk-in areas are enrolled in the hunt area and may be entered during their open periods without application or permission slip, subject to posted rules. Enrollment is renegotiated annually, so a hunter should verify current status before the season.

How much of hunt area 9 is public land a hunter can generally access?

About 15% of the area—roughly 154 square miles—is State Trust Land and BLM ground open to public use. The rest is private land. Roads and seasonal closures still apply to public ground, and private inholdings can complicate access even where ground is public.

When do the pronghorn seasons run in hunt area 9?

The area has two seasons. Type 1 (any antelope) runs August 15 through October 31, with an archery window August 15–September 30 and a rifle window October 1–31. Type 7 (doe or fawn on private land only) runs November 1–30.

Wyoming Hunt Area 9 (Lance Creek) pronghorn hunting

Licence

Limited quota — drawn

Open public land

15%

Elevation

3,900–5,600 ft

Terrain

Gentle

Hunt area 9 sprawls across rolling mixed-grass and sagebrush prairie, broken by agricultural fields and dotted with draws and gentle ridges. The ground is overwhelmingly low-slope terrain, with 94% gentle slopes and elevation ranging from 3,900 to 5,600 feet. Grass and meadow dominate the cover at 77%, with sagebrush adding another 13%; the remaining cover is scattered conifers and riparian growth. The country hunts like open prairie—pronghorn are visible from distance, and a hunter on foot covers ground steadily, though without dramatic elevation gain or loss to break up the rhythm of walking.

Access here is limited and requires planning. About 15% of the area—roughly 154 square miles—sits on State Trust Land and BLM ground that hunters can generally rely on, but public roads are few and private inholdings complicate approach. The remaining 85% is private land, where the majority of pronghorn actually spend their time. Eight walk-in areas are enrolled in the hunt area, offering predictable entry without permission during their open periods, though enrollment is renegotiated annually. Many hunters focus their effort on private ground and secure permission before the season; those without it should study walk-in maps carefully and verify land ownership before heading out, as roads that appear open on mapping software may be closed or private.

Licence and how this hunt area is drawn

Hunt Area 9 (Lance Creek) 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 – October 31
Type 7 · Doe or fawn valid on private land
Regular November 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)

Hunters pursuing any antelope from August through October encounter pronghorn in pre-rut and rut phases, with the character of the hunt shifting sharply between the archery window and the rifle season. During archery (August 15–September 30), bucks are establishing territories and entering the primary rut by late September; the weather is warm, with August highs around 86°F cooling to low 70s by September, and minimal precipitation aids field glassing and stalking. By October rifle season (October 1–31), the rut has peaked and is winding down, the weather turns cool and occasionally snowy with highs dropping to 60°F and around 0.6 inches of monthly snowfall, and pronghorn are shifting into fall grouping patterns. Access during both windows relies heavily on private-land permission, though walk-in areas provide an alternative without the need to ask; pressure is typically heavier in the first four days of the rifle season.

Type 7 — Doe or fawn valid on private land (November)

The November hunt (November 1–30) is restricted to doe or fawn and valid on private land only, meaning it does not reach walk-in areas or public ground. By this phase, pronghorn are entering winter transition and grouping behavior; the weather is cold with highs near 47°F, lows near 21°F, and an average of 1.7 inches of monthly snowfall. Hunters must have secured private-land permission in advance, as this season offers no public alternative and access depends entirely on landowner agreement.

Land and access

private land85%

Private

State Trust Land14%

Generally open to public hunting

BLM1%

Generally open to public hunting

About 15% of this hunt area is ground a hunter can generally count on — State Trust Land and BLM, roughly 154 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 8 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 Range92%

the only layer that means year-round use

Winter Range10%

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

Across the unit

Grass and meadow77%

Sagebrush13%

Other cover5%

Conifer3%

Riparian1%

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	37°F	12°F	2.2 in
February	39°F	14°F	3.3 in
March	49°F	22°F	2.1 in
April	57°F	30°F	1.7 in
May	66°F	39°F	0 in
June	78°F	49°F	0 in
July	87°F	56°F	0 in
August	86°F	54°F	0 in
September	76°F	44°F	0 in
October	60°F	31°F	0.6 in
November	47°F	21°F	1.7 in
December	37°F	13°F	3.1 in

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

Common questions

Can a hunter draw hunt area 9 on a general pronghorn licence?: No. Hunt area 9 is limited-quota and must be drawn for this specific area. Wyoming issues no general pronghorn licence over the counter and no region licence that covers it. A hunter who does not draw this area has no alternative licence option.
Do Wyoming residents need preference points for a pronghorn draw in hunt area 9?: No. Wyoming residents enter a random draw for this hunt area with no preference points involved. Nonresidents, by contrast, use preference points in a separate draw where three quarters of the licences go to the highest-point applicants and a quarter to random draw.
Can a hunter walk onto the walk-in areas in hunt area 9 without permission?: Yes. Eight walk-in areas are enrolled in the hunt area and may be entered during their open periods without application or permission slip, subject to posted rules. Enrollment is renegotiated annually, so a hunter should verify current status before the season.
How much of hunt area 9 is public land a hunter can generally access?: About 15% of the area—roughly 154 square miles—is State Trust Land and BLM ground open to public use. The rest is private land. Roads and seasonal closures still apply to public ground, and private inholdings can complicate access even where ground is public.
When do the pronghorn seasons run in hunt area 9?: The area has two seasons. Type 1 (any antelope) runs August 15 through October 31, with an archery window August 15–September 30 and a rifle window October 1–31. Type 7 (doe or fawn on private land only) runs November 1–30.

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