Wyoming Hunt Planner

Welcome to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's Hunt Planner. In the sections that follow, you will find interactive maps, species-specific hunt information, drawing odds, harvest information, public access and much more.

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If you want to hunt antelope, you’ve come to the right place. Wyoming has more antelope than the rest of the continent, and harvest success commonly exceeds 85 percent. Pronghorn, called antelope here, are found only in western North America.

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Hunt Area 56

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Apply For Season Dates Archery Dates License Limitations
056-1* Sep. 19 - Oct. 31 Aug. 15 - Sep. 18 Any antelope
* Difficult Public Access
huntarea-deer-sample

Approx. % of Public Land: 50%
Access to Public Land: Poor
Access Notes: While almost 50 percent of this area is public land, the entire hunt area lies in what is called the "checkerboard," where every other square mile is private. Public lands in the checkerboard that do not touch a public road are generally not accessible without permission of a private land owner. One ranch owns most of the deeded land in this area and does not allow public hunting. As a result, the vast majority of public lands in Area 56 are not accessible. There are a few square miles of public land that can be legally accessed from the public roads making up the western boundary and from a short county road in the northeast corner of the area. Owners of a few smaller tracts of deeded land may grant access. Because of the limited access, hunter success in this area is usually the poorest for this part of the state, and most hunters use GPS to keep track of available public lands.
Mapping Resources: Rawlins, Medicine Bow, Baggs

Additional Information: None
USFS Designated Wilderness Areas: None
Hunting Access in Wyoming - Public Access Summary

Parcels of land where Game and Fish facilitates management of hunters for access to hunt. 


Available Public access Areas for this Hunt Area

North Platte River-Rochelle More Info

  • Nonresident Deadlines
  • Applications Open: January 2, 2026
  • Application Deadline: June 1, 2026
  • Modify & Withdrawal Deadline: June 1, 2026
  • Tentative Draw Results Available: June 18, 2026
  • Preference Point Only***: July 1, 2026 - November 2, 2026
  • Resident Deadlines
  • Applications Open: January 2, 2026
  • Application Deadline: June 1, 2026
  • Modify & Withdrawal Deadline: June 1, 2026
  • Tentative Draw Results Available: June 18, 2026

*** An applicant must be at least eleven (11) years old at the time of submitting an application to purchase a preference point and must be at least twelve (12) years old by December 31 of that year.

  • Nonresident Fees
  • Full Price Landowner License: $326.00
  • Full Price Landowner Youth License**: $110.00
  • Full Price License: $326.00
  • Full Price Youth License**: $110.00
  • Preference Point Only Youth***: $10.00
  • Preference Point Only: $31.00
  • Reduced Price Doe/Fawn License: $34.00
  • Reduced Price Landowner Doe/Fawn License: $34.00
  • Reduced Price Landowner Youth Doe/Fawn License**: $19.00
  • Reduced Price Youth Doe/Fawn License**: $19.00
  • Special License: $1,200.00
  • Resident Fees
  • Full Price Landowner License: $37.00
  • Full Price Landowner Youth License**: $15.00
  • Full Price License: $37.00
  • Full Price Youth License**: $15.00
  • Reduced Price Doe/Fawn License: $22.00
  • Reduced Price Landowner Doe/Fawn License: $22.00
  • Reduced Price Landowner Youth Doe/Fawn License**: $14.00
  • Reduced Price Youth Doe/Fawn License**: $14.00

** An applicant may apply for any big game license if he/she is eleven (11) years of age and has not attained eighteen (18) years of age at the time of application. Any person may take a big or trophy game animal at eleven (11) years of age if the person will attain twelve (12) years of age by the end of that calendar year. Persons who are less than eighteen (18) years of age and at least eleven (11) years of age at the time of application may apply for a youth license and remit youth fees. Applicants under the age of eighteen (18) may have their parent or legal guardian submit an application on their behalf.

*** An applicant must be at least eleven (11) years old at the time of submitting an application to purchase a preference point and must be at least twelve (12) years old by December 31 of that year.

Buck/Any Drawing Odds

2025 Drawing odds

Nonresident Landowner Preference Point

Hunt Type Quota Issued Preference Points Drawing Odds
1 4 0 < 1 100.00%
1 4 0 0 100.00%

Nonresident Landowner Random

Hunt Type Total Quota Landowner Licenses Issued Landowner License Odds
1 1 0 100.00%

Nonresident Special Preference Point

Hunt Type Quota Issued Preference Points Drawing Odds
1 2 2 4 100.00%
1 0 < 4 100.00%

Nonresident Special Random

Hunt Type Total Quota First choice Applicants First choice odds
1 0 0 100.00%

Nonresident Preference Point

Hunt Type Quota Issued Preference Points Drawing Odds
1 3 4 7 75.00%
1 0 < 7 0.00%

Nonresident Random

Hunt Type Total Quota First choice Applicants First choice odds
1 0 46 0.00%

Doe/Fawn Drawing Odds

Buck/Any Drawing Odds

2025 Drawing odds

Resident Landowner

Hunt Type Total Quota Landowner Licenses Issued Landowner License Odds
1 20 0 100.00%

Resident

Hunt Type Total Quota First choice Applicants First choice odds
1 20 38 52.63%

Topography and Vegetation: Area 56 consists mostly of steep, arid, rocky rims and mesas, covered with sagebrush and saltbush, surrounding sagebrush prairie and alkaline greasewood flats. Riparian meadows are scarce and found mainly along the North Platte River and along a few major creeks.
General Statement Regarding this Hunt Area: While Area 56 provides important winter habitat for antelope, summer and fall densities tend to be tied to available water and lusher habitats. Antelope can be found throughout the rocky rims, but in dry years they make heavy use of the lower alkaline, greasewood habitats. Because of limited access, many hunters choose not to be selective in their harvest, often taking any legally accessible antelope, including yearling bucks or does. Weather may vary from dry and windy with temperatures in the 70s and 80s to freezing cold with significant snowfall, even in the September portion of the hunt. Roads in this hunt area become nearly impassable when wet and muddy. Rut for pronghorn in this area typically peaks in the last week of September and the first part of October.
Additional Hunting Opportunities: Cottontail rabbit are most abundant in desert scrub/greasewood habitats and around rock outcrops in this area. Sage-grouse can be found in parts of this area, usually in association with wetter soils. Consult the Chapter 11 Upland Game Bird and Small Game Hunting Regulation for season dates, license requirements and bag/possession limits. Mountain lion may be found on the rocky breaks (see Chapter 42). Wyoming Game and Fish holds easements granting access for fishing and waterfowl hunting (Chapters 46 and 14) on eleven miles of the North Platte River in the northeastern portion of the area.
Herd Unit Job Completion Report: Area 56 is one of three hunt areas making up the Iron Springs pronghorn antelope herd, along with Areas 52 and 108. See the PR630 (Iron Springs) Job Completion Report for more detailed information on management of this herd.

Area 56 - Type 1
2025 HARVEST REPORT
Hunt Area 56
# Days Hunted 102
Days/Hunter 10.2
Total Area Harvest 10
Hunter Success 71.40%
View Full Harvest Report

Hunter Education Requirements

No person born on or after January 1, 1966, may take any wildlife by the use of firearms on land other than that of his own family, unless the person possesses or can demonstrate they have obtained a certificate of competency and safety in the use and handling of firearms.

All Elk Hunt Area 75 and 79 (Grand Teton National Park) hunters, regardless of age, must possess and exhibit a valid hunter safety certificate.

Compliance will be checked in the field.

Hunter Education Exemptions

If you meet the Armed Forces/Wyoming Peace Officer exemption requirements or you have obtained special 1 year authorization through the Hunter Mentor Program, you are exempt from hunter education.

Hunter Mentor Program

Any person born on or after January 1, 1966, who has not received a certificate of competency and safety in the use and handling of firearms, may apply to the Department for a special authorization to take wildlife with the use of a firearm while being accompanied by a mentor. A special authorization issued to an individual shall be valid for one (1) year from the date of issue and shall be in the possession of the recipient at all times while in the field.

Animal carcasses must be disposed of properly at designated sites that allow for it. Please click on this link to locate an area near you and check with the disposal site for details regarding your carcass disposal.

Carcass Disposal Sites in Wyoming

Lander Regional Office
260 Buena Vista
Lander, WY 82520
(307) 332-2688

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About Antelope Hunting in Wyoming

Limited Quota

All Wyoming antelope hunt areas are managed under a limited quota framework, meaning there are a set number of licenses valid for each specific hunt area. All hunt areas have full-price "any" antelope licenses (Type 0, 1, 2 or 9). Most hunt areas also provide reduced-price limited quota "doe/fawn" licenses (Type 6, 7 or 8), which can be obtained separately or in addition to a full-price license.

 

After the license draw has been held, hunters can purchase a second "any antelope" license in specific hunt areas, if still available. "Any antelope" licenses still available after the draw are typically found in areas that are predominately private land, so hunters are encouraged to line up access before buying the license. Hunters may purchase up to four doe/fawn antelope licenses, only two of which can be obtained through the draw.

Location

Wyoming's most sought after antelope hunting is primarily found in south-central, central and southwest Wyoming. Most hunt areas in these parts of Wyoming have ample public access on lands managed by the BLM. Public land hunt areas are typically hard to draw. Antelope are also abundant in northeast and east-central Wyoming, although finding access can be difficult because the area is largely private land.

 

In the table of tentative antelope hunting season information for this coming year, some license types are denoted with an asterisk (*) as having difficult public access. For these license types, there is limited opportunity to harvest an antelope on accessible public land. If applying for a license type(s) with difficult public access, hunters should recognize that hunter densities may be high on accessible public land or that antelope densities may be low. In these cases, hunters should consider securing access to private land well in advance.

General Hunting Information

What do I need to go hunting in Wyoming
Guide to Hunting Access in Wyoming

Application Information

Wyoming Application Process
Hunting License Application

FAQs

Big Game License Applications
General Hunting and Trapping
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