Unit A23 (Pumpkin Buttes)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Pronghorn
Antelope Hunt Area 23, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Pumpkin Buttes, covers about 1,542 square miles in Campbell and Johnson counties. It belongs to WGFD's Pumpkin Buttes antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 87.1%, with 2,286 hunters taking 1,992 pronghorn at about 3.9 days of hunting per animal. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Pronghorn Hunting in Unit A23
Antelope Hunt Area 23, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Pumpkin Buttes, covers about 1,542 square miles in Campbell and Johnson counties. It belongs to WGFD's Pumpkin Buttes antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 87.1%, with 2,286 hunters taking 1,992 pronghorn at about 3.9 days of hunting per animal. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Pronghorn in Antelope Hunt Area 23
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names antelope hunt area 23 "Pumpkin Buttes". It runs to about 1,542 square miles, in Campbell (74%) and Johnson (26%) counties. WGFD reports these pronghorn as the Pumpkin Buttes herd unit, and no other hunt area shares it. The boundary and the harvest figures are WGFD's. The read of the country inside them is ours, and it says so where it starts.
Where antelope hunt area 23 begins and ends
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 5 walks the line around antelope hunt area 23 corner by corner. It starts at the junction of U.S. Highway 14-16 and Wyoming Highway 59 at the city of Gillette. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 14-16, Wyoming Highway 59, Wyoming Highway 387 and Wyoming Highway 192, and Powder River. It is the description your license is good inside, so it is worth reading once in full before you go. The full text is in Section 5 of that chapter, with this year's season dates and license limitations in Section 2.
Not the same ground as the other hunt area 23s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 23 also belongs to its elk, deer and moose hunt areas 23. None of them shares a county with this one. A license is good only in the hunt area of its own species, so this page is about the antelope area, and the cards at the foot of the page link the others.
Ground WGFD opens: Johnson 7
WGFD also lists one Walk-In Area covering about 5,118 acres open for antelope: Johnson 7. WGFD's 2026 regulations open Access Yes land only for the species and dates listed for each area, with each area's own rules on WGFD's site and no motorized travel unless WGFD says otherwise.
High ground inside the line: North Butte, North Middle Butte and South Middle Butte
Named high points inside antelope hunt area 23 include North Butte at 6,048 feet, North Middle Butte at 6,017 feet, South Middle Butte at 5,995 feet, South Butte at 5,992 feet and Indian Butte at 5,977 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Pronghorn live in the open and trust their eyes, which is the whole problem.
Holding ground: Soft Water Draw, Dry Draw and Hay Draw
Below them sit Soft Water Draw at 4,987 feet, Dry Draw at 4,986 feet, Hay Draw at 4,975 feet, Tree Draw at 4,968 feet and Cousins Draw at 4,954 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Water: Hoe Spring
Named water inside the line includes Hoe Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Reading the land status
Named ground inside antelope hunt area 23 runs from 3,964 feet to 6,048 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.
Unit A23 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: South Middle Butte (5,995 ft), Table Mountain (4,851 ft), The Nipple (4,701 ft)
Holding ground: Hay Draw (4,975 ft), Red Top Draw (4,653 ft), Hood Draw (4,310 ft), Walk-In Area Johnson 7, Hoe Spring
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Pronghorn in Antelope Hunt Area 23
Pronghorn Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 87.1% pronghorn success in antelope hunt area 23: 1,992 animals taken by 2,286 active hunters over 7,820 days of hunting, or 3.9 days per animal. By residency, residents 76.1% (432 taken by 568) and nonresidents 90.8% (1,560 taken by 1,718).
These are WGFD's own estimates from its hunter survey, for this hunt area and season only — not a statewide average. One season isn't a trend, so check the current report before you read one into it.
Pronghorn Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (resident) | 439 | 232 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 41 | 278 | 14.7% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 either sex (resident) | 1200 | 37 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 2 either sex (nonresident) | 362 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
Data from 2026 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.
Open in Draw Odds EngineWyoming Game and Fish's 2026 demand report for pronghorn in antelope hunt area 23, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any antelope), nonresidents: 278 first-choice applicants for 41 licenses, 14.7% drawn
- Type 1 (any antelope), residents: 232 first-choice applicants for 439 licenses, 100% drawn
- Type 2 (any antelope), residents: 37 first-choice applicants for 1,200 licenses, 100% drawn
Wyoming residents draw pronghorn licenses without preference points; nonresidents draw part of their quota on points, highest balance first (Chapter 44, Section 19), and the nonresident figures above are from WGFD's random draw. WGFD publishes no preference-point level at which a hunt draws, so none is given here. Every figure was checked against WGFD's demand-report PDFs on 2026-08-10.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Wyoming antelope hunt area 23?
What is the pronghorn success rate in antelope hunt area 23?
Is antelope hunt area 23 the same ground as elk hunt area 23?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-25.
- Chapter 5 — Antelope Hunting Seasons (2026) — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Name and legal boundary of antelope hunt area 23, Season dates, license types and limitations by hunt area · accessed 2026-10-25
- Antelope 2025 Harvest Report — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: Hunters, harvest, percent success and days per animal for pronghorn in antelope hunt area 23, The same by license type and residency · accessed 2026-10-25
- WGFD draw results and odds — demand reports 2021-2026 — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: First-choice applicants, licenses and percent drawn, by license type, residency and year · accessed 2026-08-10
- Chapter 44 — Regulation for Issuance of Licenses, Permits, Stamps, Tags, Preference Points and Competitive Raffle Chances — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Which licenses are drawn on preference points (Section 19), When preference points are deleted · accessed 2026-10-25
- 2026 Antelope, Deer and Elk Hunting Regulations — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Access Yes Walk-In and Hunter Management Area rules · accessed 2026-10-25
- WGFD ArcGIS feature services — hunt areas by species, CWD sampling areas, WHMAs, Public Access Areas, Hunter Management Areas, Walk-In Hunting Areas — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: Mapped outline of the hunt area, Herd unit and square miles, WHMAs, Public Access Areas, Hunter Management Areas and Walk-In Areas inside the area · accessed 2026-10-25
- TIGERweb State_County — Wyoming county boundaries (used only to measure which counties a hunt area lies in) — U.S. Census Bureau · supports: Which counties the hunt area lies in, and in what share · accessed 2026-10-25