Unit A51 (Big Creek)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Pronghorn
Antelope Hunt Area 51, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Big Creek, covers about 318 square miles in Carbon County. It belongs to WGFD's Big Creek antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 83.2%, with 107 hunters taking 89 pronghorn at about 6.3 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 A51
Antelope Hunt Area 51, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Big Creek, covers about 318 square miles in Carbon County. It belongs to WGFD's Big Creek antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 83.2%, with 107 hunters taking 89 pronghorn at about 6.3 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 51
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names antelope hunt area 51 "Big Creek". It runs to about 318 square miles, entirely in Carbon County. WGFD reports these pronghorn as the Big Creek herd unit, and no other hunt area shares it. What WGFD publishes for the area is its boundary and its harvest; where the pronghorn stand inside it is our reading of the ground, and the two are kept apart below.
The line: North Platte River and Encampment River
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 5 defines antelope hunt area 51 as beginning where the North Platte River crosses the Wyoming-Colorado state line; west along said line to the Encampment River; northeasterly down said river to the North Platte River; southerly up said river to the Wyoming-Colorado state line. Read it as the legal edge of your license rather than as a hint about animals. 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 51s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 51 also belongs to its elk and deer hunt areas 51. 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: Public Access Areas
Public Access Areas such as Big Creek are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
Wilderness inside the line: Encampment River Wilderness and Platte River Wilderness
About 3% of antelope hunt area 51 lies in the Encampment River Wilderness and 2% of antelope hunt area 51 lies in the Platte River Wilderness. WGFD's 2026 regulations print the rule that matters there: no nonresident may hunt big game in a designated wilderness area unless accompanied by a licensed professional guide or a resident guide, with at least one guide for every two nonresident hunters. Inside the wilderness there are no roads, so every animal there comes out on your back or on a horse.
High ground inside the line: Blackhall Mountain, Bear Mountain and Wood Mountain
Named high points inside antelope hunt area 51 include Blackhall Mountain at 10,957 feet, Bear Mountain at 9,967 feet, Wood Mountain at 9,680 feet, Elkhorn Point at 8,593 feet and Deerhorn Point at 8,502 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Pronghorn stay on the open rolling ground and leave the timber alone.
Holding ground: Big Creek Park, Cunningham Park and Holroyd Park
Below them sit Big Creek Park at 8,359 feet, Cunningham Park at 8,056 feet, Holroyd Park at 8,026 feet, Sixmile Gap at 7,607 feet and Bull Canyon at 7,567 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Reading the land status
Named ground inside antelope hunt area 51 runs from 7,218 feet to 10,957 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.
Unit A51 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Blackhall Mountain (10,957 ft), Bear Mountain (9,967 ft), Wood Mountain (9,680 ft), Elkhorn Point (8,593 ft)
Holding ground: Casteel Park (8,525 ft), Beaver Dam Park (8,455 ft), Cunningham Park (8,056 ft)
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 51
Pronghorn Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 83.2% pronghorn success in antelope hunt area 51: 89 animals taken by 107 active hunters over 564 days of hunting, or 6.3 days per animal. By residency, residents 79.5% (66 taken by 83) and nonresidents 95.8% (23 taken by 24).
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) | 90 | 198 | 45.5% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 3 | 85 | 3.5% | — |
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 51, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any antelope), residents: 198 first-choice applicants for 90 licenses, 45.5% drawn
- Type 1 (any antelope), nonresidents: 85 first-choice applicants for 3 licenses, 3.5% 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 51?
What is the pronghorn success rate in antelope hunt area 51?
Is antelope hunt area 51 the same ground as elk hunt area 51?
What do you need besides a license to hunt antelope hunt area 51?
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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 51, 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 51, 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: Nonresident guide requirement in designated wilderness · 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