Unit A53 (Baggs)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Antelope
Antelope Hunt Area 53, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Baggs, covers about 1,002 square miles in Carbon County. It belongs to WGFD's Baggs antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 80.3%, with 61 hunters taking 49 pronghorn at about 4.8 days of hunting per animal. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Antelope Hunting in Unit A53
Antelope Hunt Area 53, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Baggs, covers about 1,002 square miles in Carbon County. It belongs to WGFD's Baggs antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 80.3%, with 61 hunters taking 49 pronghorn at about 4.8 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 53
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names antelope hunt area 53 "Baggs". It runs to about 1,002 square miles, entirely in Carbon County. WGFD reports these pronghorn as the Baggs herd unit, which also takes in antelope hunt area 55. 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: Muddy Creek, Bridger Pass and Miller Hill
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 5 walks the line around antelope hunt area 53 corner by corner. It starts at the junction of Wyoming Highway 789 and the Wyoming-Colorado state line. On the way round it follows Wyoming Highway 789, B.L.M. Road 3306, B.L.M. Road 3301 and B.L.M. Road 3328, and Muddy Creek, Bridger Pass, Miller Hill and McCarty Canyon. 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 53s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 53 also belongs to its deer hunt area 53. None of it 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: Red Rim-Grizzly and Carbon 8
WGFD administers the Red Rim-Grizzly Wildlife Habitat Management Area (38,354 acres) inside or across the line. WGFD also lists 4 Walk-In Areas covering about 10,997 acres open for antelope, among them Carbon 8, Carbon 11 and Carbon 2. 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.
Wilderness inside the line: Huston Park Wilderness
About 3% of antelope hunt area 53 lies in the Huston Park 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: Bridger Peak, Red Mountain and McCormick Peak
Named high points inside antelope hunt area 53 include Bridger Peak at 10,982 feet, Red Mountain at 10,490 feet, McCormick Peak at 10,239 feet, Quartzite Peak at 9,848 feet and Singer Peak at 9,510 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: Cottonwood Park, Smiley Meadow and Lake Draw
Below them sit Cottonwood Park at 7,800 feet, Smiley Meadow at 7,693 feet, Lake Draw at 7,492 feet, Deep Gulch at 7,430 feet and Canary Grove Draw at 7,417 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Unit A53 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Bridger Peak (10,982 ft), Red Mountain (10,490 ft), McCormick Peak (10,239 ft), Quartzite Peak (9,848 ft)
Holding ground: Huston Park (10,191 ft), Standard Park (10,144 ft), Strawberry Gulch (8,411 ft), Red Rim-Grizzly WHMA, Walk-In Area Carbon 6
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 53
Antelope Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 80.3% pronghorn success in antelope hunt area 53: 49 animals taken by 61 active hunters over 233 days of hunting, or 4.8 days per animal. By residency, residents 68% (34 taken by 50) and nonresidents 136.4% (15 taken by 11).
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.
Antelope Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (resident) | 7 | 169 | 4.1% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 100 | 0.0% | — |
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 53, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any antelope), residents: 169 first-choice applicants for 7 licenses, 4.1% drawn
- Type 1 (any antelope), nonresidents: 100 first-choice applicants for 0 licenses, 0% 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 53?
What is the pronghorn success rate in antelope hunt area 53?
Is antelope hunt area 53 the same ground as deer hunt area 53?
What do you need besides a license to hunt antelope hunt area 53?
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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 53, 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 53, 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, 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