Unit A56 (Iron Springs)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Pronghorn
Antelope Hunt Area 56, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Iron Springs, covers about 268 square miles in Carbon County. It belongs to WGFD's Iron Springs antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 71.4%, with 14 hunters taking 10 pronghorn at about 10.2 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 A56
Antelope Hunt Area 56, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Iron Springs, covers about 268 square miles in Carbon County. It belongs to WGFD's Iron Springs antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 71.4%, with 14 hunters taking 10 pronghorn at about 10.2 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 56
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names antelope hunt area 56 "Iron Springs". It runs to about 268 square miles, entirely in Carbon County. WGFD reports these pronghorn as the Iron Springs herd unit, which also takes in antelope hunt areas 52 and 108. WGFD prints the line and counts the harvest. It doesn't say where inside the line the pronghorn live, so that part is our read of the ground, labelled as such.
The line: North Platte River and Sage Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 5 walks the line around antelope hunt area 56 corner by corner. It starts where Wyoming Highway 71 crosses Interstate Highway 80 at the city of Rawlins. On the way round it follows Wyoming Highway 71, Interstate Highway 80 and Carbon County Road 401, and North Platte River and Sage Creek. 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 56s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 56 also belongs to its elk hunt area 56. 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: Public Access Areas
Public Access Areas such as North Platte River-Rochelle (216 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
High ground inside the line: Chokecherry Knob, Sheep Mountain and Hogback
Named high points inside antelope hunt area 56 include Chokecherry Knob at 8,133 feet, Sheep Mountain at 7,962 feet, Hogback at 7,309 feet, Savage Hills at 6,947 feet and Grenville Dome at 6,748 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: Smith Draw, Iron Springs Draw and Hugus Draw
Below them sit Smith Draw at 6,598 feet, Iron Springs Draw at 6,513 feet, Hugus Draw at 6,507 feet, Wild Horse Canyon at 7,162 feet and Fivemile Hole at 7,145 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Reading the land status
Named ground inside antelope hunt area 56 runs from 6,507 feet to 8,133 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.
Unit A56 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Chokecherry Knob (8,133 ft), Sheep Mountain (7,962 ft)
Holding ground: Fivemile Hole (7,145 ft), Severson Flats (6,728 ft), Coal Mine Draw (6,616 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 56
Pronghorn Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 71.4% pronghorn success in antelope hunt area 56: 10 animals taken by 14 active hunters over 102 days of hunting, or 10.2 days per animal. By residency, residents 50% (4 taken by 8) and nonresidents 100% (6 taken by 6).
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) | 20 | 30 | 66.7% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 17 | 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 56, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any antelope), residents: 30 first-choice applicants for 20 licenses, 66.7% drawn
- Type 1 (any antelope), nonresidents: 17 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 56?
What is the pronghorn success rate in antelope hunt area 56?
Is antelope hunt area 56 the same ground as elk hunt area 56?
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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 56, 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 56, 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
- 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