Unit A61 (Chain Lakes)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Antelope
Antelope Hunt Area 61, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Chain Lakes, covers about 1,254 square miles in Sweetwater, Carbon and Fremont counties. It belongs to WGFD's Red Desert antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 88.9%, with 108 hunters taking 96 pronghorn at about 3.8 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 A61
Antelope Hunt Area 61, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Chain Lakes, covers about 1,254 square miles in Sweetwater, Carbon and Fremont counties. It belongs to WGFD's Red Desert antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 88.9%, with 108 hunters taking 96 pronghorn at about 3.8 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 61
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names antelope hunt area 61 "Chain Lakes". It runs to about 1,254 square miles, in Sweetwater (69%), Carbon (23%) and Fremont (8%) counties. WGFD reports these pronghorn as the Red Desert herd unit, which also takes in antelope hunt areas 60 and 64. 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: Green Mountain, Whiskey Peak and Coal Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 5 walks the line around antelope hunt area 61 corner by corner. It starts at the junction of U.S. Highway 287 and Interstate Highway 80 at the city of Rawlins. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 287, Interstate Highway 80 and Sweetwater County Road 23, and Green Mountain, Whiskey Peak and Coal Creek. That is a legal description, not a habitat map, and it is the text a warden reads you against. 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 61s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 61 also belongs to its elk and deer hunt areas 61. 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: Chain Lakes
WGFD administers the Chain Lakes Wildlife Habitat Management Area (62,387 acres) inside or across the line.
High ground inside the line: Whiskey Peak, Stratton Rim and Sheep Mountain
Named high points inside antelope hunt area 61 include Whiskey Peak at 9,212 feet, Stratton Rim at 8,017 feet, Sheep Mountain at 7,894 feet, Lost Soldier Divide at 7,858 feet and Cherokee Peak at 7,822 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: Willow Draw, Crooks Gap and Mud Springs Flats
Below them sit Willow Draw at 6,811 feet, Crooks Gap at 6,674 feet, Mud Springs Flats at 6,652 feet, Creston Draw at 6,640 feet and Separation Flats at 6,623 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Water: Sand Spring, Antelope Spring and Mud Springs
Named water inside the line includes Sand Spring, Antelope Spring, Mud Springs, Willow Spring, Buck Spring and Cold Springs. 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 61 runs from 6,520 feet to 9,212 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.
Unit A61 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Stratton Rim (8,017 ft), Sheep Mountain (7,894 ft), Lost Soldier Divide (7,858 ft)
Holding ground: Sagebrush Park (9,074 ft), Stratton Hollow (7,595 ft), Laundry Draw (6,812 ft), Chain Lakes WHMA, Sand Spring, Antelope 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 61
Antelope Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 88.9% pronghorn success in antelope hunt area 61: 96 animals taken by 108 active hunters over 369 days of hunting, or 3.8 days per animal. By residency, residents 85.9% (73 taken by 85) and nonresidents 100% (23 taken by 23).
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) | 89 | 594 | 15.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 3 | 249 | 1.2% | — |
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 61, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any antelope), residents: 594 first-choice applicants for 89 licenses, 15% drawn
- Type 1 (any antelope), nonresidents: 249 first-choice applicants for 3 licenses, 1.2% 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 61?
What is the pronghorn success rate in antelope hunt area 61?
Is antelope hunt area 61 the same ground as elk hunt area 61?
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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 61, 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 61, 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