Unit A8 (Niobrara)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Pronghorn
Antelope Hunt Area 8, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Niobrara, covers about 1,116 square miles in Niobrara and Weston counties. It belongs to WGFD's Black Thunder antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 88.3%, with 213 hunters taking 188 pronghorn at about 2.9 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 A8
Antelope Hunt Area 8, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Niobrara, covers about 1,116 square miles in Niobrara and Weston counties. It belongs to WGFD's Black Thunder antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 88.3%, with 213 hunters taking 188 pronghorn at about 2.9 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 8
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names antelope hunt area 8 "Niobrara". It runs to about 1,116 square miles, in Niobrara (85%) and Weston (14%) counties. WGFD reports these pronghorn as the Black Thunder herd unit, which also takes in antelope hunt areas 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 24, 27 and 29. 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 Lance Creek and Cheyenne River
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 5 walks the line around antelope hunt area 8 corner by corner. It starts where the Boner Road (Niobrara County Road 18) crosses the Wyoming-South Dakota state line. On the way round it follows Niobrara County Road 18, U.S. Highway 85, Wyoming Highway 270 and Wyoming Highway 272, and North Lance Creek and Cheyenne River. 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 8s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 8 also belongs to its elk, deer, moose and bighorn sheep hunt areas 8. Only the deer area 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: Niobrara 20
WGFD also lists one Walk-In Area covering about 8,928 acres open for antelope: Niobrara 20. 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: Old Woman Creek Hills, Buck Creek Hills and White Hill
Named high points inside antelope hunt area 8 include Old Woman Creek Hills at 4,629 feet, Buck Creek Hills at 4,565 feet, White Hill at 4,551 feet, The Flat Top at 4,306 feet and Funny Rock at 4,264 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: Dixon Draw, Clayton Draw and Fred Draw
Below them sit Dixon Draw at 4,114 feet, Clayton Draw at 4,108 feet, Fred Draw at 4,095 feet, Barrel Draw at 4,092 feet and Windmill Draw at 4,091 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Reading the land status
Named ground inside antelope hunt area 8 runs from 3,568 feet to 4,629 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.
Unit A8 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: White Hill (4,551 ft), Funny Rock (4,264 ft), Twentyone Divide (4,073 ft)
Holding ground: Dixon Draw (4,114 ft), Horse Shoe Bend (3,995 ft), Walk-In Area Niobrara 20
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 8
Pronghorn Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 88.3% pronghorn success in antelope hunt area 8: 188 animals taken by 213 active hunters over 538 days of hunting, or 2.9 days per animal. By residency, residents 57.6% (34 taken by 59) and nonresidents 100% (154 taken by 154).
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) | 178 | 69 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 19 | 293 | 6.5% | — |
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 8, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any antelope), nonresidents: 293 first-choice applicants for 19 licenses, 6.5% drawn
- Type 1 (any antelope), residents: 69 first-choice applicants for 178 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 8?
What is the pronghorn success rate in antelope hunt area 8?
Is antelope hunt area 8 the same ground as elk hunt area 8?
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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 8, 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 8, 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