Unit A9 (Lance Creek)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Antelope
Antelope Hunt Area 9, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Lance Creek, covers about 1,022 square miles in Niobrara and Converse counties. It belongs to WGFD's Black Thunder antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 83.6%, with 280 hunters taking 234 pronghorn at about 4.7 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 A9
Antelope Hunt Area 9, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Lance Creek, covers about 1,022 square miles in Niobrara and Converse counties. It belongs to WGFD's Black Thunder antelope herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put pronghorn success here at 83.6%, with 280 hunters taking 234 pronghorn at about 4.7 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 9
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names antelope hunt area 9 "Lance Creek". It runs to about 1,022 square miles, almost all of it in Niobrara County. WGFD reports these pronghorn as the Black Thunder herd unit, which also takes in antelope hunt areas 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 24, 27 and 29. The boundary and the harvest figures are WGFD's. The read of the country inside them is ours, and it says so where it starts.
The line: Twenty Mile Creek, Lost Springs and Lance Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 5 walks the line around antelope hunt area 9 corner by corner. It starts where U.S. Highway 20 crosses the WyomingNebraska state line. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 20, Converse County Road 46, Converse County Road 53 and Niobrara County Road 23, and Twenty Mile Creek, Lost Springs and Lance 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 9s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 9 also belongs to its elk, deer, moose and bighorn sheep hunt areas 9. 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: Niobrara 1 and Niobrara 6
WGFD also lists 9 Walk-In Areas covering about 74,457 acres open for antelope, among them Niobrara 1, Niobrara 6 and Niobrara 10. 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: Seventy-Seven Hills, Harney Hills and Horseshoe Hills
Named high points inside antelope hunt area 9 include Seventy-Seven Hills at 5,628 feet, Harney Hills at 5,538 feet, Horseshoe Hills at 5,493 feet, Chalk Buttes at 5,453 feet and Chimney Rock at 5,433 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: Cooley Draw, Petts Draw and Hay Draw
Below them sit Cooley Draw at 4,812 feet, Petts Draw at 4,663 feet, Hay Draw at 4,471 feet, Timber Draw at 4,468 feet and Cedar Canyon at 4,464 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 9 runs from 3,916 feet to 5,628 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.
Unit A9 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Seventy-Seven Hills (5,628 ft), Harney Hills (5,538 ft), Horseshoe Hills (5,493 ft), Flat Top (5,010 ft)
Holding ground: Flat Top Draw (4,884 ft), Walker Canyon (4,371 ft), Eagle Draw (3,916 ft), Walk-In Area Niobrara 1, Walk-In Area Antelope Hunting Only
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 9
Antelope Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 83.6% pronghorn success in antelope hunt area 9: 234 animals taken by 280 active hunters over 1,101 days of hunting, or 4.7 days per animal. By residency, residents 80.4% (172 taken by 214) and nonresidents 93.9% (62 taken by 66).
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) | 197 | 151 | 100.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 7 | 297 | 2.4% | — |
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 9, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any antelope), nonresidents: 297 first-choice applicants for 7 licenses, 2.4% drawn
- Type 1 (any antelope), residents: 151 first-choice applicants for 197 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 9?
What is the pronghorn success rate in antelope hunt area 9?
Is antelope hunt area 9 the same ground as elk hunt area 9?
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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 9, 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 9, 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