Unit D117 (Franc's Peak)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Deer Hunt Area 117, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Franc's Peak, covers about 430 square miles in Park and Hot Springs counties. It belongs to WGFD's Owl Creek/Meeteetse mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 71.4%, with 49 hunters taking 35 mule deer at about 11.7 days of hunting per animal. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D117
Deer Hunt Area 117, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Franc's Peak, covers about 430 square miles in Park and Hot Springs counties. It belongs to WGFD's Owl Creek/Meeteetse mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 71.4%, with 49 hunters taking 35 mule deer at about 11.7 days of hunting per animal. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 117
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 117 "Franc's Peak". It runs to about 430 square miles, in Park (93%) and Hot Springs (7%) counties. WGFD reports these mule deer as the Owl Creek/Meeteetse herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt areas 116, 118, 119 and 120. What WGFD publishes for the area is its boundary and its harvest; where the mule deer stand inside it is our reading of the ground, and the two are kept apart below.
Where deer hunt area 117 begins and ends
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 defines deer hunt area 117 as all of the Greybull and Wood River drainages on national forest. Read it as the legal edge of your license rather than as a hint about animals. The full text is in Section 7 of that chapter, with this year's season dates and license limitations in Section 2.
Not the same ground as the other hunt area 117s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 117 also belongs to its elk and antelope hunt areas 117. 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 deer area, and the cards at the foot of the page link the others.
Wilderness inside the line: Washakie Wilderness
About 49% of deer hunt area 117 lies in the Washakie 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: Francs Peak, Absaroka Range and Jojo Mountain
Named high points inside deer hunt area 117 include Francs Peak at 13,090 feet, Absaroka Range at 13,088 feet, Jojo Mountain at 12,557 feet, Mount Crosby at 12,440 feet and Carter Mountain at 12,315 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Mule deer bed on broken ground with a view and feed on the brush below it.
Holding ground: Galena Basin, Piney Pass and Meadow Creek Basin
Below them sit Galena Basin at 10,351 feet, Piney Pass at 10,247 feet, Meadow Creek Basin at 10,243 feet, McGregor Park at 9,191 feet and Smuggler Gulch at 8,777 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 deer hunt area 117 runs from 8,061 feet to 13,090 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.
Unit D117 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Francs Peak (13,090 ft), Jojo Mountain (12,557 ft), Mount Crosby (12,440 ft), Carter Mountain (12,315 ft)
Holding ground: Bear Creek Pass (11,304 ft), Greybull Pass (11,229 ft), Coal Chute Pass (11,171 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 Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 117
Mule Deer Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 71.4% mule deer success in deer hunt area 117: 35 animals taken by 49 active hunters over 411 days of hunting, or 11.7 days per animal. By residency, residents 64.1% (25 taken by 39) and nonresidents 100% (10 taken by 10).
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.
Mule Deer Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (resident) | 40 | 252 | 15.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (nonresident) | 1 | 26 | 3.8% | — |
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 mule deer in deer hunt area 117, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1, residents: 252 first-choice applicants for 40 licenses, 15.9% drawn
- Type 1, nonresidents: 26 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 3.8% drawn
Wyoming residents draw mule deer 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 deer hunt area 117?
What is the mule deer success rate in deer hunt area 117?
Is deer hunt area 117 the same ground as elk hunt area 117?
What do you need besides a license to hunt deer hunt area 117?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-25.
- Chapter 6 — Deer Hunting Seasons (2026) — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Name and legal boundary of deer hunt area 117, Season dates, license types and limitations by hunt area · accessed 2026-10-25
- Deer 2025 Harvest Report — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: Hunters, harvest, percent success and days per animal for mule deer in deer hunt area 117, 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 · 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 · 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