Wyoming Mule Deer Whitetail Deer

Unit D157 (Boysen)

Wyoming Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer

Deer Hunt Area 157, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Boysen, covers about 664 square miles in Fremont County. It belongs to WGFD's Project mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 36.1%, with 377 hunters taking 136 mule deer at about 11.5 days of hunting per animal. CWD samples are mandatory here in 2026. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D157

Where to Find Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 157

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 157 "Boysen". It runs to about 664 square miles, entirely in Fremont County. WGFD reports these mule deer as the Project herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt area 171. 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.

The line: Cottonwood Creek, Boysen Reservoir and Wind River

WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 157 corner by corner. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 20-26, Wyoming Highway 135 and Wyoming Highway 789, and Cottonwood Creek, Boysen Reservoir, Wind River and Big Wind River. It is the description your license is good inside, so it is worth reading once in full before you go. The full text is in Section 7 of that chapter, with this year's season dates and license limitations in Section 2.

Ground WGFD opens: Sand Mesa and Ocean Lake

WGFD administers 2 Wildlife Habitat Management Areas inside or across the line, including Sand Mesa (19,357 acres) and Ocean Lake (11,289 acres). WGFD also lists 5 Walk-In Areas covering about 2,838 acres open for deer, among them Fremont 18, Fremont 23 and Fremont 29. 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. Public Access Areas such as Killebrew (239 acres) and Mile High Ranch are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.

High ground inside the line: Alkali Butte, Pilot Butte and Big Ridge

Named high points inside deer hunt area 157 include Alkali Butte at 5,932 feet, Pilot Butte at 5,831 feet, Big Ridge at 5,728 feet, Lost Wells Butte at 5,685 feet and Sand Butte at 5,672 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Mule deer on open country use every fold and draw there is, and almost none of the flat.

Holding ground: Paradise Valley, Riverview Valley and Gibbons Draw

Below them sit Paradise Valley at 5,137 feet, Riverview Valley at 4,961 feet, Gibbons Draw at 4,960 feet, Albright Draw at 4,944 feet and Shriner Draw at 4,941 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.

Water: Finley Spring, Gerton Spring and Drip Spring

Named water inside the line includes Finley Spring, Gerton Spring and Drip Spring. 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 deer hunt area 157 runs from 4,777 feet to 5,932 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

Unit D157 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Lost Wells Butte (5,685 ft), Sand Hills (4,959 ft)

Holding ground: Berlin Draw (4,926 ft), Sand Gulch (4,888 ft), Missouri Valley (4,793 ft), Sand Mesa WHMA, Ocean Lake WHMA, Walk-In Area Fremont 34, Walk-In Area Fremont 18

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 157

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest survey estimates 377 hunters took 136 mule deer in deer hunt area 157 — 36.1% success, at about 11.5 days of hunting for every animal taken. Residents ran 37.3% and nonresidents 15% that year. Fewer than half the hunters here filled a license, which makes scouting time the difference between the two groups. The plan: glass the broken edges at first light, then sit still and keep glassing the same ground.

License types WGFD reported in deer hunt area 157 for 2025

WGFD's 2025 survey breaks the mule deer harvest in deer hunt area 157 down by license type.

Type 6 — 46 licenses in use, 21.7% success, 21.1 days per animal
General — 349 licenses in use, 36.1% success, 10.7 days per animal

What each type allows — antlered, antlerless, archery-only, where it is valid — and this year's dates are set area by area in Section 2 of WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6, so read the line for the license you hold rather than assume it matches another area's.

CWD samples are mandatory here in 2026

WGFD's 2026 CWD map lists deer hunt area 157 as a mandatory sampling area. Chapter 2 of its regulations lets the Department require samples from harvested deer, elk and moose in designated areas and makes failing to submit one a violation, so find out before the season how WGFD wants the sample from your mule deer taken and turned in.

Glassing from Sand Hills, Neble Hill and Hidden Valley

Take a position on one of Sand Hills (4,959 ft), Neble Hill (4,926 ft), Hidden Valley (4,803 ft) and Alkali Butte (5,932 ft) and be on it before light. Work the morning with the air falling away from you, then accept that by mid-morning the wind has reversed and the plan has to change with it. Late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Hunting the Access Yes ground

Hunter Management Areas and Walk-In Areas are private land opened through WGFD's Access Yes program, and the 2026 regulations open each one only for the species and dates listed for it. Read the area's page on WGFD's site before you go — its rules, its dates and whether it needs anything more than your license. Anything else on that land, or any species not listed, needs the landowner's permission, so treat the Access Yes line as the edge of what you were given.

Reading the Project herd, not just the area

WGFD's harvest report also tabulates mule deer by herd unit, and deer hunt area 157 shares the Project herd unit with deer hunt area 171. The animals cross those lines without noticing them, so a neighbouring area in the same herd is the fairest comparison for a season here.

The way in: U.S. Highway 20-26, Wyoming Highway 135 and Wyoming Highway 789

We hold no road inventory for deer hunt area 157, so the only routes we can name are the ones WGFD draws its boundary with: U.S. Highway 20-26, Wyoming Highway 135 and Wyoming Highway 789. Those are its edges, not its interior — where you leave the pavement, not what the inside is like. Pick the edge nearest the country you mean to hunt and work in from it on foot.

Wyoming rules that decide your day

Summarised from WGFD regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Wyoming has no general off-road retrieval allowance on federal ground. Travel stays on designated routes.

Tagging

Attach the carcass coupon to the animal before it is moved, and keep evidence of sex attached.

Leaving meat

Wanton waste of edible meat is a serious offence in Wyoming.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting from or across a public road, and no shooting toward an occupied dwelling.

Mule Deer: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body.

Shots to refuse

Nothing behind or overlapping the animal you picked.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have shot a three-shot group into a paper plate from the rest you are carrying.
Pass the shot you are talking yourself into.

Plan the carry: roughly 40– 120 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two large coolers. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Mule Deer Success Rates

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 36.1% mule deer success in deer hunt area 157: 136 animals taken by 377 active hunters over 1,558 days of hunting, or 11.5 days per animal. By residency, residents 37.3% (133 taken by 357) and nonresidents 15% (3 taken by 20).

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 either sex (resident)	34	155	21.9%	—
Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident)	3	23	13.0%	—
Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (resident)	139	94	100.0%	—
Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (nonresident)	8	0	100.0%	—

Data from 2024 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 Engine

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2026 demand report for mule deer in deer hunt area 157, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:

Type 3, residents: 94 first-choice applicants for 139 licenses, 100% 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.

Whitetail Deer Hunting in Unit D157

Deer Hunt Area 157, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Boysen, covers about 664 square miles in Fremont County. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put white-tailed deer success here at 39.1%, with 624 hunters taking 244 white-tailed deer at about 18.6 days of hunting per animal. CWD samples are mandatory here in 2026. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find White-Tailed Deer in Deer Hunt Area 157

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 157 "Boysen". It runs to about 664 square miles, entirely in Fremont County. 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: Cottonwood Creek, Boysen Reservoir and Wind River

Ground WGFD opens: Sand Mesa and Ocean Lake

High ground inside the line: Edmo Buttes, Indian Butte and Sand Mesa

Named high points inside deer hunt area 157 include Edmo Buttes at 5,640 feet, Indian Butte at 5,524 feet, Sand Mesa at 5,178 feet, Sand Hills at 4,959 feet and Neble Hill at 4,926 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. White-tailed deer on farm country live in the cover strips between fields and feed out at the edges of the day.

Holding ground: Brown Draw, Riverton Draw and Berlin Draw

Below them sit Brown Draw at 4,940 feet, Riverton Draw at 4,929 feet, Berlin Draw at 4,926 feet, Madden Draw at 4,913 feet and Doughty Draw at 4,908 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.

Water: Finley Spring, Gerton Spring and Drip Spring

Named water inside the line includes Finley Spring, Gerton Spring and Drip Spring. 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 deer hunt area 157 runs from 4,777 feet to 5,932 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

Unit D157 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Lost Wells Butte (5,685 ft), Sand Hills (4,959 ft)

Holding ground: Berlin Draw (4,926 ft), Sand Gulch (4,888 ft), Missouri Valley (4,793 ft), Sand Mesa WHMA, Ocean Lake WHMA, Walk-In Area Fremont 34, Walk-In Area Fremont 18

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 White-Tailed Deer in Deer Hunt Area 157

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest survey estimates 624 hunters took 244 white-tailed deer in deer hunt area 157 — 39.1% success, at about 18.6 days of hunting for every animal taken. Residents ran 39.9% and nonresidents 34.1% that year. Fewer than half the hunters here filled a license, which makes scouting time the difference between the two groups. The plan: find the trails between bedding cover and feed, then sit downwind of them at first and last light.

License types WGFD reported in deer hunt area 157 for 2025

WGFD's 2025 survey breaks the white-tailed deer harvest in deer hunt area 157 down by license type.

Type 3 — 132 licenses in use, 32.6% success, 25.5 days per animal
Type 6 — 48 licenses in use, 25% success, 24.5 days per animal
Type 8 — 323 licenses in use, 46.4% success, 12.6 days per animal
General — 283 licenses in use, 13.8% success, 32.4 days per animal

CWD samples are mandatory here in 2026

Glassing from Pilot Butte, Big Ridge and Lost Wells Butte

Take a position on one of Pilot Butte (5,831 ft), Big Ridge (5,728 ft), Lost Wells Butte (5,685 ft) and Sand Butte (5,672 ft) and be on it before light. Work the morning with the air falling away from you, then accept that by mid-morning the wind has reversed and the plan has to change with it. November bucks travel and check doe groups in daylight, which is when a stand on a travel route pays.

Hunting the Access Yes ground

The way in: U.S. Highway 20-26, Wyoming Highway 135 and Wyoming Highway 789

Wyoming rules that decide your day

Summarised from WGFD regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Wyoming has no general off-road retrieval allowance on federal ground. Travel stays on designated routes.

Tagging

Attach the carcass coupon to the animal before it is moved, and keep evidence of sex attached.

Leaving meat

Wanton waste of edible meat is a serious offence in Wyoming.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting from or across a public road, and no shooting toward an occupied dwelling.

Whitetail Deer: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body.

Shots to refuse

Nothing behind or overlapping the animal you picked.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have shot a three-shot group into a paper plate from the rest you are carrying.
Pass the shot you are talking yourself into.

Plan the carry: roughly 40– 120 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two large coolers. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Whitetail Deer Success Rates

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 39.1% white-tailed deer success in deer hunt area 157: 244 animals taken by 624 active hunters over 4,543 days of hunting, or 18.6 days per animal. By residency, residents 39.9% (214 taken by 536) and nonresidents 34.1% (30 taken by 88).

Whitetail Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — General either sex (resident)	132	180	73.3%	—
Rifle — General either sex (nonresident)	24	4	100.0%	—

Data from 2025 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 Engine

The white-tailed deer draw figures we hold for Wyoming have not been checked against WGFD's demand reports, so none are printed here. WGFD's draw results and odds page has the demand report for every hunt area and license type.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

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Water

3 named water sources inside the hunt area in our water layer, including Finley Spring, Gerton Spring and Drip Spring. Which of them run in autumn is something only a scouting trip will tell you.

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Road Conditions

WGFD's boundary for the hunt area follows U.S. Highway 20-26, Wyoming Highway 135 and Wyoming Highway 789. That is the edge, not a promise of access inside — check a current motor-vehicle-use map before you drive in.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features inside the hunt area run from 4,777 to 5,932 ft. Named heights only — the ground between and below them can run lower.

👥

Hunting Pressure

WGFD's 2025 survey counted about 377 mule deer hunters spending 1,558 days here.

📋

Permit Notes

Season dates and license limitations: WGFD 2026 Chapter 6, Section 2. CWD sample submission mandatory in 2026.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Wyoming deer hunt area 157?

Deer Hunt Area 157 (Boysen) covers about 664 square miles in Fremont County. WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 157 corner by corner. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 20-26, Wyoming Highway 135 and Wyoming Highway 789, and Cottonwood Creek, Boysen Reservoir, Wind River and Big Wind River.

What is the mule deer success rate in deer hunt area 157?

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 36.1% mule deer success in deer hunt area 157, with 377 hunters taking 136 mule deer at about 11.5 days of hunting per animal. That is WGFD's figure for this hunt area, not a statewide average.

What do you need besides a license to hunt deer hunt area 157?

Beyond the license, deer hunt area 157 calls for a CWD sample from your animal, which WGFD has made mandatory here for 2026. Season dates and license limitations are in Section 2 of WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6.

What is the white-tailed deer success rate in deer hunt area 157?

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 39.1% white-tailed deer success in deer hunt area 157, with 624 hunters taking 244 white-tailed deer at about 18.6 days of hunting per animal. That is WGFD's figure for this hunt area, not a statewide average.

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Sources & Verification

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 157, 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 157, 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
Chapter 2 — General Hunting Regulation (2026) — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Mandatory CWD sample submission (Section 17) · 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, 2026 CWD mandatory and priority sampling areas, 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

Unit D157 (Boysen)

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D157

Where to Find Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 157

The line: Cottonwood Creek, Boysen Reservoir and Wind River

Ground WGFD opens: Sand Mesa and Ocean Lake

High ground inside the line: Alkali Butte, Pilot Butte and Big Ridge

Holding ground: Paradise Valley, Riverview Valley and Gibbons Draw

Water: Finley Spring, Gerton Spring and Drip Spring

Reading the land status

Unit D157 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 157

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Whitetail Deer Hunting in Unit D157

Where to Find White-Tailed Deer in Deer Hunt Area 157

The line: Cottonwood Creek, Boysen Reservoir and Wind River

Ground WGFD opens: Sand Mesa and Ocean Lake

High ground inside the line: Edmo Buttes, Indian Butte and Sand Mesa

Holding ground: Brown Draw, Riverton Draw and Berlin Draw

Water: Finley Spring, Gerton Spring and Drip Spring

Reading the land status

Unit D157 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt White-Tailed Deer in Deer Hunt Area 157

Whitetail Deer Success Rates

Whitetail Deer Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Sources & Verification