Wyoming Whitetail Deer Mule Deer

Unit D164 (Nowater)

Wyoming Hunting Guide — Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer

Deer Hunt Area 164, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Nowater, covers about 511 square miles in Washakie and Hot Springs counties. It belongs to WGFD's Bighorn Basin white-tailed deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put white-tailed deer success here at 39.9%, with 208 hunters taking 83 white-tailed deer at about 13.8 days of hunting per animal. CWD samples are mandatory here in 2026. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Wyoming Hunting Guide

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Whitetail Deer Hunting in Unit D164

Where to Find White-Tailed Deer in Deer Hunt Area 164

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 164 "Nowater". It runs to about 511 square miles, almost all of it in Washakie County. WGFD reports these white-tailed deer as the Bighorn Basin herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt areas 35, 37, 39, 40, 41, 46, 47 and 50 and 24 more. WGFD prints the line and counts the harvest. It doesn't say where inside the line the white-tailed deer live, so that part is our read of the ground, labelled as such.

The line: Mud Creek, Nowater Creek and Kirby Creek

WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 164 corner by corner. It starts at the junction of U.S. Highway 16 and Bluebank Road (B.L.M. Road 1411). On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 16, B.L.M. Road 1411 and U.S. Highway 20, and Mud Creek, Nowater Creek, Kirby Creek and Bighorn River. 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.

Ground WGFD opens: Washakie 26 and Washakie 27

WGFD also lists 3 Walk-In Areas covering about 1,121 acres open for deer, among them Washakie 26, Washakie 27 and Washakie 5. 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: South Butte, North Butte and Middle Butte

Named high points inside deer hunt area 164 include South Butte at 5,478 feet, North Butte at 5,438 feet, Middle Butte at 5,378 feet, Big Cedar Ridge at 5,296 feet and Zimmerman Buttes at 5,227 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: Scorpion Draw, Antelope Draw and Sand Draw

Below them sit Scorpion Draw at 4,488 feet, Antelope Draw at 4,468 feet, Sand Draw at 4,458 feet, Murphy Dome Draw at 4,455 feet and Deadman Draw at 4,414 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.

Water: Pratt Well, McCarthy Well and Zimmerman Springs

Named water inside the line includes Pratt Well, McCarthy Well, Zimmerman Springs, Mills Well, Hampton Well and Roush Well Number 2. 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 164 runs from 4,067 feet to 5,478 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

Unit D164 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: South Butte (5,478 ft), North Butte (5,438 ft), Middle Butte (5,378 ft), Big Cedar Ridge (5,296 ft)

Holding ground: Hubble Draw (4,617 ft), Coal Draw (4,583 ft), Meyers Gulch (4,558 ft), Walk-In Area Washakie 5, Walk-In Area Washakie 26

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 164

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest survey estimates 208 hunters took 83 white-tailed deer in deer hunt area 164 — 39.9% success, at about 13.8 days of hunting for every animal taken. Residents ran 25.9% and nonresidents 84% 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 164 for 2025

WGFD's 2025 survey breaks the white-tailed deer harvest in deer hunt area 164 down by license type.

Type 1 — 8 licenses in use, 0% success
Type 3 — 75 licenses in use, 36% success, 21.3 days per animal
Type 6 — 8 licenses in use, 0% success
Type 7 — 11 licenses in use, 0% success
Type 8 — 90 licenses in use, 55.6% success, 6.6 days per animal
General — 79 licenses in use, 7.6% success, 31.3 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 164 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 white-tailed deer taken and turned in.

Glassing from South Butte, North Butte and Middle Butte

Take a position on one of South Butte (5,478 ft), North Butte (5,438 ft), Middle Butte (5,378 ft) and Big Cedar Ridge (5,296 ft) and be on it before light. Cold air slides downhill in the dark, so keep your scent out of the bowl you mean to watch, and expect the thermals to turn uphill an hour after the sun reaches the slope. November bucks travel and check doe groups in daylight, which is when a stand on a travel route pays.

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 Bighorn Basin herd, not just the area

WGFD's harvest report also tabulates white-tailed deer by herd unit, and deer hunt area 164 shares the Bighorn Basin herd unit with deer hunt areas 35, 37, 39, 40, 41 and 46 and 26 more. The animals cross those lines without noticing them, so a neighbouring area in the same herd is the fairest comparison for a season here.

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 39.9% white-tailed deer success in deer hunt area 164: 83 animals taken by 208 active hunters over 1,147 days of hunting, or 13.8 days per animal. By residency, residents 25.9% (41 taken by 158) and nonresidents 84% (42 taken by 50).

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.

Whitetail Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — General either sex (resident)	80	60	100.0%	—
Rifle — General either sex (nonresident)	15	1	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.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D164

Deer Hunt Area 164, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Nowater, covers about 511 square miles in Washakie and Hot Springs counties. It belongs to WGFD's Southwest Bighorn mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 49.1%, with 340 hunters taking 167 mule deer at about 8.1 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 Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 164

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 164 "Nowater". It runs to about 511 square miles, almost all of it in Washakie County. WGFD reports these mule deer as the Southwest Bighorn herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt areas 35, 36, 37, 39 and 40. WGFD prints the line and counts the harvest. It doesn't say where inside the line the mule deer live, so that part is our read of the ground, labelled as such.

The line: Mud Creek, Nowater Creek and Kirby Creek

WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 164 corner by corner. It starts at the junction of U.S. Highway 16 and Bluebank Road (B.L.M. Road 1411). On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 16, B.L.M. Road 1411 and U.S. Highway 20, and Mud Creek, Nowater Creek, Kirby Creek and Bighorn 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 7 of that chapter, with this year's season dates and license limitations in Section 2.

Ground WGFD opens: Washakie 26 and Washakie 27

High ground inside the line: Devils Slide, Potter Butte and Rocky Point

Named high points inside deer hunt area 164 include Devils Slide at 4,860 feet, Potter Butte at 4,715 feet, Rocky Point at 4,516 feet, South Butte at 5,478 feet and North Butte at 5,438 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: Banjo Flats, Little Denver Jake Draw and Henry Draw

Below them sit Banjo Flats at 4,359 feet, Little Denver Jake Draw at 4,352 feet, Henry Draw at 4,332 feet, Zimmerman Draw at 4,298 feet and Denver Jake Draw at 4,256 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.

Water: Pratt Well, McCarthy Well and Zimmerman Springs

Reading the land status

Named ground inside deer hunt area 164 runs from 4,067 feet to 5,478 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

Unit D164 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: South Butte (5,478 ft), North Butte (5,438 ft), Middle Butte (5,378 ft), Big Cedar Ridge (5,296 ft)

Holding ground: Hubble Draw (4,617 ft), Coal Draw (4,583 ft), Meyers Gulch (4,558 ft), Walk-In Area Washakie 5, Walk-In Area Washakie 26

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 164

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest survey estimates 340 hunters took 167 mule deer in deer hunt area 164 — 49.1% success, at about 8.1 days of hunting for every animal taken. Residents ran 43.7% and nonresidents 64.8% 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 164 for 2025

WGFD's 2025 survey breaks the mule deer harvest in deer hunt area 164 down by license type.

Type 1 — 46 licenses in use, 78.3% success, 5.1 days per animal
Type 6 — 41 licenses in use, 95.1% success, 2.4 days per animal
Type 7 — 23 licenses in use, 65.2% success, 4.4 days per animal
General — 265 licenses in use, 29.1% success, 13.2 days per animal

CWD samples are mandatory here in 2026

Glassing from Zimmerman Buttes, Devils Slide and Potter Butte

Take a position on one of Zimmerman Buttes (5,227 ft), Devils Slide (4,860 ft), Potter Butte (4,715 ft) and Rocky Point (4,516 ft) and be on it before light. Cold air slides downhill in the dark, so keep your scent out of the bowl you mean to watch, and expect the thermals to turn uphill an hour after the sun reaches the slope. Late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Hunting the Access Yes ground

Reading the Southwest Bighorn herd, not just the area

WGFD's harvest report also tabulates mule deer by herd unit, and deer hunt area 164 shares the Southwest Bighorn herd unit with deer hunt areas 35, 36, 37, 39 and 40. The animals cross those lines without noticing them, so a neighbouring area in the same herd is the fairest comparison for a season here.

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 49.1% mule deer success in deer hunt area 164: 167 animals taken by 340 active hunters over 1,357 days of hunting, or 8.1 days per animal. By residency, residents 43.7% (110 taken by 252) and nonresidents 64.8% (57 taken by 88).

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (resident)	40	86	46.5%	—
Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (nonresident)	2	10	20.0%	—
Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (resident)	40	38	100.0%	—
Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (nonresident)	2	0	100.0%	—

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 Engine

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2026 demand report for mule deer in deer hunt area 164, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:

Type 1, residents: 86 first-choice applicants for 40 licenses, 46.5% drawn
Type 3, residents: 38 first-choice applicants for 40 licenses, 100% drawn
Type 1, nonresidents: 10 first-choice applicants for 2 licenses, 20% 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

Planning Notes

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Water

6 named water sources inside the hunt area in our water layer, including Pratt Well, McCarthy Well and Zimmerman Springs. 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 16, B.L.M. Road 1411 and U.S. Highway 20. That is the edge, not a promise of access inside — check a current motor-vehicle-use map before you drive in.

🥾

Terrain Difficulty

Named features inside the hunt area run from 4,067 to 5,478 ft. Named heights only — the ground between and below them can run lower.

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Hunting Pressure

WGFD's 2025 survey counted about 208 white-tailed deer hunters spending 1,147 days here.

📋

Permit Notes

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Wyoming deer hunt area 164?

Deer Hunt Area 164 (Nowater) covers about 511 square miles in Washakie and Hot Springs counties. WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 164 corner by corner. It starts at the junction of U.S. Highway 16 and Bluebank Road (B.L.M. Road 1411). On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 16, B.L.M. Road 1411 and U.S. Highway 20, and Mud Creek, Nowater Creek, Kirby Creek and Bighorn River.

What is the white-tailed deer success rate in deer hunt area 164?

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 39.9% white-tailed deer success in deer hunt area 164, with 208 hunters taking 83 white-tailed deer at about 13.8 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 164?

Beyond the license, deer hunt area 164 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 mule deer success rate in deer hunt area 164?

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 49.1% mule deer success in deer hunt area 164, with 340 hunters taking 167 mule deer at about 8.1 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 164, 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 white-tailed deer in deer hunt area 164, The same by license type and residency · 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
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

Unit D164 (Nowater)

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit D164

Whitetail Deer Hunting in Unit D164

Where to Find White-Tailed Deer in Deer Hunt Area 164

The line: Mud Creek, Nowater Creek and Kirby Creek

Ground WGFD opens: Washakie 26 and Washakie 27

High ground inside the line: South Butte, North Butte and Middle Butte

Holding ground: Scorpion Draw, Antelope Draw and Sand Draw

Water: Pratt Well, McCarthy Well and Zimmerman Springs

Reading the land status

Unit D164 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt White-Tailed Deer in Deer Hunt Area 164

Whitetail Deer Success Rates

Whitetail Deer Draw Odds

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D164

Where to Find Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 164

The line: Mud Creek, Nowater Creek and Kirby Creek

Ground WGFD opens: Washakie 26 and Washakie 27

High ground inside the line: Devils Slide, Potter Butte and Rocky Point

Holding ground: Banjo Flats, Little Denver Jake Draw and Henry Draw

Water: Pratt Well, McCarthy Well and Zimmerman Springs

Reading the land status

Unit D164 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 164

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

Water

Road Conditions

Terrain Difficulty

Hunting Pressure

Permit Notes

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Sources & Verification