Wyoming Mule Deer

Unit D23 (Clearmont)

Wyoming Hunting Guide — Mule Deer

Deer Hunt Area 23, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Clearmont, covers about 1,143 square miles in Sheridan County. It belongs to WGFD's Powder River mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 49.7%, with 888 hunters taking 441 mule deer at about 8 days of hunting per animal. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

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Mule Deer guide

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D23

Where to Find Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 23

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 23 "Clearmont". It runs to about 1,143 square miles, almost all of it in Sheridan County. WGFD reports these mule deer as the Powder River herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt areas 17, 18 and 26. 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.

Where deer hunt area 23 begins and ends

WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 defines deer hunt area 23 as beginning where the Powder River crosses the Wyoming-Montana state line; southerly up said river to U.S. Highway 14; westerly along said highway to Interstate Highway 90; northwesterly along said highway to the Wyoming-Montana state line; easterly along said line to the Powder 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.

Not the same ground as the other hunt area 23s

WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 23 also belongs to its elk, antelope and moose hunt areas 23. 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.

Ground WGFD opens: Junction and Sheridan 1

Its Access Yes program enrolls a Hunter Management Area here that list deer among their species — Junction (319 acres). WGFD also lists 3 Walk-In Areas covering about 2,759 acres open for deer, among them Sheridan 1, Sheridan 5 and Sheridan 4. 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 Acme (1 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.

High ground inside the line: Horse Hill, Badger Hills and Foster Buttes

Named high points inside deer hunt area 23 include Horse Hill at 4,875 feet, Badger Hills at 4,688 feet, Foster Buttes at 4,504 feet, Blazer Hill at 4,336 feet and L Quarter Circle Butte at 4,285 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: Jones Draw, Williams Draw and Parker Draw

Below them sit Jones Draw at 4,273 feet, Williams Draw at 4,259 feet, Parker Draw at 4,252 feet, Twin Fork Draw at 4,243 feet and Foxhall Draw at 4,237 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.

Water: Barrel Spring and S R Springs

Named water inside the line includes Barrel Spring and S R Springs. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.

Unit D23 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Horse Hill (4,875 ft)

Holding ground: Weaver Draw (4,195 ft), Brug-lusher Draw (4,150 ft), Negro Draw (3,711 ft), Walk-In Area Sheridan 1, Walk-In Area Sheridan 5, Junction Hunter Management Area, Walk-In Area Sheridan 4, Barrel Spring

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 23

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest survey estimates 888 hunters took 441 mule deer in deer hunt area 23 — 49.7% success, at about 8 days of hunting for every animal taken. Residents ran 35.8% and nonresidents 66.9% 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 23 for 2025

WGFD's 2025 survey breaks the mule deer harvest in deer hunt area 23 down by license type.

Type 7 — 6 licenses in use, 66.7% success, 3 days per animal
General — 883 licenses in use, 49.5% success, 8.1 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.

Glassing from Badger Hills, Foster Buttes and Blazer Hill

Take a position on one of Badger Hills (4,688 ft), Foster Buttes (4,504 ft), Blazer Hill (4,336 ft) and L Quarter Circle Butte (4,285 ft) and be on it before light. In the dark the air runs downhill. Pick an approach that doesn't send it into the country you want to see, and plan to move once the slope warms. 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 Powder River herd, not just the area

WGFD's harvest report also tabulates mule deer by herd unit, and deer hunt area 23 shares the Powder River herd unit with deer hunt areas 17, 18 and 26. 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 14 and Interstate Highway 90

We hold no road inventory for deer hunt area 23, so the only routes we can name are the ones WGFD draws its boundary with: U.S. Highway 14 and Interstate Highway 90. 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.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Horse Hill as places to see from, and Weaver Draw, Brug-lusher Draw and Negro Draw as ground to work. Each pin is a named feature or a WGFD access property placed inside the area line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Join two of them into a morning: be on the first before light, move to the second once the thermals turn.

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 49.7% mule deer success in deer hunt area 23: 441 animals taken by 888 active hunters over 3,544 days of hunting, or 8 days per animal. By residency, residents 35.8% (176 taken by 492) and nonresidents 66.9% (265 taken by 396).

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 3 either sex (resident)	400	117	100.0%	—
Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (nonresident)	69	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.

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Wyoming Game and Fish's 2026 demand report for mule deer in deer hunt area 23, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:

Type 3, residents: 117 first-choice applicants for 400 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.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

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Water

3 named water sources inside the hunt area in our water layer, including Barrel Spring and S R 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 14 and Interstate Highway 90. 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 3,484 to 4,875 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 888 mule deer hunters spending 3,544 days here.

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Permit Notes

Season dates and license limitations: WGFD 2026 Chapter 6, Section 2.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Wyoming deer hunt area 23?

Deer Hunt Area 23 (Clearmont) covers about 1,143 square miles in Sheridan County. WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 defines deer hunt area 23 as beginning where the Powder River crosses the Wyoming-Montana state line; southerly up said river to U.S. Highway 14; westerly along said highway to Interstate Highway 90; northwesterly along said highway to the Wyoming-Montana state line; easterly along said line to the Powder River.

What is the mule deer success rate in deer hunt area 23?

Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 49.7% mule deer success in deer hunt area 23, with 888 hunters taking 441 mule deer at about 8 days of hunting per animal. That is WGFD's figure for this hunt area, not a statewide average.

Is deer hunt area 23 the same ground as elk hunt area 23?

No. WGFD numbers hunt areas separately for each species, so elk hunt area 23 is a different piece of ground with its own boundary and its own page. A license is valid only in the hunt area of its own species.

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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 23, 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 23, 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

Unit D23 (Clearmont)

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D23

Where to Find Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 23

Where deer hunt area 23 begins and ends

Not the same ground as the other hunt area 23s

Ground WGFD opens: Junction and Sheridan 1

High ground inside the line: Horse Hill, Badger Hills and Foster Buttes

Holding ground: Jones Draw, Williams Draw and Parker Draw

Water: Barrel Spring and S R Springs

Unit D23 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Deer Hunt Area 23

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Explore Related Units

Deer Hunt Area 26 — Ucross

Elk Hunt Area 23 — Rattlesnake

Antelope Hunt Area 23 — Pumpkin Buttes

Frequently Asked Questions

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Sources & Verification