Unit D36 (Badwater)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Deer Hunt Area 36, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Badwater, covers about 899 square miles in Fremont, Natrona 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 68.9%, with 103 hunters taking 71 mule deer at about 6.2 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 D36
Deer Hunt Area 36, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Badwater, covers about 899 square miles in Fremont, Natrona 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 68.9%, with 103 hunters taking 71 mule deer at about 6.2 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 36
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 36 "Badwater". It runs to about 899 square miles, in Fremont (69%), Natrona (26%) and Hot Springs (5%) counties. WGFD reports these mule deer as the Southwest Bighorn herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt areas 35, 37, 39, 40 and 164. 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: Boysen Reservoir, Boysen Dam and Wind River
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 36 corner by corner. It starts at the town of Shoshoni and U.S. Highway 20-26. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 20-26, Hot Springs County Road 7, Natrona County Road 101 and Natrona County Road 102, and Boysen Reservoir, Boysen Dam, Wind River and Gold Creek. 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.
Not the same ground as the other hunt area 36s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 36 also belongs to its elk and moose hunt areas 36. 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: Fremont 10 and Fremont 30
WGFD also lists 4 Walk-In Areas covering about 8,940 acres open for deer, among them Fremont 10, Fremont 30 and Fremont 21. 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 Badwater Ranch (10,211 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
High ground inside the line: Copper Mountain, Guffy Peak and Greer Peak
Named high points inside deer hunt area 36 include Copper Mountain at 8,281 feet, Guffy Peak at 8,026 feet, Greer Peak at 7,708 feet, Devils Slide at 7,526 feet and Birdseye Mountain at 7,519 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: Goedicke Draw, Sand Draw and Cottonwood Draw
Below them sit Goedicke Draw at 6,142 feet, Sand Draw at 5,924 feet, Cottonwood Draw at 5,866 feet, Maxwell Draw at 5,643 feet and South Fork Frenchie Draw at 5,569 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Water: Sulphur Springs
Named water inside the line includes Sulphur Springs. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit D36 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Guffy Peak (8,026 ft), Greer Peak (7,708 ft), Devils Slide (7,526 ft), Birdseye Mountain (7,519 ft)
Holding ground: Goedicke Draw (6,142 ft), Sand Draw (5,924 ft), Sagebrush Draw (5,523 ft), Walk-In Area Natrona 19, Walk-In Area Fremont 10
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 36
Mule Deer Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 68.9% mule deer success in deer hunt area 36: 71 animals taken by 103 active hunters over 439 days of hunting, or 6.2 days per animal. By residency, residents 68.8% (53 taken by 77) and nonresidents 69.2% (18 taken by 26).
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) | 85 | 201 | 42.3% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (nonresident) | 3 | 61 | 4.9% | — |
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 36, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1, residents: 201 first-choice applicants for 85 licenses, 42.3% drawn
- Type 1, nonresidents: 61 first-choice applicants for 3 licenses, 4.9% 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 36?
What is the mule deer success rate in deer hunt area 36?
Is deer hunt area 36 the same ground as elk hunt area 36?
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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 36, 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 36, 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