Unit D37 (Copper Mountain)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Deer Hunt Area 37, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Copper Mountain, covers about 372 square miles in Hot Springs and Fremont counties. It belongs to WGFD's Southwest Bighorn mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 116.7%, with 42 hunters taking 49 mule deer at about 3.6 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 D37
Deer Hunt Area 37, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Copper Mountain, covers about 372 square miles in Hot Springs and Fremont counties. It belongs to WGFD's Southwest Bighorn mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 116.7%, with 42 hunters taking 49 mule deer at about 3.6 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 37
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 37 "Copper Mountain". It runs to about 372 square miles, almost all of it in Hot Springs County. WGFD reports these mule deer as the Southwest Bighorn herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt areas 35, 36, 39, 40 and 164. 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: Bighorn River, Nowater Creek and Kirby Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 37 corner by corner. It starts at the confluence of the Bighorn River and Walter's Draw. On the way round it follows B.L.M. Road 1409, Wyoming Highway 172 and Hot Springs County Road 7, and Bighorn River, Nowater Creek, Kirby Creek and Murphy Dome-Mud 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 37s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 37 also belongs to its elk, antelope and moose hunt areas 37. 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: Kirby Creek and Hot Springs 9
Its Access Yes program enrolls a Hunter Management Area here that list deer among their species — Kirby Creek (11,503 acres). WGFD also lists 5 Walk-In Areas covering about 6,910 acres open for deer, among them Hot Springs 9, Hot Springs 2 and Hot Springs 3. 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 Bighorn River-Wedding of the Water (13 acres) and Bighorn River-Kirby Ditch (2 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
High ground inside the line: Stone Mountain, Bridger Mountains and Twin Buttes
Named high points inside deer hunt area 37 include Stone Mountain at 7,187 feet, Bridger Mountains at 7,102 feet, Twin Buttes at 6,099 feet, Hall Butte at 6,044 feet and Wild Horse Butte at 6,024 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: Buffalo Basin, Little V-H Draw and Devil Slide
Below them sit Buffalo Basin at 5,772 feet, Little V-H Draw at 5,470 feet, Devil Slide at 5,432 feet, Red Canyon at 5,258 feet and Major Basin at 5,216 feet. That is the low ground — where animals drop when they are pushed or when the weather turns.
Unit D37 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Stone Mountain (7,187 ft), Twin Buttes (6,099 ft), Wild Horse Butte (6,024 ft), Blue Hill (6,013 ft)
Holding ground: Devil Slide (5,432 ft), Major Basin (5,216 ft), Olsen Draw (4,916 ft), Kirby Creek Hunter Management Area, Walk-In Area Hot Springs 19
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 37
Mule Deer Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 116.7% mule deer success in deer hunt area 37: 49 animals taken by 42 active hunters over 175 days of hunting, or 3.6 days per animal. By residency, residents 112.9% (35 taken by 31) and nonresidents 127.3% (14 taken by 11). The figure passes 100% because WGFD counts animals taken over hunters, and its Chapter 2 lets one hunter hold a full-price license and up to four reduced-price doe/fawn licenses.
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) | 27 | 126 | 21.4% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (nonresident) | 1 | 25 | 4.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (resident) | 36 | 42 | 85.7% | — |
| 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 EngineWyoming Game and Fish's 2026 demand report for mule deer in deer hunt area 37, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1, residents: 126 first-choice applicants for 27 licenses, 21.4% drawn
- Type 3, residents: 42 first-choice applicants for 36 licenses, 85.7% drawn
- Type 1, nonresidents: 25 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 4% 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 37?
What is the mule deer success rate in deer hunt area 37?
Is deer hunt area 37 the same ground as elk hunt area 37?
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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 37, 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 37, 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), How many licenses one hunter may hold (Section 4) · 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