Unit D41 (Lower Nowood)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Deer Hunt Area 41, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Lower Nowood, covers about 517 square miles in Washakie and Big Horn counties. It belongs to WGFD's Paintrock mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 41.1%, with 552 hunters taking 227 mule deer at about 10.2 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 D41
Deer Hunt Area 41, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Lower Nowood, covers about 517 square miles in Washakie and Big Horn counties. It belongs to WGFD's Paintrock mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 41.1%, with 552 hunters taking 227 mule deer at about 10.2 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 41
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 41 "Lower Nowood". It runs to about 517 square miles, in Washakie (57%) and Big Horn (43%) counties. WGFD reports these mule deer as the Paintrock herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt areas 46 and 47. 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.
Where deer hunt area 41 begins and ends
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 41 corner by corner. It starts at the intersection of U.S. Highway 16-20 and Wyoming Highway 31 near the town of Manderson. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 16-20, Wyoming Highway 31, B.L.M. Road 1111 and Big Horn County Road 268, and Cold Springs. 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 41s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 41 also belongs to its elk and moose hunt areas 41. Only the elk area 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: Renner and Lower Nowood
WGFD administers the Renner Wildlife Habitat Management Area (15,509 acres) inside or across the line. Its Access Yes program enrolls a Hunter Management Area here that list deer among their species — Lower Nowood (651 acres). WGFD also lists 14 Walk-In Areas covering about 5,994 acres open for deer, among them Washakie 1, Washakie 6 and Big Horn 30. 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: Buttes, Cedar Mountain and Blue Ridge
Named high points inside deer hunt area 41 include Buttes at 7,081 feet, Cedar Mountain at 5,711 feet, Blue Ridge at 5,002 feet, Signal Butte at 4,769 feet and McDermotts Butte at 4,391 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: Sand Draw, Fertig Draw and Tensleep Canyon
Below them sit Sand Draw at 4,894 feet, Fertig Draw at 4,882 feet, Tensleep Canyon at 4,882 feet, Cottonwood Draw at 4,852 feet and Salt Trough at 4,668 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Water: Willow Springs, Renner Well and Faure Well
Named water inside the line includes Willow Springs, Renner Well, Faure Well, Camp Stove Spring, Pearce Well and Sand Creek Well. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit D41 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Buttes (7,081 ft), Cedar Mountain (5,711 ft), Signal Butte (4,769 ft), McDermotts Butte (4,391 ft)
Holding ground: Sand Springs Draw (5,642 ft), Pierce Draw (4,914 ft), Fertig Draw (4,882 ft), Renner WHMA, Walk-In Area Washakie 1
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 41
Mule Deer Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 41.1% mule deer success in deer hunt area 41: 227 animals taken by 552 active hunters over 2,311 days of hunting, or 10.2 days per animal. By residency, residents 38.3% (152 taken by 397) and nonresidents 48.4% (75 taken by 155).
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) | 20 | 143 | 14.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 50 | 2.0% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (resident) | 60 | 91 | 65.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 3 either sex (nonresident) | 3 | 0 | 100.0% | — |
Data from 2023 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 41, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 3, residents: 91 first-choice applicants for 60 licenses, 65.9% 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 41?
What is the mule deer success rate in deer hunt area 41?
Is deer hunt area 41 the same ground as elk hunt area 41?
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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 41, 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 41, 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