Unit D79 (Kennaday Peak)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Deer Hunt Area 79, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Kennaday Peak, covers about 914 square miles in Carbon County. It belongs to WGFD's Platte Valley mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 55.6%, with 232 hunters taking 129 mule deer at about 11.2 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 D79
Deer Hunt Area 79, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Kennaday Peak, covers about 914 square miles in Carbon County. It belongs to WGFD's Platte Valley mule deer herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put mule deer success here at 55.6%, with 232 hunters taking 129 mule deer at about 11.2 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 79
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names deer hunt area 79 "Kennaday Peak". It runs to about 914 square miles, entirely in Carbon County. WGFD reports these mule deer as the Platte Valley herd unit, which also takes in deer hunt areas 78, 80 and 81. 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: North Platte River, Pass Creek and Pass Creek Basin
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 6 walks the line around deer hunt area 79 corner by corner. It starts where Interstate Highway 80 crosses the North Platte River. On the way round it follows Interstate Highway 80, Wyoming Highway 72, Carbon County Road 404 and U.S.F.S. Road 115, and North Platte River, Pass Creek, Pass Creek Basin and Cedar Pass. 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 79s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 79 also belongs to its elk and antelope hunt areas 79. 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: Pennock Mountain
WGFD administers the Pennock Mountain Wildlife Habitat Management Area (9,858 acres) inside or across the line. Public Access Areas such as Saratoga Lake (852 acres) and North Platte River-Pick Bridge (50 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.
High ground inside the line: Elk Mountain, Kennaday Peak and Gold Hill
Named high points inside deer hunt area 79 include Elk Mountain at 11,150 feet, Kennaday Peak at 10,809 feet, Gold Hill at 10,140 feet, Slash Ridge at 10,134 feet and Pennock Mountain at 10,030 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: Mullison Park, Red Park and Oberg Pass
Below them sit Mullison Park at 8,456 feet, Red Park at 8,343 feet, Oberg Pass at 8,208 feet, Stump Hollow at 8,111 feet and Chimney Park at 8,060 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.
Water: Standpipe Spring
Named water inside the line includes Standpipe Spring. 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 79 runs from 6,372 feet to 11,150 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.
Unit D79 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Elk Mountain (11,150 ft), Kennaday Peak (10,809 ft), Slash Ridge (10,134 ft), Pennock Mountain (10,030 ft)
Holding ground: Snowy Range Pass (10,879 ft), Cecil Park (9,568 ft), Fish Creek Park (9,185 ft), Pennock Mountain WHMA
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 79
Mule Deer Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 55.6% mule deer success in deer hunt area 79: 129 animals taken by 232 active hunters over 1,441 days of hunting, or 11.2 days per animal. By residency, residents 52.2% (95 taken by 182) and nonresidents 68% (34 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.
Mule Deer Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (resident) | 194 | 395 | 49.1% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 antlered (nonresident) | 6 | 89 | 6.7% | — |
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 79, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1, residents: 395 first-choice applicants for 194 licenses, 49.1% drawn
- Type 1, nonresidents: 89 first-choice applicants for 6 licenses, 6.7% 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 79?
What is the mule deer success rate in deer hunt area 79?
Is deer hunt area 79 the same ground as elk hunt area 79?
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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 79, 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 79, 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
- 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