ESPN Hunting

Season dates:

• Archery: In most areas, the season varies from Sept. 1-30. In other areas, archery season dates include: Sept. 1-14; Sept. 1-9; and Sept. 15-Oct. 14. (Note: In Wyoming archers can hunt during firearm season but must wear orange.)
• Muzzleloader: Same as firearm season dates.
• Youth/disabled: Same as adults and other hunter dates.
• Firearm: While a few hunting areas open on Sept. 1 or Sept. 15, the bulk of whitetail deer hunting areas in Wyoming open either Oct. 1, 15 or Nov. 1. Season closing dates vary from Sept. 19 to Dec. 18 depending on the hunting area.
• Special antlerless: Variable - see Wyoming hunting regulations.

Resident license fees: Adult hunting, $31; Resident adult landowner, $31; Adult doe/fawn, $19; Youth hunting, $15; Youth doe/fawn, $14; Youth landowner, $15; Pioneer, $2; Pioneer doe/fawn, $2; Pioneer heritage, $19; Pioneer heritage doe/fawn, $15; Pioneer heritage landowner, $19; and Pioneer landowner, $2.

Nonresident license fees: Nonresident hunting, $261; Nonresident doe/fawn, $29; Nonresident landowner, $261; Nonresident special, $461; Nonresident youth, $110; Nonresident youth doe/fawn, $19; and Nonresident youth landowner, $110.

Bag limit: No answer given this year. According to information gleaned from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Web site, the bag limit is one (1) (per) regular license. Licenses vary and can be for antlered, antlerless, any deer, or doe/fawn. Check WGFD Web site or a printed copy of Wyoming's 2005 hunting regulations for specific details.

Hunter education/bowhunter education required? No answer given this year - the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast indicated that hunter safety education required for everyone born after 1965 to hunt with a firearm. Bowhunter safety education is encouraged but is not mandatory.

Population for 2005: No answer given - the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast placed the figure at roughly 70,000 whitetails.

Season forecast: While no response has been received this year from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the whitetail deer hunting in the Black Hills of Wyoming, which is the Cowboy State's principle whitetail range, should be reasonably good this season.

According to a press release on the WGFD Web site, improved moisture across Wyoming equates to improved hunting for several Cowboy State species. Although some of that improvement will be more manifest in a year or two, the release indicates that the "2005 hunting forecast sounds better than sitting in the office."

Amen to that!

John Emmerich, the assistant Wildlife Division chief for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, indicates in the news release that he does have some optimism about the state's deer habitat.

While he's primarily talking about mule deer habitat, the same precipitation should have proven beneficial to the state's more limited whitetail habitat and herd.

"We're seeing some shrub growth for the first time in several years," Emmerich said in the release. "It will take shrubs several years to recover, but it's good to see a start."

While most whitetail hunting takes place on private land, the Cowboy State hunter in the right spot should still fare well due to the improving moisture and solid deer numbers.

With a fair number of older age class bucks present to boot, a reasonable guess here is that Cowboy State whitetail hunters can expect another solid year of deer hunting across their state this fall.

2004 harvest: 10,300 deer (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Bow harvest: 360 deer (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Muzzleloader harvest: 50 deer (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Firearm harvest: 9,840 deer (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Number of licensed deer hunters: 21,000 hunters that hunted white-tailed deer (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Deer hunter success rates: 49 percent.

Number of bowhunters: 1,579 archers (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Bowhunter success rates: 26 percent.

Number of muzzleloader hunters: N/A - survey data does not exist for this line item.

Muzzleloader success rates: N/A - survey data does not exist for this line item.

Number of firearm hunters: 20,200 (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Firearm success rates: 50 percent (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Top counties/regions: The Black Hills region; the eastern front of Bighorn Mountains; and Wheatland area creek bottoms (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Top public-hunting spots: The Black Hills region (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Testing conducted for chronic wasting disease?: Yes, but CWD testing is not mandatory (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

Units/areas that tested positive for chronic wasting disease: CWD is present in portions of southeastern Wyoming (No answer given this year - data is from the 2004/2005 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast).

State record typical: 191 5/8 inches, taken by Robert D. Ross in Albany County in 1986.

State record non-typical: 238 7/8 inches, a pick-up entry that was found in Crook County in 1962.

State record archery typical: 153 6/8 inches - two 11-point Wyoming bucks actually share this record. The first is a 153 6/8 inch whitetail taken by Steven Blair in Crook County in 1986. The second is a whitetail with an identical net score taken by Raymond King in Crook County in 1999.

State record archery non-typical: 162 6/8 inches, taken by Heron H. Head in Crook County in 1995.

More information: Log onto the Wyoming Fish & Game Department's Web site or call (307) 777-4600 To report a poacher, call (800) 442-4331.

Did you know? Whitetails seem to be expanding their range a little bit in Wyoming … While the topic is a likely conversation piece around many a hunting camp fire in the Cowboy State, biologists with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department report that the hybridization of whitetails with mule deer is probably not as common as generally reported. In fact, it is estimated to be occurring in less than three percent of the state's deer population. When it does happen, biologists believe that it is usually a whitetail buck and mule deer doe that keep producing such hybrid animals … Wyoming biologists urge hunters to remember that while they may not wear "horns," doe harvest is a very important management tool within the state … Crook County owns the Wyoming whitetail record book. A full 20 of the state's 62 Pope & Young entries come from Crook County. And that's not to mention that four out of the five state record whitetail heads (Boone & Crockett Club and the Pope & Young Club) come from the county … Speaking of the Pope & Young Club, 61 typical deer are in the bowhunting record book from Wyoming to go with one non-typical. In addition, three velvet entries are in the 2nd edition of the P&Y Club's "Bowhunting Records of North American Whitetail Deer" … Wyoming has some 9.97 million acres of forested lands … The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission Web site indicates that Gulf Coast residents who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina are eligible to get refunds for their Wyoming big game licenses … The WGFC emergency regulation to help victims of the hurricane also applies to federal, state and local government employees who have been dispatched to help with the disaster … Hurricane Katrina victims requesting a refund should send a copy of their Wyoming big game license along with a statement of damage suffered or other reason preventing them from using the license to: License Refund, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 5400 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82006. Government employees should send evidence of their duty on their official agency letterhead … Immediate family members can also request the license refund for a missing relative by requesting an affidavit by writing the same address or by calling (307) 777-4516 … According to the WGFD Web site, the word "antlered" means a deer, elk, or moose that has visible antler growth plainly protruding from the skull. Where a minimum number of antler points are specified, points shall be counted on the side with the greater number of points … The term "antlerless" means a deer, elk, or moose that has no antler growth plainly protruding from the skull. Females and young of the year without visible antlers are antlerless big game animals.