Wyoming hunt areas added

Hunters in Wyoming should be happy with the addition of two new hunting areas recently added to the list last week.

Secretary of the Interior, David Bernardt announced Hutton Lake National Wildlife Refuge has been added for migratory game birds, including duck, mergansers, geese and coot.

The Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge has also been added for white-tail deer and elk for the first time.

Hunters can always check the Game and Fish website online for all the rules, regulations and license information for the 156 hunting areas in the state.

You can also access the Wyoming hunt planner, an interactive map with hunting information and public access information. There you will find carcass disposal sites, age reports on animals in your hunt area and general hunting regulations.

Grant Frost, Senior Wildlife Biologist for Wyoming Game and Fish indicates the mule deer population is stable this year with average births last spring. He believes, based on those numbers, there will be a good abundance of older bucks available for harvest.

Frost said the white-tail population is increasing and there were above average new birth this year and an increase in the number of older bucks.

Unfortunately, the south west corner of the state is still looking rough for hunting this year after a couple of hard winters in the area.

Hunting in the Wind River Range looks to be consistent with past years.

Areas 100, 124, 54, 30 and 22 look to be the best for elk hunters and Eastman’s Journal says area 23 is the place to go if you’re looking to shoot the big boys. Seven-point bulls are not uncommon in the Rattlesnake Mountains near Casper.

As for antelope, numbers are down a bit in some herds due to a dry, late spring and summer in 2018. Rawlins areas in particular are down, however the Lander area is fairly stable.