Wyoming Deer — Hunt Area 118

Upper Gooseberry Creek

Wyoming Hunt Area 118 covers 131,233 acres and lies 39 miles south of Cody. 63% of it is public land, mostly BLM (46%) and state land (9%). In 2025, 24 people hunted white-tailed deer here and took 21 — 88% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 10 nonresident tags here for 21 first-choice applicants.

Nonresident tags (2026):27 Applicants:39 White-tailed Deer success (2025):88% Public land:63% Size:131,233 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunt Area 118, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

5 licenses on offer · 27 tags · 39 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 118-1 Antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer 1 tags · 10 applicants · needed 15 pts · Regular
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 118-1 Antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer 2 tags · 6 applicants · needed 8 pts · Special
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 118-1 Antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer 4 tags · 2 applicants · needed 0 pts · Landowner
    100% Undersubscribed
  • 118-8 Doe or fawn white-tailed deer 10 tags · 21 applicants · Reduced price
    48% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • 118-8 Doe or fawn white-tailed deer 10 tags · 0 applicants · Landowner reduced price
    100% No first-choice applicants
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
Wyoming lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Regular license $389 $15 $410.50
Special license $1,215 $15 $1,236.50
Reduced price license $49 $15 $70.50
Landowner license $15 $15 $36.50
Landowner reduced price license $15 $15 $36.50

Application window: opens Jan 2, closes Jun 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Thermopolis Cody Worland Lovell Shoshoni
Hunt Area 118 within Wyoming
116 117 119 125 127
Hunt Area 118 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • BLM 60,117 ac · 46%
  • Private 48,566 ac · 37%
  • State land 12,238 ac · 9%
  • National Forest 10,311 ac · 8%

Source: BLM WY Surface Management Agency (land ownership / SMA)

How the hunting has gone

What Wyoming Game and Fish Department publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Wyoming's figures are estimates from a voluntary post-season survey of license holders, extrapolated to every license issued — not a count of animals checked in.

White-tailed Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success Days per animal
2025 24 21 88% 2.1
2024 14 3 21% 14.7
2023 13 6 46% 2.7
2022 13 8 62% 3.5
2021 20 5 25% 7.2

Mule Deer

Season Hunters Harvest Success Days per animal
2025 21 11 52% 9.7
2024 22 14 64% 9.3
2023 18 9 50% 7.1
2022 21 14 67% 4.9
2021 23 14 61% 8.7

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Archery 0 · 0%
  • Firearm 32 · 100%

Residents vs nonresidents (2025)

  • Resident 26 taken · 33 hunters
  • Nonresident 6 taken · 12 hunters

Boundary: Deer Hunt Areas (Wyoming Game and Fish Department)

Harvest: Mule Deer & White-Tailed Deer 2025 Harvest Report

Harvest: Deer 2024 Harvest Report

Harvest: Deer 2023 Harvest Report

How we compute draw odds · All Wyoming deer hunts