Wyoming Deer · Hunt Area 12 Hat Creek
Wyoming Hunt Area 12 covers 341,808 acres and lies 25 miles north of Lusk and 52 miles south of Newcastle. 11% of it is public land, mostly state land (7%) and BLM (4%). In 2025, 121 people hunted mule deer here and took 56, a 46% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 12-7, put up 20 nonresident tags in the 2022 draw for 94 first-choice applicants.
No more draws here. The last one was 2022.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department held its 2026 deer draw without Hunt Area 12. No current hunt code lists this unit; the Wyoming deer hunts on offer are drawn elsewhere. The odds, costs and harvest below are that history, kept for the record.
1 license
first choice, NR
2025, mule deer
7% State
341,808 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Every License in Hunt Area 12
The last draw held in Hunt Area 12 was 2022. These are that draw's chances for a first-choice nonresident applicant, kept for the record.
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-7 · private | Doe or fawn valid on private land | 21% | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2022 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.
Draw results: WGFD 2022 Demand Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $70.50 ($49 to apply). Open Jan 2 – Jun 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
Mule Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 121 | 56 | 46% |
| 2024 | 183 | 86 | 47% |
| 2023 | 130 | 55 | 42% |
| 2022 | 160 | 109 | 68% |
| 2021 | 206 | 122 | 59% |
White-tailed Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 75 | 23 | 31% |
| 2024 | 112 | 41 | 37% |
| 2023 | 71 | 19 | 27% |
| 2022 | 81 | 19 | 24% |
| 2021 | 109 | 25 | 23% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mule deer | 121 | 56 | 46% |
| White-tailed deer · 201 licenses | 7 | 0 | 0% |
| White-tailed deer · 200 licenses | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| White-tailed deer | 69 | 23 | 33% |
2025 split: archery 4 (7%), firearm 52 (93%) · residents 17 from 32 hunters, nonresidents 39 from 89 hunters
What Wyoming Game and Fish Department publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. 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. Source: WGFD 2025 Mule Deer & White-Tailed Deer Harvest…; WGFD 2024 Deer Harvest Report; WGFD 2023 Deer Harvest Report.
The Ground
| Private | 305,474 ac | 89% |
| State land | 22,596 ac | 7% |
| BLM | 13,706 ac | 4% |
| Other public | 30 ac | <1% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office 2026 BLM WY Surface Management Agency.
▸ Sources 9
- WGFD 2022 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 License Fee List fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2025 Mule Deer & White-Tailed Deer Harvest… harvest, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2024 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2023 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2022 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2021 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Deer Hunt Areas boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office 2026 BLM WY Surface Management Agency land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2022 draw, the latest on file, computed from Wyoming Game and Fish Department's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.
Report an error on this page
We don't take applications: check Wyoming Game and Fish Department's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Wyoming Game and Fish Department's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Wyoming deer hunts