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 — 46% of them killed something. The 2022 draw put up 20 nonresident tags here for 94 first-choice applicants.

Nonresident tags (2022):20 Applicants:94 Mule Deer success (2025):46% Public land:11% Size:341,808 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Hunt Area 12, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

Chances are from the 2022 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level

12-7 Doe or fawn valid on private land 20 tags · 94 applicants

21% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice

Hunt	Your odds (0 pts)	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	Season
12-7 ↗ Doe or fawn valid on private land	21% Long shot	0%	—	20 / 94	Oct 1 – Nov 30, 2022

What these columns mean

Your odds: the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2022 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 2022 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
Per application	$49	$15	$70.50

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

The country

Hunt Area 12 within Wyoming

Hunt Area 12 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

Private 305,474 ac · 89%
State land 22,596 ac · 7%
BLM 13,706 ac · 4%
Other public 30 ac · 0%

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

Nearby areas

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.