Wyoming Deer · Hunt Area 40 Buffalo Creek
Wyoming Hunt Area 40 covers 462,066 acres and lies 34 miles east of Worland and 44 miles south-west of Buffalo. 55% of it is public land, mostly BLM (39%) and state land (9%). In 2025, 547 people hunted mule deer here and took 293, a 54% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 40-3, put up 7 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 26 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 2 points.
5 licenses
first choice, NR
2025, mule deer
39% BLM
462,066 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
Every License in Hunt Area 40
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40-3 Regular | Any white-tailed deer | 5% | 2 ▲2 | |
| 40-3 Special | Any white-tailed deer | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| 40-3 Landowner | Any white-tailed deer | 100% | — | |
| 40-8 Reduced price | Doe or fawn white-tailed deer | 100% | — | |
| 40-8 Landowner reduced price | Doe or fawn white-tailed deer | 100% | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: 40-6.
Draw results: WGFD 2026 Demand Report; WGFD 2026 Demand Report; WGFD 2026 Demand Report and 2 more, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Regular $410.50 ($389 to apply) · Special $1,236.50 ($1,215 to apply) · Reduced price $70.50 ($49 to apply) · Landowner $36.50 ($15 to apply) · Landowner reduced price $36.50 ($15 to apply). Open Jan 2 – Jun 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
Mule Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 547 | 293 | 54% |
| 2024 | 456 | 230 | 50% |
| 2023 | 387 | 216 | 56% |
| 2022 | 349 | 153 | 44% |
| 2021 | 574 | 244 | 43% |
White-tailed Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 334 | 138 | 41% |
| 2024 | 359 | 195 | 54% |
| 2023 | 342 | 295 | 86% |
| 2022 | 366 | 225 | 62% |
| 2021 | 389 | 217 | 56% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mule deer · 50 licenses | 37 | 30 | 81% |
| Mule deer | 522 | 263 | 50% |
| White-tailed deer · 52 licenses | 48 | 33 | 69% |
| White-tailed deer · 50 licenses | 17 | 3 | 18% |
| White-tailed deer · 260 licenses | 200 | 88 | 44% |
| White-tailed deer | 165 | 14 | 9% |
2025 split: archery 23 (8%), firearm 270 (92%) · residents 90 from 247 hunters, nonresidents 203 from 300 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 | 207,667 ac | 45% |
| BLM | 179,614 ac | 39% |
| State land | 41,863 ac | 9% |
| National Forest | 32,571 ac | 7% |
| Other public | 264 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 84 ac | <1% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office 2026 BLM WY Surface Management Agency.
▸ Sources 14
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Demand Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- WGFD 2026 License Fee List fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- WGFD 2026 Game and Fish Commission Chapter 44 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 2026 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.
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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