Wyoming Deer · Hunt Area 78 French Creek
Wyoming Hunt Area 78 covers 292,265 acres and lies 18 miles east of Encampment and 44 miles west of Laramie. 73% of it is public land, mostly national forest (60%) and BLM (11%). In 2025, 235 people hunted mule deer here and took 161, a 69% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, 78-1, put up 28 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 162 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 9 points.
8 licenses
first choice, NR
2025, mule deer
60% Forest Service
292,265 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.
- Success
- 69%
- Season
- Oct 1–14
- Tags / Apps
- 28 / 162
- If Drawn
- $410.50
- Success
- 69%
- Season
- Oct 1–14
- Tags / Apps
- 19 / 70
- If Drawn
- $1,236.50
- Success
- 70%
- Season
- Oct 1 – Dec 31
- Tags / Apps
- 10 / 4
- If Drawn
- $410.50
- Success
- 34%
- Season
- Sep 1 – Dec 31
- Tags / Apps
- 25 / 26
- If Drawn
- $70.50
Every License in Hunt Area 78
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78-1 Regular | Antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer | 5% | 9 ▲4 | |
| 78-1 Special | Antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer | 7% | 5 ▲1 | |
| 78-1 Landowner | Antlered mule deer or any white-tailed deer | 100% | 0 | |
| 78-3 Regular | Any white-tailed deer | 100% | 0 ▼1 | |
| 78-3 Special | Any white-tailed deer | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| 78-3 Landowner | Any white-tailed deer | 100% | — | |
| 78-8 Reduced price | Doe or fawn white-tailed deer | 96% | — | |
| 78-8 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.
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 | 235 | 161 | 69% |
| 2024 | 226 | 78 | 35% |
| 2023 | 270 | 86 | 32% |
| 2022 | 291 | 133 | 46% |
| 2021 | 362 | 176 | 49% |
White-tailed Deer
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 112 | 53 | 47% |
| 2024 | 107 | 60 | 56% |
| 2023 | 72 | 40 | 56% |
| 2022 | 71 | 50 | 70% |
| 2021 | 61 | 34 | 56% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mule deer | 235 | 161 | 69% |
| White-tailed deer · 250 licenses | 13 | 0 | 0% |
| White-tailed deer · 51 licenses | 37 | 26 | 70% |
| White-tailed deer · 126 licenses | 79 | 27 | 34% |
2025 split: archery 6 (4%), firearm 155 (96%) · residents 123 from 187 hunters, nonresidents 38 from 48 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
| National Forest | 174,814 ac | 60% |
| Private | 78,767 ac | 27% |
| BLM | 31,315 ac | 11% |
| State land | 6,655 ac | 2% |
| Other public | 436 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 245 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