Wyoming’s 2025 Deer and Antelope Draw: Point Creep, Tag Trends, and Hunter Inflation

For nonresident deer and antelope hunters with their eyes on Wyoming, the 2025 draw results confirmed a trend we’ve been watching for years: point creep continues to grow. And for those still hanging on to hopes of hunting in the Cowboy State, the question looms—how much longer will your points hold value?

Antelope: Escalating Demand, Sluggish Relief

Point creep on the regular preference point side has continued to rise, especially for popular antelope Areas. In 2020, it took fewer than two points to draw a tag with good, but not great public access where a person could find an average pronghorn. This year, that same Area required six. That’s nearly a full point of creep per year, undoubtedly an unsustainable pace for anyone trying to plan their first or next hunt.

On the special side, where applicants pay nearly $1,200 for a license, the situation is slightly better, but not always. In that same Area described above, it took 3 points to draw in the Special draw, while last year (the first year of the price increase) it was 100% with zero points. Clearly, even the high-dollar route isn’t immune to preference point pressure.

And the pace of information sharing isn’t helping either. A brand-new muzzleloader tag that normally would fly under the radar took 9 preference points to draw this year. That is nearly unheard of for a newly created opportunity. It just goes to show how quickly word travels in the digital age.

That said, not all is doom and gloom. Some Areas with large tag increases saw point creep slow, or even reverse. When supply increases the demand can be spread out enough to offer some relief and is about the only thing that can really help hunters draw licenses in the long term. 

Deer: Mixed Results, Familiar Headaches

On the deer side, results were more mixed, but the hot-button Areas/Regions still tell the story.

In Region G, the Regular draw jumped to 11 points, while the Special draw went from 5 points last year to 6 points this year. That’s a steep price for a herd still recovering from the brutal winter of 2022–2023. But the legend of past giant mule deer bucks continues to keep applicants piling on, waiting their turn at glory.

Region H showed a smaller bump from 6 to 7 points in the Regular draw. In the Special draw, half of applicants with 4 points drew, whereas 4-point applicants were guaranteed last year. It’s subtle, but it signals growing interest to get back to western Wyoming.

Elsewhere in the state, demand seemed to shift. Areas in the Platte Valley and other mid-tier Areas saw moderate year-over-year increases in difficulty to draw. It seems that when the pressure mounts in the high-demand zones, it pushes hunters to look elsewhere and those Areas are catching up fast.

The Bigger Picture: Demand Keeps Rising

Let’s not forget: Wyoming offered a far cry (less than half) of 2019 nonresident mule deer tag numbers this year. While pronghorn tag allocations have seen some relief through increases in certain Areas, that hasn’t been the case for deer. So we have a classic supply-and-demand imbalance: fewer tags, more hunters. With another mild winter and wet spring behind us, maybe there is hope for the trend reversing in the future as you can find in some pronghorn Areas.

This whole phenomenon is what I like to call the hunter’s inflation problem. Just like currency loses buying power over time, so too do preference points. If enough people are willing to “pay” 7, 9, or 11 points for the same hunt they used to get with 3 or 4, the market adjusts. And suddenly, everyone is playing a more expensive game whether they want to or not.

So What’s Next?

Will hunters start bailing out of the game? Will more shift to the high-cost Special draw in hopes of squeezing one more hunt out of their points before they become worthless?

Probably. But it’ll depend on broader factors too: the state of the economy, tag allocations, and what other states are doing. The increasing difficulty of drawing quality tags isn’t unique to Wyoming, but it’s certainly a problem for anyone looking to hunt here.

So is the juice still worth the squeeze?

That’s a personal decision. But one thing is clear: If you’re banking on preference points alone to secure your next Wyoming hunt, it might be time to revisit your strategy, or maybe start playing the game a little differently in 2026 and beyond.