2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-00591SF0003
SENATE FILE NO. SF0003
Mule and whitetail deer-separate hunting seasons.
Sponsored by: Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural
Resources Interim Committee
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to game and fish; requiring separate
2 hunting licenses and seasons for mule deer and whitetail
3 deer; making conforming amendments; and providing for an
4 effective date.
5
6
7
8. W.S. 23-1-101(a)(i), 23-1-302(a) by
9 creating a new paragraph (xxxiv) and (h), 23-1-703(g),
10 23-1-705(c), (e)(i) through (iii), (g) and (j),
11 23-2-101(f)(intro), (ii), by creating a new paragraph
12 (iii), by renumbering (iii) as (iv), (j)(xiv) through
13 (xvii), by creating new paragraphs (xlvii) through (l) and
14 (m), 23-3-102(d), 23-3-105(a) and (b), 23-3-301(a) and (b)
15 and 35-7-1302(a) are amended to read: 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-00592SF00031
2
3
4 (a) As used in this act:
5
6 (i) "Big game animal" means antelope, bighorn
7 sheep, deer, elk, moose or mountain
8 goat;
9
10
11
12 (a) The commission is directed and empowered:
13
14
15
16
17
18
19 (h) For purposes of promoting the maintenance of
20 wildlife habitat and attaining wildlife management
21 objectives pursuant to W.S. 23-1-103 and in addition to
22 duties prescribed under paragraph (a)(xiv) of this section,
23 the commission shall promulgate rules and regulations 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-00593SF0003
1 governing the issuance of elk, deer,
2 antelope and turkey hunting licenses to Wyoming landowners
3 without subjection to prescribed means of competitive
4 public issuance. Fees assessed for licenses authorized
5 under this subsection shall be equal to fees prescribed
6 under W.S. 23-2-101(j) for each species for which the
7 license is issued.
8
9
10
11
12
13 (g) In addition to the authority granted under
14 subsection (b) of this section, the commission may through
15 rule and regulation develop and implement a preference
16 point program for nonresident antelope, nonresident
17 deer
18 licenses which are limited in quota and would otherwise be
19 issued through a random drawing. A program established
20 pursuant to this subsection may be implemented for all or
21 selected hunt areas and may be applied to all or portions
22 of licenses for any particular species. The commission may
23 charge nonresident license applicants a nonrefundable fee 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-00594SF0003
1 to accumulate preference points under the program as
2 provided in W.S. 23-2-101(m).
3
4
5
6
7
8 (c) In addition the commission may, upon payment of
9 deer
10 twenty-five (25) licenses each year for the
11 exclusive use of gunpowder and buckskin hunts.
12
13 (e) The department shall issue:
14
15 (i) For a fee of two dollars ($2.00) a resident
16
17 and for a fee of five dollars ($5.00) an elk license to any
18 resident who is at least seventy-five (75) years of age
19 prior to the issuance of the license and who has
20 continuously resided in Wyoming for at least the fifty (50)
21 years immediately preceding application for the license;
22 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-00595SF00031 (ii) For a fee established by rule of the
2 commission a resident deer, antelope,
3 wild turkey or elk license to any resident who is at least
4 seventy (70) years of age prior to the issuance of the
5 license and has continuously resided in Wyoming for at
6 least fifty (50) years immediately preceding application
7 for the license. The fee established for a license under
8 this paragraph shall be not more than sixty-five percent
9 (65%) nor less than sixty percent (60%) of the resident fee
10 specified in W.S. 23-2-101 for the particular species;
11
12 (iii) Without charge a resident elk
13
14 subject to prescribed means of competitive public issuance,
15 a resident game bird and a resident small game license to
16 any resident who is on active duty in the United States
17 armed forces deployed to a combat zone who is home on leave
18 during the applicable hunting season. Application under
19 this section shall include proof of residency required
20 under W.S. 23-2-101(a), certification of the applicant's
21 active duty deployment to a combat zone and other
22 information required by rule and regulation of the
23 commission. For purposes of this paragraph, a combat zone 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-00596SF0003
1 is any area which the president of the United States
2 designates by executive order as an area in which the armed
3 forces of the United States are engaged in combat;
4
5 (g) In addition to complimentary licenses under
6 subsection (a) of this section, each appointed commissioner
7 may cause to be issued at cost not more than a total of
8 eight (8) elk, deer, whitetail deer or antelope
9 designated licenses per year. All licenses issued under
10 this subsection shall be designated to nonprofit charitable
11 organizations. As a condition of accepting the license, the
12 organization shall agree to auction or otherwise bid the
13 license to the highest bidder or to raffle the license to
14 members of the public.
15
16 (j) In addition the commission may issue upon payment
17 of proper fees any number, set by rule and regulation, of
18 antelope licenses,
19 elk licenses and turkey licenses each year for
20 the exclusive use by persons twenty (20) years of age or
21 younger with life threatening illnesses who are sponsored
22 by a nonprofit charitable organization with a mission to
23 provide opportunities and experiences to persons with life 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-00597SF0003
1 threatening or serious illnesses. As a condition of issuing
2 the license, the sponsoring organization shall pay the
3 appropriate license fee on behalf of the licensee and at no
4 cost to the licensee.
5
6
7
8
9
10 (f) Forty percent (40%) of available nonresident elk
11 licenses, forty percent (40%) of available nonresident
12 deer licenses, forty percent (40%) of available nonresident
13 and forty percent (40%) of
14 available nonresident antelope licenses for any one (1)
15 calendar year shall as established by the commission, be
16 offered to nonresident applicants upon receipt of the fee
17 prescribed by this subsection. Seventy-five (75) of the
18 nonresident deer licenses set aside
19 this subsection shall be used for a
20 national bow hunt for deer . The
21 licenses authorized by this subsection shall be offered by
22 drawing to nonresident applicants prior to the drawing for
23 the remaining nonresident licenses issued. The licenses 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-00598SF0003
1 offered under this subsection shall be issued in a manner
2 prescribed by rules and regulations promulgated by the
3 commission. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit any
4 unsuccessful applicant for a nonresident license pursuant
5 to this subsection from submitting an application for any
6 licenses remaining after the drawing during the calendar
7 year in which the application under this subsection was
8 submitted. The following fees shall be collected by the
9 department and are in addition to the nonresident license
10 fee for the appropriate big game species imposed under
11 subsection (j) of this section and the application fee
12 imposed under subsection (e) of this section:
13
14 (ii) Nonresident deer license .... $826.00
15 in addition to the license fee imposed under paragraph
16 (j)(xv) of this section;
17
18
19
20
21 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-00599SF00031 (iv) Nonresident antelope license.....
2 $874.00 in addition to the license fee imposed under
3 paragraph (j)(xxxi) of this section.
4
5 (j) Subject to W.S. 23-2-101(f), 23-1-705(e) and the
6 applicable fee under W.S. 23-1-701, the following hunting
7 licenses and tags may be purchased for the fee indicated
8 and subject to the limitations provided:
9
10 (xiv) Resident deer license; one (1)
11 deer................................................$40.00
12
13 (xv) Nonresident
14 deer..............................................$372.00
15
16 (xvi) Resident youth deer license; one (1)
17
18
19 (xvii) Nonresident youth deer license; one
20 (1) mule deer.....................................$110.00
21
22
23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-005910SF0003
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 (m) Subject to the provisions of this subsection, as
12 part of any preference point program for nonresident
13 antelope, nonresident ram bighorn sheep, nonresident moose,
14 nonresident deer, nonresident whitetail deer or
15 nonresident elk, the commission may establish a
16 nonrefundable fee to be either withheld from the license
17 fee remitted or submitted separately when application for a
18 license or preference point is made through electronic
19 licensing, and may also establish a fee to be paid in lieu
20 of applying for licenses that are limited in quota.
21 Retention of the established fee or payment of the fee in
22 lieu of applying shall authorize the person to accumulate a
23 preference point for future drawings for licenses that are 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-005911SF0003
1 limited in quota for the applicable species in accordance
2 with rules of the commission. The rules may provide for the
3 loss of all accumulated points for persons failing to apply
4 or to pay the in lieu fee in two (2) consecutive calendar
5 years. The fee for any program under this subsection for
6 antelope, deer, whitetail deer or elk shall be
7 established by rule and shall not exceed seventy-five
8 dollars ($75.00) per species. Payment of the fee shall be
9 made in compliance with application dates. Nothing in this
10 subsection authorizes the commission to establish or retain
11 a fee for resident moose or resident ram bighorn sheep
12 license preference points in addition to the fee
13 established by subsection (k) of this section or to
14 establish rules for ram bighorn sheep or moose preference
15 point drawings in conflict with the provisions of W.S.
16 23-1-703(b). For nonresident ram bighorn sheep and
17 nonresident moose licenses, the commission may establish by
18 rule a nonrefundable preference point fee to be withheld
19 from either the license fee remitted or submitted
20 separately when application for a license or preference
21 point is made through electronic licensing and may
22 establish a fee in lieu of making application in an amount
23 greater than that established under subsection (k) of this 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-005912SF0003
1 section, but neither fee shall exceed one hundred fifty
2 dollars ($150.00). Fees established under this subsection
3 may be set at lower amounts for youth license applicants.
4
5
6
7
8 (d) Any person who knowingly takes any antlered elk,
9 antlered deer, antlered
10 moose, horned antelope, bighorn sheep, mountain goat,
11 mountain lion, grizzly bear or black bear without the
12 proper license or during a closed season and any person who
13 knowingly kills a mountain lion during a mountain lion
14 pursuit season, except as otherwise permitted by this act,
15 is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less
16 than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) nor more than ten
17 thousand dollars ($10,000.00), imprisonment for not more
18 than one (1) year, or both. A third or subsequent
19 conviction within ten (10) years for a violation of this
20 subsection shall constitute a felony punishable by a fine
21 of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) nor more
22 than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), imprisonment for
23 not more than two (2) years, or both. For the purposes of 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-005913SF0003
1 determining whether a violation of this subsection is a
2 felony, convictions resulting from the same occurrence
3 shall be considered a single conviction even if the result
4 of the occurrence is more than one (1) misdemeanor
5 conviction. The provisions of W.S. 6-8-101(a) shall not
6 apply to convictions under this section.
7
8
9
10
11
12 (a) Antelope, deer, whitetail deer and elk
13 licenses shall have two (2) coupons attached, each bearing
14 the same serial number as the body of the permit, one (1)
15 designated "antelope, deer, whitetail deer or elk
16 coupon" and one (1) designated "landowner's coupon".
17
18 (b) The landowner's coupon shall promptly be
19 detached, dated, signed and delivered to the landowner.
20 The landowner, on or before March 1 following the close of
21 the hunting season for which the license was issued, shall
22 deliver to the department the coupon and an affidavit that
23 the antelope, deer or elk for which 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-005914SF0003
1 the coupon was delivered was killed on his land. Upon
2 receipt of the coupon and affidavit the department shall
3 pay the landowner sixteen dollars ($16.00) for each coupon
4 from an antelope, deer, whitetail deer or elk license.
5 Landowner's coupons are not transferable. Any unauthorized
6 person attempting to collect any sum for any landowner's
7 coupon is guilty of a high misdemeanor punishable as
8 provided in W.S. 23-6-202(a)(ii). Effective January 1,
9 2000, the department shall provide a checkoff box on each
10 landowner coupon affidavit claim form that offers the
11 claimant the opportunity to designate the animal damage
12 management board to receive his payment amount for
13 landowner coupons claimed on that form. For each claim made
14 where the landowner has designated his payment to the
15 animal damage management board, the department shall
16 transfer that amount to the animal damage management
17 account created by W.S. 11-6-306 and the department shall
18 retain the fees related to those administrative costs of
19 the transfer.
20
21
22
23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-005915SF00031 (a) No person shall import into Wyoming from any
2 source any living antelope, bear, deer,
3
4 sheep, wolf, wolf hybrid nor any living wildlife except as
5 otherwise permitted by this act.
6
7 (b) No person shall sell any living antelope, bear,
8 deer, elk, moose, mountain goat,
9 mountain lion, bighorn sheep, wolf, wolf hybrid or falcon
10 except as permitted by the commission.
11
12
13
14 (a) Any game animal, including any big game animal,
15 elk, deer, mountain sheep, wild goat,
16 antelope, moose or bear, lawfully taken by a licensed
17 hunter may be donated to a nonprofit organization under the
18 provisions of W.S. 35-7-1301 to feed individuals in need.
19
20. This act is effective January 1, 2026.
21
22 (END)