Wyoming Unit 47 Pronghorn Antelope Hunting Guide

Wyoming Unit 47 is one of the state's better-known pronghorn draw units, sitting at elevations between 6,423 and 9,136 feet across 706,668 acres of high-desert and sagebrush country. For hunters chasing pronghorn antelope in Wyoming, Unit 47 combines strong harvest numbers, a genuine trophy pedigree, and a public-land base that gives DIY hunters room to work — provided they're prepared for the wide-open terrain and wary animals this unit is known for.

This is a limited-quota unit through and through. There is no general season here — every hunt available in Unit 47, including hunts for antlered/either-sex pronghorn, runs through Wyoming's draw system. That structure matters for how hunters should think about this unit: there's no fallback OTC tag to lean on, and success starts with drawing.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 47 Worth Applying For?

Based on the data available through HuntPilot, Unit 47 stacks up as a strong option for hunters willing to put in the work to draw and then hunt hard once they're on the ground. The harvest numbers tell a clear story of consistency: success rates have run between 84% and 88% over the last four seasons, with 85% success in 2025 (1,289 pronghorn taken by 1,515 hunters), 88% in 2024, 85% in 2023, and 84% in 2022. That's a remarkably stable success trend — this unit reliably produces harvested animals for hunters who draw a tag, regardless of year.

The trophy angle adds real weight to the case for Unit 47. The counties overlapping this unit carry an extensive history of trophy-class pronghorn production, giving this area exceptional trophy potential relative to most units in the state. That combination — high success rates paired with a legitimate trophy history — is not common. Plenty of units produce easy tags on mediocre bucks, and plenty of trophy units have brutal success rates because the good bucks are scattered and pressured. Unit 47 appears to offer both, which is precisely why it shows up repeatedly in hunter forums and applicant discussions.

The one data point that deserves a caveat is the buck:doe ratio. Wildlife survey data across four years (2021-2024) shows an average ratio of 45:100, which is a reasonable, believable number for a pronghorn herd — not the kind of inflated ratio that signals a small survey sample. That steady average across multiple survey years gives more confidence in herd composition than a single-year snapshot would, and it supports the idea that this unit is holding a workable buck population alongside strong trophy genetics.

Tag quotas also show growth in certain hunt categories, which is worth watching. Type 6 tags increased from 500 in 2024 to 600 in 2025, and are set to climb again to 700 in 2026 — a 17% increase from 2025 to 2026. Type 1 tags grew modestly from 500 to 600 between 2024 and 2025 before holding at 600 into 2026. Type 2 tags have remained flat at 500 across all three years. These trends suggest Wyoming Game and Fish sees room to issue more tags in this unit without damaging herd health, which is a good sign for hunters trying to get in.

The verdict: Unit 47 is worth applying for, especially for hunters who value both a realistic shot at filling a tag and a genuine chance at a trophy-class buck. It's not a unit to overlook in favor of flashier neighboring draws — the data backs it up.

Harvest Success Rates

Unit 47's harvest numbers are among the more dependable in Wyoming's pronghorn draw system. Over the last four recorded seasons:

• 2025: 1,515 hunters, 1,289 harvested, 85% success
• 2024: 1,376 hunters, 1,214 harvested, 88% success
• 2023: 1,289 hunters, 1,098 harvested, 85% success
• 2022: 1,381 hunters, 1,155 harvested, 84% success

Success has held in the mid-to-upper 80s every single year in this window, which is a strong indicator that hunters who draw a tag here are putting meat on the ground and antlers on the wall at a high rate. There's no boom-and-bust pattern in this data — no year where success cratered due to weather, herd stress, or access issues. That consistency is valuable when planning a hunt, since it means hunters can trust that historical performance is a reasonable predictor of what to expect going forward.

Trophy Quality

Trophy potential in Unit 47 is exceptional. The counties overlapping this unit have an extensive trophy history, meaning this general area has produced trophy-class pronghorn consistently over time. As with all Wyoming units, it's worth noting that record-book entries are logged by county rather than by hunt unit boundary, so this trophy pedigree is shared with neighboring units that fall within the same counties — the exact animals attributed to this trophy history may have come from anywhere within that broader county footprint, not necessarily from inside Unit 47's specific boundary.

That said, a unit sitting inside counties with this level of trophy production is a meaningfully different proposition than a unit in a county with no trophy history at all. Combined with the buck:doe ratio holding in a believable, sustainable range across multiple survey years, hunters have real reason to believe mature bucks are present and reachable in this unit, not just theoretically possible based on distant county-line statistics.

Herd Health & Population Trends

The wildlife survey data for Unit 47 covers four survey years between 2021 and 2024, with an average buck:doe ratio of 45:100. This is a solid, biologically realistic ratio for pronghorn — it doesn't carry the warning signs of a thin survey sample that sometimes inflate ratios in smaller units. A ratio in this range, sustained across multiple survey years rather than spiking in just one, suggests a herd with a healthy buck component relative to does, which supports both consistent harvest opportunity and the trophy potential discussed above.

Tag quota trends reinforce this read on herd health. Wyoming Game and Fish has increased tags in two of the three tracked hunt types (Type 1 and Type 6) over the 2024-2026 window, while holding Type 2 steady. Agencies generally don't raise quotas in a unit unless population data supports it, so the upward trend in Type 6 tags specifically — climbing 17% from 2025 to 2026 — points to a herd that can support more hunting pressure without a decline in quality or success.

Access & Terrain

Unit 47 spans 706,668 acres with elevations ranging from 6,423 feet up to 9,136 feet, and public land makes up 50% of the unit. That's a workable public-land base — enough for DIY hunters to find room to hunt, though it also means half the unit is private, so scouting where public and private boundaries fall matters before setting foot in the field. There is no wilderness designation in this unit (0%), so there are no wilderness-specific access restrictions or outfitter requirements to plan around here.

The terrain itself is classic high-desert pronghorn country — open sagebrush flats and rolling rangeland at elevation, the kind of visibility-heavy landscape pronghorn are built for. Hunters who have spent time in this unit consistently describe the animals as exceptionally wary, often spooking at vehicles from well over a mile away. That's a terrain and behavior reality hunters need to plan around: this isn't country where a truck-bound approach gets it done. Success tends to come down to using the terrain's natural cover and contour to close distance on foot, and being willing to walk well off the road to reach pronghorn that have pushed onto less-pressured public ground. With plenty of hunters drawing tags in the unit each season, animals closer to easy access points see more pressure and get progressively more difficult to approach as a season progresses.

How to Apply

Because Unit 47 has no general season, every hunter pursuing pronghorn here — resident or nonresident — must go through Wyoming's draw process to obtain a tag. There is no over-the-counter fallback option in this unit.

Wyoming's draw structure differs meaningfully between residents and nonresidents. Residents applying for pronghorn accumulate preference points automatically in years they don't draw, and those points factor into future application strategy. Nonresidents also build preference points, and because Wyoming issues tags to nonresidents through a capped allocation, nonresident odds are generally tighter than resident odds for the same hunt type in a limited-quota unit like this one.

Hunters should also pay attention to hunt type when applying. The tag quota data shows three distinct hunt types operating in Unit 47 — Type 1, Type 2, and Type 6 — each with an independent quota that moves separately from the others. These are not interchangeable, and a hunter's strategy should account for which hunt type best matches their point level and target (an either-sex or antlered opportunity versus a doe/fawn tag, for example).

Application dates and fees change with every draw cycle, so rather than citing figures here that will go stale, hunters should check HuntPilot's Wyoming state page at /states/wy for current deadlines, fees, and draw odds specific to Unit 47's hunt types before applying.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Wyoming Unit 47? Unit 47 sits at elevations from 6,423 to 9,136 feet across roughly 706,668 acres of high-desert sagebrush and open rangeland — classic pronghorn habitat with long sightlines. Public land covers 50% of the unit, giving DIY hunters a real base to work with, though careful attention to public/private boundaries is necessary given the other half is private ground. There's no wilderness designation in this unit, so there are no wilderness access restrictions to plan around.

What is harvest success like in Unit 47? Harvest success has been strong and consistent, ranging from 84% to 88% over the last four recorded seasons (2022-2025). In 2025, 1,289 of 1,515 hunters harvested a pronghorn, an 85% success rate. This kind of year-over-year consistency makes Unit 47 a relatively predictable unit for hunters who successfully draw a tag.

How big are the pronghorn in Unit 47? The counties overlapping Unit 47 have an extensive trophy history, giving the broader area exceptional trophy potential. Because record-book entries are tracked by county rather than unit, that trophy pedigree is shared with neighboring units in the same counties, but it still signals that mature, trophy-class bucks are a realistic possibility for hunters putting in the scouting and legwork here.

Is Wyoming Unit 47 worth applying for? Based on the available data, yes. The unit combines high, stable harvest success (84-88% over four years), a believable and sustained buck:doe ratio (45:100 average across four survey years), growing tag quotas in some hunt types, and a strong trophy history in the surrounding counties. Few units offer all three of consistent success, herd stability, and trophy potential simultaneously.

Do I need a lot of preference points to draw a tag in Unit 47? Draw odds and point requirements change every cycle, so specific numbers aren't something to rely on from older sources. Hunters should check HuntPilot's Wyoming page at /states/wy for current draw odds by hunt type before building an application strategy, since Type 1, Type 2, and Type 6 tags in this unit each carry independent quotas and separate draw dynamics.