Wyo. Code R. 040-0001-15
Effective Date: 06/10/2026 to Current
Rule Type: Current Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 040.0001.15.06102026
Section 1. Authority. This regulation is promulgated by authority of Wyoming Statutes § 23-1-101, § 23-1-302 and § 23-2-107.
Section 2. Definitions. In addition to the definitions set forth in Title 23 of the Wyoming Statutes and Chapter 2, General Hunting Regulation, the Commission also adopts the following definitions for the purpose of the chapter:
(a) “Archery Equipment” means a bow of at least fifty (50) pounds draw weight. The crossbow hunter must be equipped with a crossbow of not less than ninety (90) pounds draw weight and a crossbow bolt of at least sixteen (16) inches in length. The broadhead of arrows or bolts shall have a minimum cutting width of one (1) inch.
“Bull” means any male wild bison older than one (1) year of age.
“Calf” means young of the year wild bison.
(d) “Edible Portions” means the meat of the front quarters as far down as the knees, the meat of the hindquarters as far down as the hocks, and the meat along the backbone between the neck and hindquarters including the loins and tenderloins, excluding meat on the ribs and neck.
“Expanding Point Bullet” means any bullet designed by its manufacturer to create a wound channel larger than the bullet’s diameter.
“Female” means any female wild bison older than one (1) year of age.
(g) “Firearm” means any firearm which has a barrel bore diameter of at least twenty-seven hundredths (27/100) of an inch and is chambered to fire a center-fire cartridge not less than two (2) inches in overall length and using an expanding point bullet of a minimum of one hundred fifty (150) grains, seated to a normal depth.
“Hunter Information Card” means a survey form used by the Department to collect wild bison hunting and harvest information.
(i) “Muzzle-loading Firearm” means a muzzle-loading rifle having a barrel bore diameter of at least 50/100 of an inch and firing an expanding point bullet or lead ball and using a charge of at least one hundred (100) grains of black powder or equivalent.
“National Elk Refuge Permit” means a permit that allows a properly licensed wild bison hunter to access the National Elk Refuge to take a wild bison.
(k) 'Site of kill' means the location where the harvested animal died.
(l) 'Type' means a limitation on a wild bison license in a particular hunt area for the sex of animal, the length of season, the type of weapon or a portion of a hunt area in which the license shall be valid.
(m) 'Waste' means to leave, abandon or allow any edible portion of meat from a wild bison to become tainted, rotten or otherwise unfit for human consumption prior to processing at a person's home or at a processor.
Section 3. Legal Methods of Take. Wild bison shall be taken by the use of legal firearms, archery equipment and muzzle-loading firearms.
Section 4. National Elk Refuge Permits. A National Elk Refuge permit is required prior to hunting wild bison on the National Elk Refuge and shall be in possession of the hunter while hunting wild bison on the National Elk Refuge. A limited number of permits shall be available to hunt wild bison on the National Elk Refuge. Permits shall be issued by the Department to licensed wild bison hunters by random drawing and shall be valid only for specified dates. Alternate permits may become available throughout the hunting season depending upon harvest and management objectives.
Section 5. Tagging Requirements. When any wild bison is killed under a license, the licensee shall detach, sign and date the carcass coupon and attach the coupon to the carcass before leaving the site of the kill. The coupon shall remain on the wild bison carcass at all times until the meat undergoes processing, except that during transportation of the carcass the coupon may be removed to prevent its loss. If the coupon is removed for transportation of the carcass, it shall be in the possession of the person accompanying the carcass at all times.
(a) No person shall take and leave, abandon, or allow any wild bison, or edible portion to intentionally or needlessly go to waste. The failure of any person to properly dress and care for any wild bison killed by that person and if the carcass is reasonably accessible, within forty-eight (48) hours to take or transport the carcass to the camp of that person, and to properly care for the carcass is prima facie evidence of a violation of this section. The Department may require substantive proof from any person who fails to retrieve from the site of kill all edible portions of a wild bison as to why the edible portions were not removed from the field.
(b) No person shall wound or kill any wild bison without making a reasonable effort to retrieve it and reduce it to possession. For the purpose of this subsection, making a reasonable effort shall include a person physically going to the nearest location where the wild bison was when a person attempted to take the wild bison, in order to search for any sign the wild bison was wounded or killed, and take the wild bison into possession.
Section 7. Wearing of Fluorescent Orange or Fluorescent Pink Clothing. No person shall hunt any wild bison without wearing in a visible manner one (1) or more exterior garments, which shall include a hat, shirt, jacket, coat, vest or sweater of a fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink color.
Section 8. Retention of Evidence To Identify Sex of Wild Bison Harvested. Any person who takes any wild bison in a hunt area where the taking of either sex is controlled or prohibited shall comply with this section while said animal is in transportation from the site of the kill to the residence of the person taking the wild bison, or delivered to a processor for processing. In hunt areas where the taking of any wild bison is restricted to a specific sex of animal, the visible external sex organs shall accompany the animal as a whole or edible portion thereof.
(a) No person shall ship, transport, or receive for shipment or transportation within Wyoming, any wild bison or part thereof, unless tagged with a Wyoming interstate game tag, or unless:
(i) The transportation is by a person accompanying the carcass of a wild bison who is in possession of a proper coupon.
(b) No wild bison or any part thereof shall be shipped or transported from the State unless accompanied by the licensee who harvested the animal, in possession of a proper coupon, or unless:
(i) The part to be exported from the State is of a nonedible trophy or hidelike nature and properly tagged with a Wyoming interstate game tag.
(ii) The wild bison was legally harvested by a nonresident and is tagged with a Wyoming interstate game tag.
(a) Shooting Hours. Shooting hours for the hunting of wild bison shall be from one-half (1/2) hour before sunrise to one-half (1/2) hour after sunset.
(b) Bag and Possession Limits. The bag and possession limit for wild bison shall be one (1) wild bison per license.
| Hunt Area | Type | Season Dates | Quota | Limitations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opens | Closes | ||||
| 2 | 1 | Aug. 15 | Jan. 31 | 30 | Any wild bison; from Jan. 2 - Jan. 31 limited alternate permits for the National Elk Refuge may be available through the Department's Jackson Regional Office on a first-come first-served basis until the season closes or conditions dictate that supplemental feeding is necessary. Also valid in Area 1 within the Clark's Fork River and Soda Butte Creek drainages from Aug. 15 - Dec. 31. Valid in other parts of Area 1 upon authorization by the Department. |
| 2 | 4 | Aug. 15 | Jan. 31 | 70 | Any female or calf wild bison; from Jan. 2 - Jan. 31 limited alternate permits for the National Elk Refuge may be available through the Department's Jackson Regional Office on a first-come first-served basis until the season closes or conditions dictate that supplemental feeding is necessary. Valid in Area 1 upon notification by the Department. |
| 3 | Closed |
(d) Wild bison hunting seasons may be closed because of an emergency upon forty-eight (48) hours notice.
Section 11. Mandatory Reporting. Within three (3) consecutive days (seventy-two (72) hours) after taking a wild bison, the licensee shall submit a completed hunter information card to the Department Jackson Regional Office. All unsuccessful wild bison hunters shall submit a completed hunter information card to the Department's Jackson Regional Office within three (3) consecutive days (seventy-two (72) hours) after the season closes.
(a) For successful hunters, the hunter information card shall include the licensee's name, license number, date of harvest, total number of days hunted, the sex and age class (adult, yearling, calf) of the wild bison harvested, the drainage and the legal description of where the wild bison was harvested to include section, range and township or UTM coordinates. Successful hunters shall also supply biological samples as required by the Department.
(b) For unsuccessful hunters, the hunter information card shall include licensee's name, license number and total number of days hunted.
(c) Any person who makes a false statement on the hunter information card shall be in violation of this regulation.
Area and number.
Area 1. Absaroka. All lands within Park, Hot Springs and Fremont counties and Teton County east of the Continental Divide, excluding lands administered by the Wind River Reservation, Yellowstone National Park and the lands described in Area 3.
Area 2. Jackson. All lands within Lincoln and Sublette counties and Teton County west of the Continental Divide, including the area within Grand Teton National Park known as the Kelly Parcel (Township 43N, Range 115W, Section 36) and excluding the remainder of Grand Teton National Park, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway and Yellowstone National Park.
Area 3. North Fork. All of the north, south and west drainages of the North Fork of the Shoshone River.
WYOMING GAME AND FISH COMMISSION
By: _______
Mark E. Jolovich, President
Date: April 22, 2026