Where I live, well, actually I do have to go to the other side of the highway from my cabin. The area last fall was "Unlimited" for doe/fawn tags. If you wanted 8, buy 8. You want 19, buy 19. The tags were available for either white tail or muley and they were for private property only (not a problem in my area as the ranchers are outstanding about allowing hunting). If you wanted a trophy, general tags were still available over the counter.
In order to encourage more land owner participation, a few years back the tags become 3 parts. One part goes in the hide of the critter. Just slit the skin, roll of up the tag and insert. Stays with the critter. The second part is what you send in at the end of the year for their count of harvest. The third part is given to the land owner and at the end of season he can turn in all the tags and he gets paid, by Fish and Game, for all the deer harvested on his property. Also, land owners can apply for property damage caused by deer and antelope. If they allow hunting, they'll get paid for the damage. If they don't allow hunting, they are out of luck.
Of course, 55% of the State of Wyoming is state owned, BLM, or National Forest. You can hunt any of that property and don't need permission. A big part of that is leased out to farmers and ranchers and they run cattle on it, so it's always good to stop and visit with the rancher and let him know where and what you are going to be hunting. It has been my experience, over coffee with the rancher, that they will fill you in on what they have seen and where it is at.
In other words, hunting around here is outstanding and I couldn't ask for more. I am disabled and Wyoming allows for that. I filled out an application, had it signed by my doctor and 3 weeks later I had a lifetime permit that allows me to shoot from my vehicle and I can drive off trail to retrieve my game. I can not shoot from a highway or county road, but I can shoot from Fire Trails, Fire Roads.
For out of staters wanting to hunt, Wyoming has a point system so if you don't get exactly what you want, you earn points. Next time you apply, you can use your preference points to have a better shot at a draw, if that's how you go after your tags. The draw system is a typical lottery where you fill out your first 3 preferences. Say you want a Bull in area 27 as #1 choice. Bull in area 28 as #2 choice. Any in area 27-28 as #3 choice. When your name is pulled in the lottery, they will fill your number 1 and if those tags are all gone, they'll fill number 2 and if it's all gone they'll fill number 3. If that is not available, they'll refund your draw. So it's best to be very open in your choices, like #1 bull area 27, #2 bull area 28, #3 bull anywhere in the state. You stand a great chance of drawing one of them. Also, if you hunt in a party of (I think it's 5 or more), you automatically have preference to draw with your party.
The season's are in conjunction with weather patterns. In other words, the season for high altitude is first, something like Sep 1 - 30. The next lower altitude, because the cold and snow will start bringing them down, is Sep 15-Oct 15 for that area. Finally, down here at low altitudes, the season is late as it takes a storm or two to bring them off the mountains. Some are already down in this area, but the big numbers will be driven down by snow and cold.
We still "hunt" in Wyoming, so don't expect to see any deer stands or blinds. Those are for ducks.
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