Wyoming Game Fish representatives gathered public comment on proposed seasons during a Star Valley open house held in the Thayne Community Center, March 19.

“We have our hunting season regulations open for public comment and so we have proposed seasons for the 2026 hunting season for big game, small game, upland and other species,” explained Cheyenne Stewart, Wyoming Wildlife Management Coordinator.  “We’re having a public meeting right now talking to folks, answering questions and we have information on our website about these proposals.”

While comment was gathered on all seasons, much of the interest was centered on mule deer in western Wyoming.

“The big one is Wyoming Range mule deer,” said Stewart. “That herd had a pretty substantial die-off a few winters ago which is probably news to nobody listening to this but what’s pretty fantastic is the amount of growth and recovery in the last three years since that happened.  We have incredible fawn ratios the last two years and we’ve had 80 or more fawns per 100 does counted on winter range.”

She added, “This year what’s really fantastic is our buck ratios are within our objectives for that herd so even though that population is still growing and on its way to full recovery it’s performing incredibly well and then the neighboring her Sublette deer herd, is even closer to objective and performing even better in terms of overall numbers.”

With the improvement the Game and Fish is looking at some changes. “What folks will see is a proposal for a moderate season extension for the Wyoming Range deer herds and that is because we want to make sure they have ample opportunity.”

An overview of the season proposals are available at the Game and Fish website. Steward directed the public to the site for comment.

“If they go to our website and go to the regulations page there’s a place to access all of these proposals,” she explained. “We also have a few changes proposed for the elk seasons in this area.”

Stewart noted the April 1 deadline for comments on the proposed seasons.  “We will reassess our proposals based on those comments and then submit those to our [Game and Fish} Commission for approval.”