WY / Big Game

Wyoming
Mountain Lion.

A careful guide to Wyoming mountain-lion licenses, hunt areas, resident and nonresident mortality limits, live closures, pursuit, reporting, and registration.

Official mountain lion page ↗

01 / Overview

Start with the shape of the hunt.

Mountain lions occupy badlands, rimrock, canyon, foothill, forest, and prey-rich ranch country across Wyoming.

A trophy-game license is direct purchase, but hunt-area mortality limits can close opportunity, and selected areas use separate resident and nonresident limits.

The hunter must verify the area is open before hunting and follow current sex, kitten, pursuit, trap, report, registration, pelt, skull, and evidence rules.

02 / Opportunity

Is this a good state for this hunt?

Direct license purchase does not make lions easy; low density, large home ranges, snow, access, and live closures dominate.

Resident pursuit can open after a resident or overall mortality limit under exact area and season rules, but pursuit is not harvest authority.

Dog-assisted and non-dog hunting require deliberate identification, land, weather, safe shooting, reporting, and registration planning.

03 / Tags

How the system fits together.

Check the live area

Verify the correct resident, nonresident, female, sublimit, and overall status before every outing.

Pursuit is separate

A pursuit season does not authorize killing a lion and uses exact resident, dog, area, and closure rules.

Trapped lions are protected

Do not knowingly take a lion caught in a trap or within the current post-release waiting period.

Registration is time-sensitive

Validate the coupon and complete reporting, registration, evidence, pelt, skull, and tooth duties on time.

04 / Planning strategy

Build the hunt around identification and the live area.

Choose one open area with legal access, current quota room, recent sign, weather, and a registration route.

Scout tracks, scrapes, prey, rimrock, roads, snow, wind, homes, livestock, dogs, wolves, traps, and recovery terrain.

Use patient confirmation, conservative shooting, immediate reporting, and a written registration plan.

05 / Seasons

Learn the categories. Check the dates.

Wyoming publishes mountain lion opportunity through the exact license, region or hunt area, license type, full or reduced price, legal animal, method, season, eligibility, and land status. Those details can change between cycles.

Use the current final regulation and corrections, issued license and carcass coupon, Hunt Planner, live mortality status, Access Yes property page, field signs, and controlling land manager for authoritative dates, boundaries, methods, access, and reporting duties.

Open the current official digest ↗

06 / Habitat

Where they live.

Badland and rimrock

Prey, ledges, tracks, roads, wind, private land, and limited visibility shape lion use.

Mountain forest and snow

Deer and elk, tracks, roads, wolves, grizzlies, weather, and steep recovery raise demands.

Ranch and river edge

Prey, livestock, homes, dogs, roads, private permission, and conflict calls require caution.

07 / Methods

Match the method to the exact hunt.

Tracking

Use tracks to learn movement without turning uncertain sign into an unsafe pursuit or shot.

Calling where legal

Confirm current method rules and establish visible, controlled, partner-safe shooting lanes.

Dogs where legal

Follow exact pursuit, land, pack, trap, identification, recovery, and closure requirements.

Current legal methods, ammunition rules, and hunt-specific restrictions come from CDFW and the applicable land manager.

08 / Beginner strategy

If I wanted to start, what would I actually do?

01
Read the current Wyoming rules
Begin with the current official regulation and planning source for mountain lion. Write down the license, area, region, type, price class, dates, legal animal, method, limit, closure, and reporting duties.
Official resource ↗
02
Confirm how the license works
Determine whether the hunt uses a resident general license, nonresident region-general draw, limited-quota draw, full or reduced price, preference or random draw, leftover sale, mortality limit, special permit, or another exact structure.
03
Prove the land and access program
Confirm public and private parcels, state or federal terms, tribal authority, HMA permission slip and ranch rules, Walk-In species and dates, roads, vehicles, fire, camping, winter closures, and a backup route.
04
Scout the actual constraints
Record area and live resident or nonresident status, land, lion sign, prey, roads, snow, wind, homes, livestock, dogs, wolves, traps, safe lanes, registration route, and recovery.
05
Practice the complete sequence
Practice lion, wolf, bobcat, dog, and coyote identification, safe positions, field shooting, tracking, coupon validation, reporting, registration, pelt and skull handling, and transport.
06
Recheck, tag, register, and report
Immediately before hunting, recheck the regulation, live mortality status, access, weather, roads, and documents. Afterward, complete every carcass-coupon validation, evidence, CWD transport, tooth or sample, registration, pelt tag, possession, and report duty on time.