This unit is located in the southeastern part of the state near Laramie. This is an outstanding unit and should be on your list of units to hunt, especially if you don’t want to deal with Grizzlies. The mountain range in this unit extends all the way into Colorado. Over a third of this unit is National Forest; don’t bother hunting anywhere outside of here. Once you get off the mountain, you are going to find sagebrush prairies and farmland, the majority of which are private.

With a good annual bear harvest and the small percentage of Wilderness Areas here, you should definitely take this unit into consideration.

Mountains and prairies are the two most distinct terrain features in this area. With the very limited amount of public land outside of the National Forest, try covering some terrain in The Snowies. This unit is about as close as you can get to hunting Colorado backcountry without actually hunting in Colorado. The more elevation you gain here, the more majestic and beautiful the country gets. Thick timber slopes will have open meadows with alpine meadows and lakes, providing plenty of areas to glass and turn up a black bear.

Wilderness

Under Wyoming law nonresidents are not permitted to hunt big game or trophy game in any federally designated wilderness areas without the presence of a licensed guide or resident companion. The resident companion must first get a free non-commercial guide license from a Game and Fish office. The law does not prohibit nonresidents from hiking, fishing or hunting game birds, small game, or coyotes in wilderness areas.

Access in and around the National Forest is great, which could be a problem if you are trying to do a true backcountry style hunt and distance yourself from other hunters. Highway 130 runs up and over the mountain between Laramie and Saratoga, and Highway 230 runs to the very southern end of the range into Colorado. There are a number of different roads and trails throughout The Snowies. Nonresidents should be aware of the two Wilderness Areas in the southeastern portion of this unit, The Savage Run and North Platte River Wilderness Areas. While they don’t take up a large portion of the National Forest, nonresidents would need a guide to hunt in those areas.

As far as vegetation, this unit is like every other unit in Wyoming, with prairies and farms low, and timber in the mountains. The mountain ranges here have thick timber slopes at lower elevations, and beautiful alpine meadows and lakes at higher elevations. The most common trees found in this mountain range are lodgepole pines, with some scattered aspen patches as well. The alpine areas will hold grass and berries.

There are a number of camping and lodging spots available in the National Forest area, and thousands of undeveloped camping spots on the mountain range in this unit. As for developed campsites, there are over a dozen to choose from. There are quite a few homesteaded chunks of private land scattered throughout the National Forest, so make sure you know where you are and that you are not trespassing. The towns Laramie and Saratoga both have grocery stores, hotels and gas stations.