JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Proposed changes to the 2021-22 hunting season in the National Elk Refuge could pave the way for a first-ever hunt of whitetail deer and pronghorn.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to open the National Elk Refuge to pronghorn and white-tailed deer hunting to be managed by Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The refuge already allows special hunting of elk and bison.
Under the proposed plan of action, the refuge would authorize whitetailed deer archery hunting season by special permit. The hunt would coincide with the state whitetail deer archery season in Deer Hunting Unit 155. A pronghorn archery season would take place on the refuge during the regular state pronghorn archery season in Pronghorn Hunting Unit 85.
Originally established in 1912 as a “winter game (elk) reserve,” the 24,700-acre refuge is six miles wide at its widest point and ten miles long from southwest to northeast. The elevation varies from 6,200 feet to 7,200 feet. It is home to and provides critical habitat for a number of species, including elk, bison, pronghorn, swans, eagles, and trout.
Comments on the proposal will be taken through June 21.
