Wyoming is one of the West's simplest turkey states for a nonresident to enter. The entire state is Area 1, the general license is available OTC after the draw. It is unlimited but can be applied for during the drawing. There is also a type 3 license that can be applied for that allows earlier hunting in the spring, but has some special restrictions for both spring and fall that must be followed. 2025 spring survey showed nonresidents taking 2,573 birds at 71.2% success. The tradeoff is access: many birds outside the Black Hills use private ranch, agricultural, and riparian ground, so a legal license does not guarantee a practical place to hunt.

Type 3 is geographically restricted, much of its value depends on private permission, and spring demand surged in 2026. General remains the dependable choice. Type 3 is the targeted add-on for hunters with access or a specific early season plan.

Apply through the Wyoming Game and Fish Department licensing system. Turkey has no preference or bonus point system. Licenses are allocated through the ordinary choice based drawing, and unsuccessful applicants do not build points. In the initial drawing, an applicant may seek one spring license and one fall license. A party may include up to six applicants. Initial draw party members must share residency status.

The 2026 spring application period was January 2-February 2, with results February 12. The 2026 fall period was April 1-June 1, with results June 18. Wyoming has not yet published the 2027 turkey application calendar. The 2027 spring season dates are already established in Chapter 20, but applicants should not reuse the 2026 deadline without checking the new application schedule.

General spring and fall licenses are the practical OTC path. They appear in the drawing, but quotas have historically dwarfed first choice demand and remaining licenses move to OTC. General licenses are essentially unlimited in number but studying the Wyoming demand report you will notice a nonresident quota. The state has to set a number as a place holder to run the drawing in the system so they set it extremely high, but it is merely a placeholder and is not to be taken as an actual nonresident quota. Type 3 leftovers may also be purchased after the initial drawing. Once the drawing is complete, a hunter may hold up to three licenses in a season if at least two are Type 3. Check the leftover list for availability.

A general license covers statewide Area 1 during the applicable general season. Type 3 is valid only in the counties and land classes named in the regulation. Hunter Management Area permission slips do not replace a turkey license; they control access to enrolled property and can have their own application windows and capacity limits.

Legal shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.

Black Hills and northeast Wyoming: Crook and Weston counties hold the state's strongest public-land opportunity and classic Merriam's habitat. Black Hills National Forest is the anchor, and the 2025 spring survey recorded 1,427 nonresident birds from 2,184 active nonresident hunters in the Black Hills group, or 65.3% success. Expect road pressure and use maps because private inholdings are common.

Bighorn foothills and north central Wyoming: Sheridan and Johnson counties combine Type 3 eligibility with forest-edge and foothill birds. Bighorn National Forest can produce a genuine public land hunt, but WGFD cautions that most opportunity away from the forest is private and access can be difficult. Yellowtail WHMA is another option only for hunters who secure its required permission slip.

Converse, Natrona, and Campbell counties: this is the core Type 3 zone. Look for ponderosa ridges, creek bottoms, ranch shelterbelts, and agricultural edges. Public land includes scattered Medicine Bow National Forest parcels between Casper and Wheatland, but the early license is most valuable when a private land agreement or HMA permission slip is already in hand.

Southeast and the rest of the state: the Laramie Range, Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, Platte River corridors, and lower elevation pine/riparian interfaces support scattered flocks. Densities are less consistent than in the Black Hills, so late winter scouting and access confirmation matter more than broad county reputation. General licenses let hunters pivot statewide when local conditions or access change.

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