Hunt Area 77, Boulder Ridge, Wyoming

Rolling foothills and ridges in the Laramie Valley transition zone at the southeast base of the Medicine Bow Mountains. Elevation ranges approximately 7,165–9,593 feet (GoHunt unit profile). The lower portions are gently rolling sagebrush grassland; the south-central and northwestern fringe rises into rougher pine-covered ridges. The Boulder Ridge itself is a series of ponderosa-clad ridges approximately 20 miles south of Laramie near the Wyoming–Colorado border along Albany County Road 319.

The unit is approximately 80% private land with access that can be difficult. Public land (BLM parcels and Wyoming state sections) exists in scattered tracts; the far eastern and western edges have somewhat better public access. The Boulder Ridge Road (Albany County Road 319) provides the primary interior corridor from U.S. Highway 287 south toward the Colorado border. No designated wilderness or roadless areas fall within the unit boundary. No Walk-In Hunting Areas (WIAs) are designated for Deer Hunt Area 77 in Albany County per WGFD Walk-In listings — the county's WIAs only cover Hunt Areas 76 and 64 for deer. Private-land permission from ranching operations is the primary means to access the productive central and southern irrigated areas. A land-ownership GPS layer is strongly recommended given the checkerboard ownership pattern. Nonresident general licenses are a regional draw: Region D (Areas 66, 70, 74–77, 88) carries a combined nonresident quota of 300.

Short-grass prairie and sagebrush-steppe dominate the valley floors and lower slopes. Ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine with interspersed aspen occupy the higher ridges and south-central mountain terrain. Cottonwood lines the drainages and creek bottoms. Irrigated ranch fields in the central valley attract both mule deer and white-tailed deer, particularly in fall. Native shrubs and bunchgrasses fill the mid-elevation ecotone between open basin and forested ridge.

Mule deer are the primary game species, with good populations distributed across most of the unit; larger bucks tend to concentrate in the rougher pine-covered terrain in the south-central and northwest portions. White-tailed deer are present throughout, particularly in cottonwood drainages and near irrigated ranch fields in the central valley. Elk use the same geographic unit (Elk Hunt Area 8 'Boulder Ridge' shares identical boundaries), with populations focused near the western mountain fringe. Pronghorn antelope occupy the open sagebrush flats (Antelope Area 44 'South Laramie' largely overlaps). Mountain lion are present statewide under WGFD quota management. Black bear are possible in the forested ridge terrain near the Colorado border. No bighorn sheep, mountain goat, or moose are documented in this unit's terrain type.

1. Area 77 mule deer is a General (OTC) license — confirmed from the 2026 Chapter 6 regulations. No quota number is attached to the Gen designation. Nonresident hunters need a Region D general license (300-tag shared regional quota). 2. White-tailed deer Type 3 quota for Areas 75/76/77 combined is 76 (not 75 as in the draft). Type 8 doe/fawn quota is 100. Both confirmed from 2026 Chapter 6 regulations. 3. White-tailed deer success rate for Area 77 specifically (2023): 26.0% pooled across 50 active draw hunters, 13 total deer harvested (11 buck, 2 doe). The draft's 35.5% figure was incorrect — it reflected a different combined-area calculation not attributable to Area 77. 4. Area 77 mule deer 2023: 139 active hunters, 26 total harvested, 18.7% success, 21.9 days/deer — all confirmed from harvest report Table III-A. 5. No Walk-In Hunting Areas exist for Deer Hunt Area 77 in Albany County — confirmed from WGFD Albany County WIA page (only Areas 76 and 64 have WIAs for deer). 6. Official boundary (from Chapter 6 Section 7): beginning at city of Laramie and U.S. Highway 287; southerly along said highway to the Wyoming-Colorado state line; westerly along said line to Wyoming Highway 10; northerly along said highway to Wyoming Highway 230 at Woods Landing; northeasterly along said highway to U.S. Highway 287. Wyoming Highway 230 forms the north boundary and Wyoming Highway 10 forms the west boundary. 7. Wyoming has no separate muzzleloader-specific deer season for Area 77 in 2026 regulations; all season_muzzleloader fields are null. 8. Region D nonresident general license quota: 300 licenses shared across Areas 66, 70, 74, 75, 76, 77, and 88 — confirmed.