Wyoming Regulation Changes 2025

Wyoming Game & Fish designated the South Fork Snake River above Palisades Reservoir as catch-and-release only for cutthroat trout effective with the 2025 fishing season. The regulation protects the native Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat population that has been impacted by hybridization with non-native rainbow trout and increased angling pressure. The catch-and-release designation allows anglers to continue accessing one of Wyoming's most productive fly-fishing streams while halting the harvest that was contributing to population decline. Single barbless hooks are recommended in the catch-and-release section to minimize handling mortality.

Wyoming Game & Fish increased elk antlerless shoulder season permit quotas in the H Area (northwest Wyoming bordering Yellowstone National Park) by 25 percent to address persistent agricultural depredation complaints from private landowners in the area. The shoulder season, which occurs both before and after the general elk season, specifically targets elk that have dispersed onto private agricultural land. Permit holders must hunt in the H Area shoulder season boundaries and may not use their shoulder season permit during the general season. The increase gives more landowner-adjacent hunters an opportunity to help manage dispersed elk.

Wyoming Game & Fish Department closed sage grouse hunting in Core Area Units 1, 2, and 5 for the 2025 season in response to lek count data showing breeding population indices below the threshold required to support a harvest season. CAUs 1, 2, and 5 encompass portions of Sweetwater, Carbon, and Fremont counties. Annual lek counts conducted in April 2025 showed a third consecutive year of declining male attendance, prompting the precautionary closure. All other sage grouse hunting units in Wyoming remain open with standard season structures unless otherwise announced.