Unit 137

Key landmarks include Table Mesa and Alexander Mesa, which dominate the landscape and provide excellent glassing platforms, and The Windsplitter ridge for navigation and vantage points. Several distinctive peaks—Pinkney Hill, Plug Hat, Lone Mesa—serve as reference points across the open country. Major canyons including Soldier, Cahill, Shell, and the Deadman Canyon complex form natural corridors and concentrate wildlife movement.

Alkali Holes and McAfee Godwin Vega offer potential water sources. These features break up the vast plains and provide both navigation waypoints and hunting focal points.

The terrain spans roughly 4,400 to 5,700 feet with the bulk of the country sitting in the mid-5,000-foot range. This elevation band supports high-plains grassland interspersed with scattered ponderosa and juniper growth, particularly along ridge systems and canyon rims. Habitat transitions from open prairie to denser stands of timber on mesa tops and canyon slopes, but forest cover remains sparse overall.

The landscape reads as rolling grassland punctuated by dramatic mesa formations—ideal for long-distance glassing and pronghorn habitat, with elk and deer utilizing the canyon drainages and timbered benches.

With 470 miles of interior roads and fair accessibility overall, the unit connects via U.S. 160 and Colorado 109 without extreme barriers to entry. Most pressure concentrates along main highways and near established ranches accessible from the west. The vast size and low terrain complexity mean hunters can spread out and find quieter country by venturing deeper into the mesa and canyon systems.

Private ranch lands intersperse public ground, requiring attention to boundaries. The open nature of the landscape means visibility extends far—finding solitude depends on glassing ahead and working the less obvious drainages.

Unit 137 encompasses the high plains of Las Animas and Baca Counties in southeast Colorado, bordered by Bent County lines to the north, the Pritchett-Las Animas improved road and U.S. 160 to the east, U.S. 160 to the south, and Colorado 109 to the west. The unit sprawls across vast, relatively flat terrain interrupted by mesas and ridge systems. This is ranch and prairie country—large-scale landscape typical of Colorado's southeastern high plains.

The boundaries follow county lines and major highway corridors, making orientation straightforward for hunters familiar with the region.

Water is limited but strategically distributed across the unit. Named springs—Alkali Spring, Watt Spring, Twin Springs, Alum Spring, Soldier Spring, and Hackberry Springs—anchor hunting areas, though reliability varies seasonally. Major drainages including Mustang Creek, Little Mustang Creek, Soldier Creek, and Freezeout Creek flow through canyons and provide water access during wetter periods.

Carl Sammons Division Reservoir and Plum Creek Stock Reservoir offer additional sources. The scarcity of water makes knowing spring and creek locations essential for planning daily hunts and understanding where wildlife congregates.

Unit 137 historically holds elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, moose, bear, and mountain lion. Pronghorn thrive on the open plains and mesa flats—focus on water sources during early and late season. Mule deer concentrate in canyon bottoms and timber-covered benches, particularly in Soldier Canyon, Deadman Canyon, and the Shell Canyon complex.

Elk use similar canyon terrain and mesa top pockets of timber. White-tailed deer prefer riparian zones along creeks and willow-lined drainages. Early season (pre-rut) offers long-range glassing opportunities across mesas; mid-season shifts focus to canyon movement corridors and water sources.

Late season pushes wildlife to lower elevations and reliable water, concentrating them in the canyon systems.