Unit 28-1

Key drainages for navigation include the Deadwood River, Middle Fork Salmon, and South Fork Payette, which serve as both travel corridors and water sources. Bob Moore Creek, Fenster Creek, and Spring Creek offer reliable navigation markers. Gutzman Ridge and the peaks including Baldy and Morning Glory Peak provide visible benchmarks for orientation and glassing.

Pollard Canyon and Turner Gulch are notable valleys holding water and offering staging areas. U P Lake and Wallace Lake are small water features valuable during dry periods. These landmarks create a logical framework for breaking the unit into huntable sections.

Terrain ranges from roughly 3,900 feet in main river bottoms to just over 9,100 feet on ridges, with the hunting core concentrated between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. The landscape is a mix of moderate forest—ponderosa, Douglas-fir, and mixed conifers—interspersed with open parks, meadows, and south-facing slopes. Lower elevations feature more open timber and sage flats suitable for early-season mule deer.

Higher ridges support denser forest and transition to alpine parks. This variety creates multiple habitat zones within a relatively compact footprint, allowing hunters to adjust elevation as conditions change.

One hundred forty-eight miles of road within a compact unit creates connected, straightforward access. Most travel concentrates on main creek drainages and ridge-top routes where roads meet good glassing terrain. The combination of moderate accessibility and moderate terrain complexity means the unit absorbs pressure predictably—expect to see hunters on primary ridge saddles and along major creek bottoms early in seasons.

Solitude requires moving off main routes into side drainages and higher elevation parks. The road density supports efficient travel without requiring extensive foot traffic, though the best escape is uphill into steeper country.

Unit 28-1 occupies drainages across southern Lemhi County and into Custer County, centered on the Deadwood River watershed upstream of Nine Mile Creek and extending into the Middle Fork and South Fork Salmon River systems. The unit's boundaries follow creek drainages and ridge crests, incorporating the Lick Creek drainage on the north side of the South Fork Payette. This is compact, mountainous terrain in the transition zone between lower Salmon River canyons and higher central Idaho peaks.

Most of the unit is public land managed by Forest Service, offering straightforward access compared to more fragmented terrain.

The unit's drainage pattern is its primary asset. The Deadwood River forms the northern boundary, while the Middle Fork and South Fork Salmon systems cut through the central terrain. Multiple named creeks—Bob Moore, Fenster, Gorley, Jesse, Perreau, Spring, and Chipps—provide consistent water.

The Lemhi River drains portions of the eastern side. While water is classified as limited relative to some units, the multiple drainages mean reliable sources exist if you understand the network. Springs and creek confluences are natural gathering points for mule deer, especially in fall and early winter.

This is a mule deer unit, and the rolling forest-and-park landscape is prime deer habitat. Early season, glass south-facing parks and open timber in the 6,500–7,500 foot band where deer move during heat. Rut hunting focuses on transition zones between higher parks and lower cover, particularly around the named ridges and creek confluences.

Late season, expect deer to drop elevation, concentrating in lower drainages with remaining water and shelter. The drainage system creates natural deer highways; glass creek bottoms from high vantage points. Use the moderate road access to establish camp efficiently, then hunt ridge-to-ridge.

Terrain complexity is moderate, allowing for glassing strategy rather than pure stalking.