Unit 78

Several named peaks and ridges anchor the landscape: Paris Peak and Bloomington Peak serve as dominant landmarks visible from much of the unit and make effective glassing vantage points. Hogsback Ridge provides another strong navigation feature running through key terrain. The basins—Green Basin, Mahogany Basin, Horseshoe Basin, and Egan Basin—form natural openings that concentrate deer movement and are easily identified from higher ground.

Springs including Paris Spring, Huckleberry Spring, and Mahogany Basin Spring mark reliable water and are focal points for hunter movement. Major creeks like Mill Creek, Liberty Creek, and the Bloomington and Saint Charles forks provide natural drainages and travel corridors through the timbered country.

The unit spans medium-elevation mountain country rising from roughly 6,000 feet in the lower basins to above 9,500 feet on the highest ridges. Dense forest dominates the higher elevations and ridge systems, transitioning to more open country in the scattered basins and canyon bottoms. White-tailed deer habitat is strong across these elevations—the forested ridges provide bedding and thermal cover while the open basins and bench areas offer feeding grounds.

The rolling topography creates natural funnels and migration corridors, making glassing opportunities available from ridge tops while the forest provides the security that deer depend on. Seasonal movement through these elevation zones is predictable, with lower basins offering early and late season hunting.

Over 570 miles of roads cross the unit, providing well-connected vehicle access that makes reaching hunting areas straightforward. State Highway 34 and Forest Service roads form the primary network, with multiple approach routes from Preston, Paris, and Fish Haven. Road density supports easy access but also means predictable hunting pressure concentrated along roaded corridors and near trailheads.

Hunters seeking solitude should consider working away from main roads into the forested ridges and side canyons where foot traffic drops significantly. The gentle to rolling terrain means good roads exist on ridges and in basins, limiting the truly roadless country, but the mixed forest and open areas still provide room for hunters to slip away from main routes.

Unit 78 encompasses portions of Bear Lake and Franklin Counties, bounded by U.S. 89 and Preston on the west, Interstate 15 on the east, the Idaho-Utah state line to the south, and reaching north toward Ovid with the Emigration/Pebble-Bancroft corridor defining the northern extent. The unit sits in the Bear Lake highland region, a transition zone between the Wasatch Mountains proper and the northern Great Basin. Adjacent communities including Preston, Paris, and Fish Haven provide reasonable staging points.

The boundary follows roads, ridgelines, and natural features that create a moderately sized, well-defined hunting area with consistent terrain character throughout.

Water is limited but present in predictable locations. Springs scattered throughout the high country—Paris Spring, Huckleberry Spring, Mahogany Basin Spring, and others—provide reliable sources, particularly important in the drier basins. Mill Creek, Liberty Creek, and the North and Middle forks of both Bloomington and Saint Charles creeks offer perennial flow and define major drainage systems that funnel downslope.

These creeks become critical during the drier months when spring flows may diminish. Hidden Lake, Limekiln Lake, and Blue Lake add scattered water sources in the higher elevations. Hunters should identify springs and creek crossings before heading deep into the unit, as water scarcity in some basins means planning water strategies in advance.

Unit 78 is white-tailed deer country across multiple elevation zones. Early season hunters should focus on the transition areas where ridgeline forests meet open basins—deer feed in the basins mornings and evenings while bedding in dense timber during the day. The ridge systems provide excellent glassing, particularly from peaks like Paris Peak and Bloomington Peak where you can glass multiple basins.

Mid-season hunting involves targeting creek bottoms and canyon systems where deer concentrate around reliable water. The Bloomington and Saint Charles drainages are particularly productive. Later season, as snow accumulates at higher elevations, deer drop into lower basins and canyon bottoms where they find exposed feeding areas and less snow.

Working the transitions between forest and open ground, combined with understanding the seasonal elevation shifts, is the key to consistent opportunity in this rolling, forested landscape.