Unit 704

Key navigation features include Tongue River, running north through the unit's eastern portions and accessible from the Tongue River Reservoir system. Chimney Rock serves as a distinctive landmark for orientation on the flats. The Pine Hills and Blue Mountains frame the western terrain and provide excellent glassing positions.

Buffalo Jump, Horn Mountain, and Chico Buttes offer secondary high points for surveying country. Major creek drainages—Badger Creek, Elk Creek, Horse Creek—run through intermontane valleys and provide seasonal water sources and travel corridors. These named features work well for grid-hunting and partner communication.

Terrain here splits between low prairie basins and modest mountain country. Lower elevations feature sagebrush flats and grassland plains—the Taintor Desert and Broadview Bench exemplify this open country. Pine Hills and the Blue Mountains push up to modest heights, offering scattered timber and ridgetop vantage points.

Vegetation transitions from open prairie and sagebrush at lower elevations to scattered ponderosa pine and juniper on slopes and ridges. The country rarely climbs into dense forest; this is predominantly open to semi-open terrain suited to spotting and stalking rather than deep timber hunting.

Road density is low relative to unit size, creating hunting challenges and opportunities. Major highways (US 12, State Route 59, Interstate 94) ring portions of the unit but interior road access requires navigating ranch country, many roads private or gated. The 2,600+ miles of total roads sounds substantial but spreads thin across vast acreage.

Most pressure concentrates around accessible reservoirs and near small population centers. Significant stretches of public-accessible country remain off main routes, but reaching them demands advance route planning and respect for private boundaries. Off-road hiking capability is essential here.

Unit 704 encompasses portions of Big Horn, Custer, Fallon, Powder River, Prairie, and Rosebud Counties in southeast Montana. The unit spans from the Montana-Wyoming border northward to Interstate 94, bounded on the west by the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservation boundaries and on the east by the Tongue River drainage. This is vast, sparsely settled country anchored by small communities like Broadus, Birney, and Otter.

The landscape represents the transitional zone between the Northern Cheyenne lands to the west and the open plains extending eastward into Wyoming.

Water is the limiting factor here. Reliable sources are scattered: Tongue River Reservoir, Snyder Reservoir, and several smaller impoundments provide dependable water in dry country. Named springs—Tooley Spring, Wakefield Spring, West Fork Spring, Timber Creek Spring—exist but require local knowledge to locate consistently.

Major creeks including Badger, Elk, Horse, Hole-in-the-Wall, and Home Creek run seasonally through draws and valleys but may be unreliable during dry periods. Many ditches serving ranching operations (Terry Main Canal, Powers Cormack) exist but access varies. Plan water strategy carefully; reliable sources concentrate pressure on available areas.

Unit 704 holds elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and mountain lion—all suited to this transitional terrain. Elk use the scattered timber and ridges for cover, migrating between basin grazing and high-country shelter. Mule deer favor the open foothills and sagebrush benches; white-tails concentrate in creek bottoms and draws with brushy cover.

Early season emphasizes glassing ridges and high points to spot elk in open country before heat drives them into shade. Rut timing depends on elevation and season progression; this lower-elevation unit typically peaks earlier than high mountains. Water sources become hunting magnets in this dry country—position near reliable reservoirs and springs.

Mountain lion follow ungulate populations through draws and forested ridges. The sparse road network rewards hunters willing to hike and glass methodically.