Unit 640

Notable features include Medicine Lake and Shotgun Reservoir, the major water bodies in an otherwise sparse watershed. Several small buttes and hills—Round Butte, Wild Horse Butte, Long Butte, and Eagles Nest—provide modest elevation for glassing opportunities and navigation reference points. A series of coulees including Swift Coulee, Star Coulee, and Goodale Coulee cut through the plains and offer cover and water sources.

Hell Creek, Spring Creek, and Beaver Creek provide drainage corridors that concentrate game movement. Rocky Point and The Point offer slightly elevated vantage areas. These scattered landmarks are critical for navigation in country that can appear monotonous across vast distances.

The entire unit sits in low-elevation prairie country between roughly 1,800 and 3,300 feet, with most terrain clustering around 2,400 feet. This is plains grassland and sagebrush habitat with virtually no forest—open country dotted by low buttes, coulees, and occasional ridge systems. Vegetation is predominantly native and introduced grasses, with sagebrush flats interspersed throughout.

The landscape is characterized by gentle rolling terrain interrupted by shallow valleys and draws. Seasonal moisture patterns heavily influence vegetation productivity, creating variable habitat conditions year to year across the relatively uniform topography.

Despite the vast area, access is actually straightforward but relatively limited. A fair network of roads totals over 4,200 miles, but these are spread across enormous country, making the actual road density quite sparse. Most land is private, which concentrates public hunting onto state and federal parcels or scattered private leases.

The main communities—Scobey, Flaxville, Peerless—are small and somewhat isolated, limiting hunter pressure compared to more populated regions. However, the open nature of the terrain means visible hunting becomes difficult to hide. Many hunters will concentrate near reservoirs and known access points, leaving vast stretches of interstitial country less pressured but harder to reach and scout.

Unit 640 occupies the northeastern corner of Montana, spanning portions of Daniels, Sheridan, Roosevelt, and Valley Counties. The north boundary follows State Route 24 along the Canadian border; the east boundary is the North Dakota state line; the south boundary traces the Missouri River eastward from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation; and the west boundary runs northward along the reservation boundary and Big Muddy Creek. This vast unit encompasses classic high plains country with minimal elevation change and sparse forest cover.

Several small towns including Scobey, Flaxville, and Peerless provide basic services and staging points for access.

Water is the limiting factor in this unit. Permanent sources are limited to reservoirs—Medicine Lake, Shotgun, Whitetail, Harmon, Picard, and several others—scattered across the country. Creeks including Hell Creek, Spring Creek, Brush Creek, and Beaver Creek flow intermittently and may be unreliable during dry periods.

Springs exist throughout but are dispersed and not always reliable. The Missouri River forms the southern boundary but is difficult to access for hunting purposes. Planning water strategy is essential; hunters need to identify active water sources before heading out, as the unit covers immense distances between reliable fills.

This unit is pronghorn country. The open plains habitat and sparse cover make pronghorn the primary quarry—they thrive in this exposed grassland environment with sagebrush and broad sight lines. Early season (September) typically offers the best hunting before the animals become spooked by increased pressure.

The key strategy is glassing from distance: find high ground overlooking productive habitat near water sources, use optics extensively, and plan stalks across open terrain where concealment is minimal. Successful hunts require understanding wind direction and using subtle terrain features—coulees, ridges, and low spots—to approach within range. Late season can be productive as animals concentrate near remaining water.

Elk and mule deer exist here but in limited numbers relative to pronghorn; focus effort on the antelope.