Unit 702

Several buttes provide critical navigation and glassing points: Haystack Butte, Bulldog Butte, Trembling Butte, and Rattlesnake Butte serve as recognizable landmarks visible for miles across the plains. The Little Wolf Mountains provide a more substantial ridge system in the eastern portion. Major drainages—including the Bighorn River to the west, Little Ninemile Creek, and South Cottonwood Creek—cut through the otherwise monotonous terrain and offer natural travel corridors.

These creeks provide water access and slight topographic relief. Castle Rock, a historic feature, offers another reference point. These landmarks become essential navigation tools in a landscape where one sagebrush flat can look remarkably similar to the next.

The unit sits entirely in the lower elevation band, ranging from roughly 2,350 feet in river bottoms to just under 5,000 feet on upland ridges. Habitat is predominantly open high plains—sagebrush flats, native grasslands, and scattered prairie broken by occasional buttes and low ridges. Forest cover is minimal, limited to scattered ponderosa pines on north-facing slopes and scattered cottonwoods in the major drainages.

The landscape is characterized by vast open expanses where visibility dominates and shelter is scarce. This sparse vegetation structure makes for excellent glassing country but provides limited thermal and wind protection.

Access is severely limited by private land checkerboard and minimal road infrastructure. Over 1,200 miles of total roads exist, but most are ranch roads requiring permission or are in private ranch operations. Public access points are scattered and often difficult to identify without detailed maps.

The unit receives relatively light hunter pressure due to access constraints, but this same limitation makes it challenging for the typical hunter to effectively hunt. Success depends on obtaining private land permission, hiking considerable distances from limited public access points, or hunting during early season when more water sources are reliable. The lack of developed staging areas and the vast distances involved mean careful trip planning is essential.

Unit 702 occupies the high plains of southeast Montana, spanning portions of Treasure, Big Horn, Rosebud, and Custer Counties. The unit boundaries run from the Bighorn River Bridge on Interstate 90 near Hardin northwest through State Route 47, east across the interstate system near Miles City, then south along Route 59 toward the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and west along the Crow Reservation boundary back to the Bighorn River. This sprawling plains unit sits sandwiched between two tribal lands and spans roughly 50 miles east-west and 30 miles north-south, encompassing some of Montana's most open and exposed hunting country.

Water is the limiting factor in Unit 702. Reliable sources are scattered and require prior knowledge. The Bighorn River forms the western boundary but is distant from much of the unit. Major creeks including Little Ninemile Creek, South Cottonwood Creek, and Rough Creek provide seasonal water during spring and early summer but may become unreliable by mid-season.

Numerous named springs dot the unit—Dudley Spring, Kendrick Spring, and Sandrock Spring among them—but these often require verification and may be stock ponds rather than natural seeps. Haines Reservoir and Fields Reservoir offer reliable water but their locations and accessibility vary. Successful hunting requires detailed local knowledge of which water sources are reliable in your intended hunting window.

Unit 702 is pronghorn country, with the open plains providing the ideal habitat for this species. Early season (September) offers the best opportunity when water sources are more reliable across the landscape and pronghorn are less pressured. The key strategy involves glassing from buttes and ridges across the open terrain—spot and stalk becomes difficult once pronghorn detect movement.

Know your water sources beforehand and plan hunts around reliable locations where pronghorn concentrate. The sparse cover and extreme visibility mean speed and efficiency matter; long-range shooting ability is advantageous. Late season hunts push pronghorn toward remaining water and can be productive if you can access their movement corridors.

Success requires combining careful reconnaissance, understanding pronghorn movement patterns, and having secured legal access to productive ground before the season opens.