Unit 5

Key navigational anchors include the Bridger Mountains to the north and Moneta Hills nearby; Cedar Ridge, Blue Ridge, and several cedar-capped summits provide elevated reference points for orientation. Sioux Pass, De Pass, and Cottonwood Pass are natural travel corridors through broken country. Devils Punch Bowl, Kennedy Basin, and Buffalo Basin form significant topographic features across the central basins.

Kirby Creek, Gooseberry Creek, and the Middle Fork Warm Springs Creek are the most reliable named drainages for navigation and potential water. The scattered reservoirs—Bonneville, Jones, Ocla, Dinty Moore—mark specific locations but are not perennial guarantees.

Terrain spans from roughly 4,000 feet in the lowest basins to just above 9,100 feet on scattered ridgetops—a 5,000-foot climb across the unit. Most country sits in the lower-to-middle elevation band: open sagebrush plains and basins with sparse forest patches. Higher ridges like the Bridger Mountains and various cedar-capped benches support scattered juniper and conifer stands, but timber is light.

The dominant landscape is high desert—wide-open sagebrush flats broken by drainage bottoms and occasional draws with cottonwood or willow. Vegetation is sparse; this is arid country with limited perennial vegetation.

Nearly 1,000 miles of road crisscross the unit, but most are secondary ranch roads, county routes, and primitive two-tracks suitable only for high-clearance vehicles or foot travel. Road density is low; vast areas are accessed only by foot. The Bighorn Mountain Divide Road, Rome Hill Road, Buffalo Creek Road, and Arminto Road are the primary east-west corridors, but these are rough and seasonal.

Highway 16 and 20 provide vehicle access around the perimeter. Limited road density means limited hunter pressure in many areas, but it also means serious access challenges and navigation demands. Most hunting requires spot-and-stalk or long foot approaches.

Unit 5 forms a massive, irregular polygon roughly centered on the Bighorn Basin. The western boundary follows Highway 20 from Shoshoni northward past Worland to Ten Sleep; the eastern edge traces the Wind River Reservation boundary and Big Horn Mountain Divide Road. The unit encompasses ranching flats, low basins, and rolling sagebrush breaks between the Bighorn and Wind River mountain systems.

Towns like Ten Sleep, Worland, Shoshoni, and smaller settlements like Badwater, Moneta, and Lost Cabin mark reference points around the periphery. This is working ranching country with significant private land interspersed among public holdings.

Water is the critical limiting factor. Reliable springs include Deadmans Spring, Big Spring, Berger Spring, and scattered others, but they're isolated and require local knowledge to find. Kirby Creek, Gooseberry Creek, and Warm Springs Creek offer seasonal flow in their lower reaches.

Numerous small reservoirs and stock ponds dot the unit but vary in reliability—some hold water year-round, others are seasonal. The vast majority of the unit depends on scattered stock water. Plan water strategy carefully; carrying capacity and route planning must account for 15-20 mile dry stretches between reliable sources.

Unit 5 historically supports black bear in limited numbers, primarily in higher elevation drainages and canyon bottoms where riparian cover offers better forage and security. Spring hunting targets bears in drainage systems and draws emerging from winter range; mid-summer focus shifts to higher ridges and sparse timber patches. Fall hunting is opportunistic along berry drainages and near oak brush patches.

Success depends on glassing from distance across open country and then stalking into drainages. The vast, open terrain means visibility is your advantage—locate bears from high vantage points first, then plan approach. Water sources become critical during hot periods; concentrate effort near reliable springs and creek bottoms.

Complexity is high; expect significant navigation challenges and limited water.