Unit 24

Crooks Gap and Muddy Gap are dominant geographic features useful for orientation and as travel corridors. Crooks Mountain and Crooks Peak serve as visual anchors and glassing points across the basin. Castle Rock and Stratton Rim provide elevated vantage points for surveying surrounding terrain.

Whiskey Ridge runs as a distinct feature useful for navigation and understanding terrain flow. Springs are scattered but important: Tierney Spring, Chicken Springs, Hadsell Spring, Sand Spring, Brenton Springs, and Happy Spring mark reliable water locations that hunters should identify before heading out. Numerous parks and meadows (Taggart Meadows, Little Long Park, Sheep Creek Park, Sagebrush Park, Round Park) are recognizable flat areas within the basin system.

The Red Hills provide a southwestern reference point.

Terrain spans from mid-elevation basin floors around 6,200 feet to scattered peaks and ridges reaching just over 9,200 feet, with most country sitting in the 6,500–8,500 foot range. The landscape is predominantly open sagebrush flats and grasslands with sparse timber scattered across higher slopes and ridge systems. Major summits include Crooks Mountain, Crooks Peak, Henry Peak, Sheep Mountain, and Whiskey Peak, which rise above the surrounding basins.

Ridges like Whiskey Ridge and Telephone Line Ridge provide breaks in terrain and concentrate game movement. Lower basins are largely treeless or sparsely timbered; higher elevations gradually increase forest cover but remain relatively open compared to mountain ranges. This is high-desert elk country where elevation changes are moderate but significant enough to create seasonal movement corridors.

Over 235 miles of roads traverse the unit, but density is sparse and most roads are BLM or county-maintained tracks rather than maintained highways. U.S. 287 provides main highway access on the northern and eastern edges; Wyoming 220 and 73 border the southeast. Internal access relies on rougher roads: Wamsutter-Crooks Gap Road, Osborne Road, and Bison Basin Road connect the unit's interior to surrounding areas.

Road conditions vary seasonally and weather significantly impacts passability on high-desert terrain. Most hunter pressure concentrates near highway access points and around established camping areas near towns. Remote interior basins see less traffic, particularly in the western and southern sections.

The moderate access constraint works in favor of hunters willing to walk or use four-wheel drive on rough roads.

Unit 24 occupies a sprawling high-desert basin in south-central Wyoming, bounded by U.S. Highway 287 to the north and east, with Wyoming Highways 220 and 73 forming the southeastern edge. The western and southern boundaries follow rough BLM and county roads through remote country—Wamsutter-Crooks Gap Road, Osborne Road, and Bison Basin Road define the periphery. The unit encompasses multiple distinct basins and flats: Stratton Hollow, Sweeney Basin, Soap Holes, and numerous park areas (Taggart Meadows, Sheep Creek Park, Sagebrush Park, Round Park). Crooks Gap and Muddy Gap break the terrain to the south and west.

This is vast, open country with scattered population centers (Bairoil, Jeffrey City, Three Forks, Lamont) on or near the boundaries.

Water is the critical limiting factor in Unit 24. Perennial streams include West Arapahoe Creek, Warm Springs Creek, Spring Creek, Sheep Creek, Reed Creek, and several smaller creeks (Mason, Rabbit, Cooper), but these are scattered and require knowledge to locate. Numerous springs exist—Tierney, Chicken, Hadsell, Sand, Brenton, and Happy Springs—but spring-dependent water can be unreliable seasonally. Several reservoirs provide alternatives: Osborne, Roberts Number 2, Stinking Springs, Crooks Creek, Rock, Cold Spring, Antelope, and Grieves Reservoirs, plus smaller ponds (Woods Gulch, Boggy Springs). The Arapahoe Ditch and McIntosh Beaton Ditch add to irrigation infrastructure.

Hunters must plan water locations carefully; dry stretches are common, making spring and creek knowledge essential for extended trips into the basin.

Unit 24 is primarily elk country across medium-elevation basin and ridge terrain. Elk utilize the sagebrush flats during cooler months and migrate to higher, timbered ridges during heat stress periods. Early season success hinges on water sources—concentrate on reservoirs and springs where elk gather, particularly around Osborne, Stinking Springs, and Grieves Reservoirs.

Rut hunting focuses on ridge systems and timber edges where bulls travel between basins. Late season pushes elk back to lower elevations and winter range in the main basins. Glassing from ridges like Whiskey Ridge and elevated points near Crooks Mountain works well given open terrain.

Pronghorn also inhabit the open park and prairie areas. The key to success is understanding limited water locations and using rough access roads to reach less-pressured areas away from highway corridors. Hunt high ground for glassing early and late; expect to hike significant distances from vehicle.