Unit 168

The Hogsback ridge system provides good visual reference points and elevation to glass from, running through the unit with recognizable topography. Medicine Butte and Round Mountain serve as navigation landmarks visible across the sagebrush. Bridger Gap and Cumberland Gap are useful reference points for understanding your position.

Springs including Mineral Springs, Grove Spring, and Crompton Spring anchor water locations and potential camping areas. The major drainages - Red Canyon Creek, Hinshaw Creek, and Whitney Creek - offer navigation corridors and water sources worth knowing.

Elevations span from about 6,500 feet in the lower valleys to roughly 8,600 feet on the higher ridges, with most terrain concentrated in a moderate band that avoids extreme alpine conditions. The habitat is predominantly sagebrush flats and open grassland with sparse timber scattered across higher ground. Juniper appears on some ridges, while pinyon-juniper transitions mark the transition zones.

This is primarily big-open country with limited forest, creating excellent glassing terrain but offering minimal shade or concealment in many areas. Vegetation is typical high-desert sagebrush with seasonal moisture patterns.

Over 320 miles of roads provide fair connectivity throughout the unit, mostly county and secondary roads rather than major highways. Proximity to Evanston and other small towns means reasonable hunting pressure, particularly in accessible valleys and along major creeks. The flat-to-rolling terrain makes much of the unit drivable or reachable via short walks from parking areas, which concentrates pressure in logical spots.

Early season sees the most use. The open country means established trails and obvious access routes draw predictable foot traffic, leaving opportunities for hunters willing to walk through rougher sagebrush.

Unit 168 occupies the country between Interstate 80 on the south and Wyoming Highway 89 on the north, bounded by the Utah state line on the west and Muddy Creek drainages to the east. The unit encompasses the high-desert tablelands around Evanston and includes the Hamblin Park and Cumberland Flats areas. This is working rangeland and sagebrush country, relatively accessible from Evanston and intermediate-sized towns like Bridger and Almy.

The terrain is fairly contained geographically, making it straightforward to understand your location within the unit.

Water is the limiting factor in Unit 168. Reliable sources include Muddy Creek to the east, Whitney Creek, and several named springs scattered across the unit including Mineral Springs, Grove Spring, and Foote Spring. Multiple small reservoirs dot the landscape (Davis Number 2, Broadbent Number 2, Painter Reservoir, Chesney Reservoir, Crompton Reservoir) and some hold water seasonally. Red Canyon Creek and Hinshaw Creek provide additional drainage systems.

Early season water availability can be unpredictable in the sagebrush areas, making known springs critical for planning routes and camp locations.

Unit 168 holds both mule deer and whitetails, with mule deer the primary target across the open sagebrush flats and ridges. Early season hunting focuses on higher elevation ridges and breaks where deer move during day heat. Mule deer use the scattered timber and ridge systems for bedding while feeding on sagebrush and grass in adjacent flats.

Rut activity pushes deer to travel more visibly across the open country. Late season concentrates deer near remaining water sources and whatever browse holds green. Whitetails inhabit canyon bottoms and willowed creeks.

The open terrain rewards glassing and spotting from elevation, then stalking into wind across sagebrush. Water sources become critical as the season progresses and green-up decreases.