Unit 46

Foote Creek Rim provides a notable southern boundary feature useful for orientation. The Saddleback Hills and Sand Hills offer moderate elevation breaks for spotting and navigating across the unit. Simpson Gap and Simpson Ridge mark natural transit routes and visual references.

For water, the reservoir and spring system is extensive—Foote Creek Lake, Como Lake, and numerous smaller reservoirs (Chace, Pierce, Smith, Irene) dot the landscape. The creek system—particularly Foote Creek, Wagonhound Creek, and Coalbank Creek—provides drainage-based navigation corridors. Smaller summits like Iron Hill and Sheepherder Hill serve as local reference points.

The unit spans medium elevations from roughly 6,500 to 8,200 feet, with the bulk of country sitting in the 6,500-7,500-foot range. Sagebrush plains dominate the lower benches and flats, transitioning to grassier slopes and sparse timber on the higher ridges like Pine Ridge and Simpson Ridge. Vegetation is sparse overall—typical high-desert transitional country with scattered juniper and limber pine on ridge tops.

The landscape opens up considerably on the major flats (Spade, Horne, Upper Foote Creek), which provide excellent glassing terrain. Vegetation follows drainage bottoms where moisture concentrates.

The unit contains 236 miles of road with fair overall connectivity—not heavily roaded but not remote either. Major access follows Highway 30 and Highway 13, with secondary roads reaching into the unit from those corridors and from I-80 on the south. The straightforward, open terrain means most hunters can move efficiently once in country, reducing the need for extensive road networks.

Pressure is likely moderate—accessible enough to draw hunters but open enough that the landscape absorbs them. Walking is necessary to hunt effectively; the roads get you into position, but glassing and stalking dominate the actual hunting.

Unit 46 occupies the rolling country between Medicine Bow to the north and McFadden to the south, bounded by U.S. Highway 30 on the north, Wyoming Highway 13 on the east, Rock Creek and Interstate 80 on the south, and Wyoming Highway 72 on the west. The unit encompasses moderate-sized country centered around the Foote Creek drainage and its tributaries. Towns like Medicine Bow, Wilcox, and Carbon provide staging points for hunters, with I-80 and Highway 30 offering straightforward access routes.

This is semi-arid, high-plateau country sitting between major transportation corridors.

Water is limited but clustered strategically throughout the unit. Foote Creek is the primary drainage, flowing through the heart of the unit with several reservoirs along its course. A complex system of irrigation ditches (Noel, Cherokee Gulch, Big Heart, Thornton, Vandiver, Big Harrison, Bosler) indicates historical water development and provides reliable but often narrow water sources.

Natural springs exist (Willow, Upper Fourmile, Barrel, Sulphur, Rolling Springs, Sixmile) but are scattered. Como Lake and Windy Lake provide perennial water in specific locations. During dry seasons, reservoirs and ditches become critical hunting references—pronghorn concentrate where water is reliable.

Unit 46 is pronghorn country. The sagebrush flats and grasslands provide ideal pronghorn habitat, and migration routes typically follow the draws and benches connecting lower winter range to higher summer country. Early season hunting focuses on the open flats where pronghorn are visible from distance—bring optics and patience.

Water becomes critical in late summer; hunting near reservoirs, ditches, and springs concentrates animals. The sparse cover favors long-range spotting from ridges like Pine Ridge or the benches overlooking Foote Creek Flats. Wind management is essential on open country.

Terrain complexity is low, making this unit suitable for methodical glassing and stalking rather than tactical scrambling.