Unit 164

The Bighorn River is the dominant landmark and natural corridor—it's your anchor point for navigation and water. Devils Slide on the southern boundary provides a recognizable rock feature. The scattered buttes—North, Potter, Middle, South, and Zimmerman—serve as navigation references and glassing perches across the open country.

Zimmerman Springs and The Seeps offer reliable water sources beyond the river if you're working the interior drainages. Key draws like Walters, Cottonwood, and Antelope provide travel routes and concentration areas for deer moving between open country and cover.

This is high desert country where elevation changes are subtle but consistent. Low sagebrush flats dominate the open areas, broken by scattered cedar and juniper ridges that run north-south through the unit. The sparse forest coverage means you're hunting mostly open country with visual advantage—mule deer key on the brushy draws and creek bottoms where they find cover and browse.

Big Cedar Ridge and the Zimmerman Buttes create the most notable terrain relief; they're not high mountains but they break the skyline enough to navigate by and offer vantage points for glassing.

Limited road density means a sparse network of BLM roads and ranch tracks. This isn't connected four-wheel-drive country—you're working from the highway corridors or hiking in from limited trailheads. That scarcity actually works in your favor: most casual hunters stick to accessible spots, leaving the interior flats and ridges relatively quiet once you commit to walking.

Bluebank Road provides western access; Highways 16 and 20 bracket the unit. Early season tends to concentrate hunters near roads and water; pressure drops dramatically once you leave the vehicle behind.

Unit 164 sits in the Bighorn Basin country west of Cody, Wyoming, bounded by U.S. Highway 16 and Highway 20 with the Bighorn River forming a natural eastern anchor. The unit encompasses a vast tract of public land with private parcels interspersed—a mix that defines much of the hunting experience here. Colter and scattered ranches mark the western edge, while the Nowater and Sage Creek drainages define key geographic divisions.

The landscape sits at relatively modest elevation, making early and late season conditions generally favorable for access and travel.

Water is limited but present. The Bighorn River provides the main water source, flowing north through the unit with reliable year-round flow. Beyond the river, drainage density is low—you're working Sage Creek, Nowater Creek forks, and Sand Creek, which flow intermittently depending on season and snowmelt.

Scattered reservoirs (Roughs, Holland, Hampton series, and others) hold water but aren't dependable in dry years. Plan water caching or identify reliable springs before heading deep into the flats. Summer conditions can be dry; spring hunting offers better water availability.

Unit 164 holds mule deer and white-tailed deer—mule deer dominate the open flats and cedar ridges where they glass well and move between drainages, while whitetails favor the creek bottoms and brushy draws. Early season, deer use the high flats and ridge systems to avoid heat; the sparse tree cover means you're glassing and stalking across open country. By rut season, focus on the Nowater and Sage Creek drainages where deer congregate.

Late season pushes them toward the river bottoms and any remaining green vegetation. Water management is critical—locate reliable springs or reservoirs before planning your route. The moderate elevation means seasons extend longer than higher country; the trade-off is that deer movement patterns compress into predictable corridors.