Unit 22

The North Platte River is the dominant navigational feature and primary water source. Key landmarks for orientation include Teapot Creek and Sand Spring Creek drainages, which funnel through visible breaks in the landscape. Reno Junction area marks the unit's northeast corner; Casper anchors the west.

Several soda lakes—Suicide Soda Lake, Pratt Lakes, and others—are scattered across the flats as reference points, though many are alkaline and unreliable for water. Castle Rock and Red Butte provide minor relief and glassing vantage points on an otherwise low-relief landscape.

Terrain ranges from about 4,600 feet along the river bottoms to just over 6,300 feet on the higher benches—a modest elevation swing that barely registers as true mountain country. Most of the unit sits in the 5,000 to 5,500-foot band, a sagebrush-dominated high plains landscape with minimal timber. Scattered ponderosa and juniper cling to the breaks and ridge edges, but this is fundamentally open country: sagebrush flats, grassy benches, and eroded badlands where vegetation is sparse and low.

The North Platte riparian zone supports cottonwoods and willows, creating the most productive deer habitat.

Roughly 763 miles of roads cross the unit, but these are primarily ranch roads and county routes on private property requiring landowner permission. Interstate 25 and the major highways (WY 259, 387, 59) form the boundaries but offer limited access into the interior. The sparse road network and predominance of private land create a bottleneck—pressure is manageable in most areas, but accessible chunks concentrate hunters near river corridors and the few public easements.

Early season sees the heaviest use; mid-to-late season offers better solitude as access becomes more restricted.

Unit 22 forms a rectangular block between Interstate 25 at Casper (west) and Douglas (south), bounded north by WY 59 at Reno Junction and east by WY 387. The North Platte River runs roughly west to east through the middle, anchoring the unit's geographic identity. This is the transition zone between Casper's urban fringe and the open range country stretching toward the Powder River Basin. The unit encompasses roughly 1,500 square miles of semi-arid plains with scattered badlands, relatively compact but imposing in its sheer size and isolation.

The North Platte River is the lifeline; it flows reliably year-round through cottonwood corridors but is largely inaccessible due to private ownership and canyon walls in sections. Teapot Creek, Sand Spring Creek, and Sage Creek are intermittent drainages that concentrate deer when they hold water. Springs are scattered but unreliable—Pine Tree Spring, Rock Spring, Red Rock Spring, and others dot the landscape but many are seasonal or alkaline soda springs unsuitable for drinking.

Limited water overall means deer movement is heavily patterned toward the river and the few reliable creek systems.

Both mule deer and whitetails inhabit this unit, with mule deer preferring the open breaks and benches, whitetails concentrated in riparian timber along the North Platte and tributary draws. Key strategy involves glassing the sagebrush flats and benches during early morning and late afternoon when deer move between bedding and feeding areas. Drainage systems—particularly Teapot Creek, Sand Spring Creek, and Sage Creek—concentrate deer, especially during mid-season when water becomes critical.

The river corridor holds deer year-round but is difficult to access; focus on draw systems and bench country where public access exists. Flat terrain means long-range glassing is effective; plan to cover distance and glass methodically rather than rely on thick cover.